The Big Air event is one of the highlights of X Games Aspen year after year. Riders compete on a 75-foot jump with eight men and eight women attempting to nail the best trick. After three runs with only the best score counting, four riders from each field move onto the finals. There, each athlete has two runs and the single highest score wins.
Skiers are judged on aggressive execution of maneuvers, degree of difficulty and variety of tricks, originality and style.
What did we just watch?! The 2025 X Games Ski Big Air had two world firsts, it took a 93 or higher to get out of the playoff round and a brother and sister won their respective Big Air events in the same year. This event was electric immediately as Troy Podmilsak threw a 2160, the trick that won him X-Games Gold in 2024, as his first trick in the playoff round. The rest of the competitors were sensational in the playoff round as well, but after three runs, only Matej Svancer, Troy Podmilsak, Miro Tabanelli and X-Games rookie Luca Harrington moved on to the final. This sent home huge names like Mac Forehand, Birk Ruud and Alex Hall, who did one of the nastiest zero spins of all time as his opening trick.
Run one of the final started with a bang as Matej Svancer landed a world’s first switch tail butter cork 3 2160, which earned him a 96.33. This seat at the top was short-lived for Matej as Miro Tabanelli, for the second time in the contest, landed a double cork 2340 – another world’s first – which earned him a near perfect score of 98. With Miro seeded last to drop, he was in the driver’s seat to see if anyone could dethrone him with their second run.
After Matej Svancer’s world first, he decided to dedicate his second run to the people by landing a huge switch front flip, letting his previous 96.33 be his final score. Next, Luca Harrington hucked a perfectly capped tail grab triple cork 2160, solidifying his silver medal with a 97. Then, Troy Podmilsak put it all on the line for gold, trying to one-up Miro’s 2340 by adding another flip, but he couldn’t hold on to the landing, cementing Miro Tabanelli as the X-Games Gold Medalist. This also meant that Matej Svancer took home the bronze.
This event was a huge progression in the world of competitive skiing, with nearly every competitor pushing the limits of what was thought possible on a pair of skis. It’s also important to mention that all of the medal winners are under the age of 21, which means we have bright youth to lead the world of freeskiing, and we already can’t wait for Big Air 2026.
🥇 Miro Tabanelli (ITA) 98.00
🥈 Luca Harrington (NZL) 97.00
🥉 Matej Svancer (AUT) 96.33
