Fin Melville Ives and Luke Harrold gave New Zealand a 1-2 finish in the men’s event, and Eileen Gu landed a clutch final run to snatch the win in the women’s contest, as the 2025-26 World Cup season for freeski halfpipe kicked off in China.

Although it didn’t produce as many crashes as the previous day’s snowboard contests did, the conditions were once again a factor at Secret Garden. Skiers struggled to maintain speed and amplitude throughout their runs, which made it difficult for most athletes to land their ideal routines.

Taking the men's victory was Melville Ives, who landed two runs that received identical scores of 90.00 from the judges. His second run, which included back-to-back 1620s, was the more difficult of his two runs, but the judges preferred the execution on his first run.

Harrold, with two strong runs of his own, was the only skier to truly challenge his teammate. His second run opened with three switch tricks and ended with a 1620, as the 17-year-old continues his ascent with unique, highly technical runs ahead of the upcoming Milan Cortina Olympics.

Behind the two New Zealanders, the leaderboard was chock full of Americans — not a surprise given that U.S. skiers accounted for nine of the 13 participants in the final. Hunter Hess finished 3rd for his fifth career World Cup podium. Birk Irving, Matt Labaugh and Nick Geiser finished 4th through 6th.

Olympians Aaron Blunck (8th) and David Wise (12th) were among the other Americans in the field. The country’s two top skiers, Alex Ferreira and Nick Goepper, did not compete at Secret Garden. Goepper is still recovering from a hard crash at last week’s Snow League event.

The 14th man in the field was supposed to be last week’s Snow League winner, Brendan Mackay of Canada, but he pulled out of the final. Mackay said on Instagram that he was “not at 100%.”

“I honestly have no words,” said Melville Ives after his win. “It was such tricky conditions today, and everyone skied so well. It was really gnarly, and I was just holding on for dear life.”

Secret Garden served as the first official selection event for the U.S. Olympic freeski halfpipe team. Ferreira entered the season pre-qualified, which leaves three men’s spots up for grabs. Up to two men can automatically be named to the team based on their best single podium result at one of the selection events.

By finishing 3rd at Secret Garden, Hess is now at the top of the list for one of those automatic Olympic berths, but three events still remain. Irving’s 4th-place finish (or even Labaugh’s 5th-place finish) could potentially come into play later down the line.

On the women’s side, Gu extended her streak of World Cup halfpipe victories to six. In total, she’s won 10 of the 11 World Cup halfpipe events she’s entered since the last Winter Olympics. She also won last week’s Snow League event in this same Secret Garden halfpipe.

This was one that Gu really had to work for, though. She struggled with speed during practice and said that she considered pulling out of the event because she wasn’t getting enough amplitude to land her tricks. Her first run of the contest was derailed by speed issues but still earned a solid enough score to land her in 2nd place behind reigning world champion Zoe Atkin of Great Britain.

The contest came down to the very final run, with Gu last to drop for Run 2. This time, she landed her full run for the first time all day: back-to-back 900s, a right 720, a switch left 720, and back-to-back alley-oop 540s. Her score of 91.75 was just enough to bump Atkin out of the top spot and give her the win.

“It was such a mental battle,” Gu said afterward. “I think having the fans and friends out here to support meant the world to me and really just gave me the power-up that I needed.”

While Gu is widely presumed to be the Olympic favorite in all three freeski disciplines, halfpipe has been her primary focus in recent years and will be the one she’s the biggest favorite in. During her post-contest interview, she summed up her key to success: “I train like I’ve never won, and I compete like I’ve never lost.”

Australia’s Indra Brown, just 15 years old, finished 3rd to secure a podium finish in her World Cup debut, putting herself on the radar as one to watch this season. Although both her runs were hindered by speed issues, they had the sort of trick composition that judges like to see, with back-to-back 900s, spins in all four directions, and an alley-oop rotation.

No Americans made the final of the women’s contest. Kate Gray, who finished 12th in qualifying, had the best result overall.

Next up for the halfpipe skiers will be a U.S. Grand Prix event at Copper Mountain in Colorado. It will be the second of five freeski halfpipe events during this World Cup season. Four of those events take place before the Milan Cortina Olympics, and all four will be used as selection events for the U.S. Olympic team.

Meanwhile, another U.S. selection event is already underway in Steamboat Springs, Colorado — this one for the slopestyle and big air teams. Finals of the Visa Big Air event in both freeskiing and snowboarding will take place on Saturday, starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Men’s Freeski Halfpipe

1. Fin Melville Ives (NZL), 90.00
2. Luke Harrold (NZL), 89.00
3. Hunter Hess (USA), 86.25
4. Birk Irving (USA), 85.25
5. Matt Labaugh (USA), 84.50
6. Nick Geiser (USA), 80.00
7. Dylan Marineau (CAN), 70.00
8. Aaron Blunck (USA), 64.50
9. Dylan Ladd  (USA), 59.25
10. Toma Matsuura (JPN), 57.25
11. Hunter Maytin (USA), 55.25
12. David Wise (USA), 50.75
13. Tristan Feinberg (USA), 35.75
14. Brendan Mackay (CAN), DNS

Women’s Freeski Halfpipe

1. Eileen Gu (CHN), 91.75
2. Zoe Atkin (GBR), 90.25
3. Indra Brown (AUS), 82.00
4. Amy Fraser (CAN), 79.50
5. Zhang Kexin (CHN), 78.25
6. Cassie Sharpe (CAN), 65.50
7. Mischa Thomas (NZL), 60.00
8. Kelly Sildaru (EST), 57.50
9. Li Fanghui (CHN), 9.25
10. Rachael Karker (CAN), DNS