It’s that time of year when our eyes are glued to our phones dissecting pre-season glacier and training camps to see who’s in form, who’s wearing what and to ask Siri what 6 x 360 is.
Love or hate competition snowboarding, the level of progression in contests these days is mind bending – and with this upcoming season an important one for Olympic qualification, we’ve put together a list of the events you want to keep your eye on.
Despite watching these events live being harder than navigating which streaming platform log-in you stole off which mate, we’ll endeavor to find you the least sketchy live stream we can throughout the season. Follow @transfersnow for updates, results and streaming info.
Big Air
With Big Air Chur done and dusted and Rocco Jamieson debuting on the podium, the next stop on the calendar is the world’s first and only permanent, purpose-built big air venue in Beijing. The site of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the Beijing Big Air venue is one that you can’t forget – for good or for bad.
From Beijing, we move to Austria for two World Cups, then over to Aspen, Colorado for both the X-Games as well as the final World Cup Big Air stop of the year.
If the standard from Chur is anything to go by, these contests are going to so heated. The number of rotations is one thing, but the fact that riders are now mixing this up by going cab, frontside and switch backside at numbers north of 1800 – with all sorts of different grabs – is so beyond comprehension it’s hard to fathom. The progression in the women’s Big Air is also something special, particularly from the Japanese riders, who continue to progress the sport forward for the ladies.
For details on how to watch these, hit the FIS and X-Games sites.
Event Schedule
Nov 30-Dec 1, 2024 – Beijing Big Air, China
Jan 3-5, 2025 – WC, Klagenfurt, Austria
Jan 9-11, 2025 – WC, Kreischberg, Austria
Jan 24-26, 2025 – X-Games, Aspen, USA
Jan 30-Feb 6 – US Grand Prix WC, Aspen, USA
Who we’re watching:
– Rocco Jamieson
– Hiroto Ogiwara
– Taiga Hasegawa
– Su Yiming
– Mari Fukada
– Reira Iwabuchi
– Anna Gasser
Slopestyle
Australia and New Zealand boast some of the best female talent on earth when it comes to slopestyle, but throw them in the mix with the likes of Mia Brookes, Anna Gasser and the incredible depth of young Japanese riders and you have a recipe for an extremely watchable competition. The style and technicality of the winning female runs are so wild in this day and age – take Kokomo for example – we can’t wait to see what the ladies do this season.
On the men’s side of things, slope progression is becoming so out of this world as we whip out our calculators to work out what 5 x 360 is and google to check whether a rider is regular or goofy. It seems that all of a sudden there an entirely new breed of young Asian riders who are hot on the heels of Norwegian veterans like Mons Roisland and Marcus Kleveland – and the next gen of Canadian riders on the come up like Cam Spalding, Liam Brearley and Eli Bouchard.
It’s going to be an insane season!
Event Schedule:
Jan 15-18, 2025 – Laax Open, Switzerland
Jan 24-26, 2025 – Winter X-Games, Aspen USA
Jan 30-Feb 6, 2025 – USA Grand Prix, Aspen, USA
Feb 19-23, 2025 – Calgary Snow Rodeo, Canada
March 13-14, 2025 – Absolut Park Flachauwinkl, Austria
Who we’re watching:
– Liam Brearley
– Red Gerard
– Su Yi Ming
– Kokomo Murase
– Zoi Synnott
– Tess Coady
– Mia Brooks
Halfpipe
It’s becoming arguably the most hotly contested field in snowboarding and with the level of progression in the ditch becoming nothing short of mind-blowing, halfpipe finals are always the premier event to watch. The clinical technicality of Scotty James, the impeccable style and amplitude of the Hirano brothers and the rise of Korean riders with multiple triples in a run – this season is stacked with contests we’re keen to watch.
The other interesting component of this season is the debut of Shaun White’s Snow League, who throws his hat in the ring of major snowboarding events on March 7th. With event details kind of vague right now, other than a confirmed and astounding $1.5million worth of prize money on offer, we’re curios to see how this rolls out.
Will Scotty show up? Will there be a southern hemisphere stop later next year? Time will tell.
Event Schedule
Dec 6-8, 2025 – Secret Garden Halfpipe, China
Dec 18-20, 2025 – Copper Mountain Grand Prix, USA
Jan 15-18, 2025 – Laax Open, Switzerland
Jan 24-26, 2025 – Winter X-Games, Aspen USA
Jan 30-Feb 3, 2025 – US Grand Prix, Aspen USA
Feb 19-23, 2025 – Calgary Snow Rodeo, Canada
March 7-8 – The Snow League, Aspen, USA
Who we’re watching:
– Chaeun Lee
– The Hirano Brothers
– Scotty James
– Valentino Guseli
– Chloe Kim
Follow @transfersnow for updates, results and sketchy streams to watch the events.
