The Milan-Cortina Olympics will feature tricks of unimaginable difficulty. Behind the scenes, there is gear that supports the athletes' high performance. What kind of gear do the top athletes use?
Skis used by world-class athletes
"Slopestyle combines big jumps and jib elements like rails on one run. The basic premise is that skis need to be strong enough to withstand the impact of landing the jumps, and have high maneuverability to perform jib tricks with ease. On top of that, there are also butter movements involved, so some skiers use skis with softer noses when buttering, or choose thicker skis. Even so, it seems like most skiers choose park-oriented models around 90mm."
"These are the words of Kentaro Tsuda, the current head coach of the All Japan Freestyle Ski Team's halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air divisions. Let's take a look at what kind of skis the athletes competing for medals used in the men's ski slopestyle finals held on February 10th
First, here are the results
Beijing Olympic Big Air gold medalist Birk Ruud defeated the previous slopestyle champion Alex Hall in a head-to-head match, defeating him to the silver medal and taking the top spot. He demonstrated his world champion status. The bronze medal went to Luca Harrington, a young talent who won last season's X-Games slopestyle despite competing for the first time
▼Highlights from the slopestyle event
Check out the skis used by the riders who made it to the finals!
The slopestyle event at this year's competition featured a highly challenging jib section at the top of the course, making it a course that even the 12 finalists struggled with. What skis did the athletes use to support such a tough battle? We'll take a closer look at the details of the new models in a future post, but first let's take a look at which brands and models the athletes were riding
It's interesting to look at the gear used and the athletes' own Instagram posts, as their honest words convey the atmosphere of the tournament and their feelings
Birk Ruud (NOR)
VÖLKL | Revolt 90 ['26-27 model]
Alex Hall (USA)
FACTION | Studio 2 ['25-26 model]
Luca Harrington (NZL)
VÖLKL | Revolt 86 ['26-27 model]
Andri Ragettli (SUI)
VÖLKL | Revolt 90 ['25-26 model]
Jesper Tjader (SWE)
HEAD | OBLIVION 84 ['25-26 model]
Sebastian Schjerve (NOR)
VÖLKL | Revolt 90 ['26-27 model]
Matej Svancer (AUT)
FACTION | Prodigy 1 Matej ['25-26 model]
Ben Barclay (NZL)
ATOMIC | Bent Decode ['26-27 model]
Konnor Ralph (USA)
LINE | TOM WALLISH PRO ['26-27 model]
Kim Gubser (SUI)
LINE ｜ TOM WALLISH PRO ['26-27 model]
Mac Forehand (USA)
FACTION | Prodigy 3 Capsule ['25-26 model]
Tormod Frostad (NOR)
FACTION | Prodigy 2 ['25-26 model]
