The U.S. Olympic picture became clearer as Hunter Hess claimed his spot on the men’s freeski halfpipe team with a 2nd-place finish at the U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen.
Hess will join teammates Alex Ferreira and Nick Goepper at the Milan Cortina Games in February, where the Americans are expected to be strong medal contenders. The 27-year-old out of Bend, Oregon matched his career-best World Cup result, which he has achieved three other times since debuting in 2016.
His 90.75-point run kicked off with a switch left double cork 900 followed by a switch right double cork 1080 mute, a left double cork 1260 Japan grab, and a right double cork 1260 reverse mute. He capped it off with his signature trick, the misty 540, one of the most unique features of any run at the competition.
Hess will hit Olympic snow for the first time in his career as the second-highest ranked athlete in the men’s freeski halfpipe World Cup standings with three podium appearances in four events this season.
New Zealand’s Finley Melville Ives claimed the win over Hess with the highest score of the day at 95.00, marking his second World Cup win this season and fourth straight trip to the podium.
“I’m just trying to have as much fun as possible when I’m skiing,” Melville Ives said after the victory. “The halfpipe is like a blank canvas and you’re just like an artist with a brush.”
The 19-year-old Kiwi certainly created a masterpiece with a winning run that featured complex maneuvers like the left alley-oop double flatspin 1080 mute. The reigning world champion has skyrocketed to success over the past year, collecting three victories in his four competitions.
Goepper rounded out the podium, as his 3rd-place finish was essentially a practice run for the main event set to take place in Livigno in under a month. It will be his fourth trip to the Olympics, but his first time competing in halfpipe after making the switch from slopestyle.
Ferreira wound up finishing 6th overall with a score of 82.75 on home snow, which broke a streak of 12 straight World Cup podium finishes. He will look to take home his third Olympic medal in February after capturing silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022.
A fourth athlete will be named to the U.S. Olympic team at a later date with multiple men vying for the spot. Birk Irving is the next man up to qualify and, although he ultimately came in 5th, he previously reached the podium with a 3rd-place finish in Calgary which gives him the edge over other Americans like Matt Labaugh. Irving currently is ranked third overall in the World Cup standings behind only Melville Ives and Hess. U.S. Ski and Snowboard has the option of making a discretionary pick.
If he can earn the final position on the men’s team, he will join his younger sister Svea Irving in Italy. Svea did not participate in the action in Aspen but qualified for the Winter Games thanks to her performances in previous selection events, namely a 3rd-place finish in Calgary.
Li Fanghui of China posted a dominant score of 93.00 in her women’s freeski halfpipe victory, narrowly besting top qualifier and reigning world champion Zoe Atkin of Great Britain by one-fourth of a point. This mirrored the common trend over recent years, like when the two athletes jointly won the Crystal Globe in 2025 after posting identical results.
Li tallied her second career World Cup win courtesy of a high-scoring run that included a right 720 esco grab, a switch left 720, a right 540 mute, a left 720 tailgrab, and a switch right 900 tail grab to wrap it up. The 22-year-old is set to make her second appearance at the Winter Games after finishing 5th overall in Beijing.
With the 2nd-place result, Atkin finished on the podium for the sixth straight competition dating all the way back to Copper Mountain in 2024.
In 3rd place, Li’s teammate Zhang Kexin reached her third podium of the season after coming 2nd in Calgary and 3rd in Copper.
Abby Winterberger was the highest-scoring American in the women’s event, finishing in 6th with a top score of 80.75.
The remaining names for the U.S. men’s and women’s freeski halfpipe teams will be revealed later in January. The Olympic qualifying rounds for both sides will take place on February 19, and the World Cup season resumes on March 29 in Silvaplana, Switzerland.
Men’s Freeski Halfpipe
1. Finley Melville Ives (NZL), 95.00
2. Hunter Hess (USA), 90.75
3. Nick Goepper (USA), 90.25
4. Matthew Labaugh (USA), 88.00
5. Birk Irving (USA), 86.25
6. Alex Ferreira (USA), 82.75
7. Nick Geiser (USA), 78.50
8. Gus Kenworthy (GBR), 74.25
9. Gustav Legnavsky (NZL), 61.25
10. Tristan Feinberg (USA), 42.00
11. Henry Sildaru (EST), 40.75
12. David Wise (USA), 21.75
13. Aaron Blunck (USA), 14.75
14. Dylan Ladd (USA), 10.75
Women’s Freeski Halfpipe
1. Li Fanghui (CHN), 93.00
2. Zoe Atkin (GBR), 92.75
3. Zhang Kexin (CHN), 88.75
4. Indra Brown (AUS), 85.00
5. Mischa Thomas (NZL), 82.50
6. Abby Winterberger (USA), 80.75
7. Kelly Sildaru (EST), 76.50
8. Riley Jacobs (USA), 74.50
9. Hanna Faulhaber (USA), 70.00
10. Keva Kelly (USA), 64.25