Olympic Qualification on the Line: FIS Sends It Into Park & Pipe Big Air Season | GearJunkie

Oct 19, 2024

The 2026 Olympic qualification period has started, and this weekend, pro skiers and snowboarders will start competing for their place in the Olympic Games. To make the Olympic team, athletes must compete in a series of sanctioned events and earn points toward a qualifying quota. The 2024/25 FIS Park & Pipe Big Air competition is their first opportunity to throw down.

Big Air Chur will kick off the 2024/25 FIS Park & Pipe Big Air season on Oct. 18 and 19. With the Milano-Cortina Winter Games on the horizon, the stakes are high for every competing athlete.

According to the International Ski Federation (FIS), this will be the “biggest” park and pipe big air season in the competition’s history. Between Oct. 18 and Mar. 30, it has six freeskiing competitions and five snowboarding competitions scheduled — more than it has ever hosted for a single year. These 11 Olympic qualifying events are spread across Europe, Asia, and North America. The finale will be a massive event in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

In a press release, FIS promised, “There’s plenty to be hyped about this winter.”

Here is the quick and dirty rundown on where to watch the 2024/25 FIS Park & Pipe Big Air Competition, how to get results, the schedule of competitions, and some of the athletes who will be there.

A post shared by FIS Park & Pipe World Cup (@fisparkandpipe)

In the U.S., if you want to watch the action live, you must have an account with skiandsnowboard.live. Or, if you’re in Canada, CBC Sports will broadcast the competition. If you want live results from the big air competition, you can find them for free on the FIS website or app.

This year’s list of big air competitors has some of the biggest names in freeskiing and freestyle skiing and riding. There are too many awesome athletes to list all of them. FIS highlights more of them on its web pages, previewing the skiing and snowboarding competitions. Here are just a few of the competitors we’re most excited to see.

Ever wonder how professional skiers make it big? How about how to train for big air? Check out our interview with gold medalist Alex Hall. Read more…