To make watching the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics even more enjoyable, it's important to learn the basics of snowboarding slopestyle, including the sport's characteristics, highlights, and rules
■What is Snowboarding Slope Style? What's so exciting about it?
A creative competition where free thinking is directly linked to evaluation
Snowboard slopestyle is a sport in which competitors perform free-form performances on a course that combines multiple jumps and jib items such as rails, and judges evaluate the difficulty, execution, flow, and originality of the moves. It was adopted as an Olympic event at the 2014 Sochi Games and has become a symbol of snowboarding culture
The courses vary from competition to competition, but the FIS (World Ski Federation) regulates that the course must be at least 30m wide, with an overall elevation difference of 50m to 200m, and that there must be at least six sections on the course. It has become a tradition for Olympic slopestyle events to have items associated with the host country
In competitions, athletes are judged not only on their aerial jumps, but also on how they enter rails and boxes, how they use their bodies, and even the choice of tricks. What's unique about this sport is that style, or individuality, is reflected in the score. Even the same technique can be evaluated differently depending on how it's presented. The appeal of this sport is that the athlete's imagination is directly expressed. There is no right answer as to which section to compete in or how the flow should be structured. The high degree of freedom highlights the individuality of each run
However, maintaining flow at a high level is difficult. If you make a mistake on one item, you'll lose momentum, disrupting the flow of the next item, which can affect the quality of the planned trick or even force you to make changes, disrupting the flow of the entire run. It requires the technical ability to perform as intended throughout the entire run, the mental strength to stay focused, and the ability to recover when a mistake occurs
In recent years, the number and difficulty of men's air tricks have risen sharply, and the evolution shows no signs of stopping. At the Winter X Games Big Air in January 2025, Japan's Taito Hagiwara became the first person in the world to successfully land a 2340 (six and a half) jump, winning the competition and rewriting the history of the rotation record, making headlines. However, in slopestyle, even a mistake in one jump can affect the overall completion of the run, so it is said that the realistic winning mark in slopestyle is around 2160 cork
For jib items, the criteria for evaluation are how well a switch-in + compound line can be executed, how well multiple rotations and grabs can be combined from the switch, and how well reverse transitions can be "shown" in accordance with the type and characteristics of the rail
Check out the video to see it in action!
Points of interest unique to the Milan-Cortina Olympics
The parade of cutting-edge air tricks and jib equipment is a sight to behold. What kind of runs are judged as world-class? In the Competitive Snowboarding Forum, a community and forum for discussing the rules, scoring, trends, and techniques of competitive snowboarding, such as FIS competitions, the Olympics, and the X Games, there is a strong opinion that "super spins aren't necessarily good, and style should be valued more." This trend is gradually being reflected in competition judges, but one point to keep an eye on is what judges value
In terms of the on-site environment, the high altitude conditions in Cortina, a mountainous area, may affect the quality of the jumps at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. Unlike the previous Beijing Olympics, which was held in stable conditions in an urban area, the weather and snow conditions are difficult to predict
Furthermore, while a "pre-tournament" would normally be held the year before the Olympic year, it was not held this time, so it is unknown what kind of stage will be set up at the venue, Livigno Snow Park. Flexibility will be required to determine what kind of course design will be used, and the balance between expressiveness and perfection will likely determine the outcome
Along with half pike, Japanese riders are also shining brightly on the world's top scenes in big air slopestyle. Eight athletes, both men and women, are competing, and it's not surprising that any one of them is a strong contender. In the men's big air, which was the first snowboarding event, all four Japanese riders advanced to the finals, with Kimura Aoi winning gold and Kimata Ryoma winning silver. With this momentum as a tailwind, it will be interesting to see if the slopestyle medal battle will also be dominated by Japanese riders
The same athletes who can compete in slopestyle as in big air are eligible. Some athletes are good at one-shot competitions, while others are good at slopestyle. Comparing the athletes' runs in both disciplines will be a fun part of the spectators' fun
■ Snowboard Slopestyle Competition Format and Judging Method
The competition will proceed in this order from the preliminaries to the finals
<Qualifying> All skaters will skate twice, and the highest score of each skater will be used to determine the ranking. The top 12 skaters will advance to the finals.
<Finals>
All skaters will skate three times, and the highest score will be used to determine the final ranking.
In the preliminaries, the order of skating is decided by lottery. Everyone skates twice, but the higher score is used, not the total score. Because there are two chances, unless something extraordinary happens, it is rare for a strong medal candidate to be eliminated in the preliminaries. There are three chances in the finals (two in the World Cup). Therefore, athletes aiming for a medal will attempt big tricks here to get a higher score. The order of skating in the finals will start from the bottom of the preliminaries. Athletes who rank high in the preliminaries can assess the overall flow before skating, so they are considered to have a mental advantage
*The match format and ranking format may change depending on the weather on the day
■Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics Snowboard Slopestyle Competition Schedule
| Date and time | Event | Broadcast schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 2/16 (Monday) | Women's Snowboard Slopestyle Qualifiers [Japan Time] 2/16 (Mon) 18:30 | February 16th (Mon) 18:25~ NHK BS |
| Men's Snowboard Slopestyle Qualifiers [Japan time] 2/16 (Mon) 22:00 | 2/16 (Monday) 21:55~ NHK BS 22:00~ TVer https://tver.jp/olympic/milanocortina2026/live/ | |
| 2/17 (Tue) | Women's Snowboard Slopestyle Final [Japan time] 2/17 (Tue) 21:00 | February 17th (Tue) 20:00-23:05 Fuji TV Network |
| 2/18 (Wed) | Men's Snowboard Slopestyle Final [Japan time] 2/18 (Wed) 20:30 | 2/18 (Wed) 20:25 NHK BS 20:30 TVer https://tver.jp/olympic/milanocortina2026/live/ |
■ Japanese athletes scheduled to compete in snowboard slopestyle at the Milan-Cortina Olympics
[Boys]
| name | date of birth | Birthplace *Confirmation required! | Affiliation | Achievements that meet SAJ's Olympic Games recommendation criteria | |
| Kira Kimura | @kimura_kira | June 30, 2004 | Tokyo | Murasaki Sports | '24/25 W-CUP Klagenfurt BA winner '24/25 W-CUP Steamboat SS 2nd place |
| Hasegawa Taiga | @hasegawataiga1023 | October 23, 2005 | Kanagawa Prefecture | STANCER | '24/25 Youth Olympics SS winner '24/25 W-CUP Copper Mountain SS 3rd place |
| Ryoma Kimata | @ryomakimata | July 24, 2007 | Kyoto Prefecture | YAMAZEN | 24/25 W-CUP Baku BA 2nd place 24/25 W-CUP SS Finals multiple times |
| Hiroto Ogiwara | @hiroto_ogiwara | July 19, 2005 | Ibaraki Prefecture | Sendai University | '24/25 W-CUP Copper Mountain SS 3rd place '24/25 W-CUP Steamboat SS 1st place |
[Women]
| name | date of birth | Birthplace *Confirmation required! | Affiliation | Achievements that meet SAJ's Olympic Games recommendation criteria | |
| Murase Kokomo | @cocomonsan | November 7, 2004 | Gifu Prefecture | TOKIO Inkarami Snowboard Club | '24/25 W-CUP Cardrona SS/Chur BA winner |
| Reira Iwabuchi | @leila_iwabuchi | December 14, 2001 | Tokyo | Burton | '22 Beijing Olympics BA 3rd place '24/25 W-CUP Klagenfurt BA 2nd place '25 X Games Aspen BA 2nd place |
| Mari Fukada | @mari54ff | January 1, 2007 | Kyoto Prefecture | YAMAZEN | '24/25 W-CUP Cool BA Winner '24/25 W-CUP Beijing BA 2nd Place |
| Momo Suzuki | @momo__suzuki | October 29, 2007 | Fukushima Prefecture | Kirara Quest Snowboard Club | '24/25 W-CUP Klagenfurt BA 3rd place '24/25 W-CUP Aspen BA 3rd place |