Top things to know about the 2021/2022 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup 

The Big Air Chur festival in Switzerland kicked off the 2021/2022 FIS freestyle skiing World Cup season on 22 October (a dual freestyle skiing and snowboarding world cup stop). Hit by dozens of cancellations last year, the tour expects to complete the entire schedule this time out - with the finish line set for March 26 in Silvaplana, also in Switzerland.

The high-flying halfpipe skiers are certainly looking forward to the new season, since they only had one World Cup competition in 2020/2021, as well as Chinese athletes who missed last year due to COVID-19 restrictions. All of them will be hoping to get a bump from the energy provided by the return of real-life fans to the stands for the first time in a year and a half.

In the first event of the season in Chur, Switzerland, 17-year-old Austrian Matej Svancer won the big air competition with a 99.00 score in the second run. France's Tess Ledeux also scored highly, with a 95.25 securing the win in the women's competition.

This new season, Canadian Mikaël Kingsbury - nine-time overall crystal globe winner - is ready to reclaim his moguls crown after missing a chunk of last season with a back injury. As a result, the 29-year-old icon lost the moguls globe or the first time in a decade.

On the women’s side, Fanny Smith (Switzerland) and Tess Ledeux (France) snatched two crystal globes each last season, and you can expect to see Chinese breakout star Eileen Gu (halfpipe, slopestyle and big air) and moguls specialist Perrine Laffont (France) hit the headlines all the way through to March.

The World Cup will briefly pause for the freestyle skiing competition at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games (February 3-19).

MORE | Freestyle skiing schedule – Beijing 2022

Here’s our guide to the top things you need to know as the new season gets underway.

Men’s preview: King of Moguls back in business

For the first time since 2011, Mikaël Kingsbury (Canada) wasn’t a crystal globe winner last season. The owner of a slew of records in moguls - including most men's Moguls World Cup titles - could only compete in three events on the tour after suffering two fractured vertebrae. However, the two-time Olympic medallist showed he is fully recovered by winning a fifth world title in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in March 2021.

Olympic silver medallist and defending world cup champion, Matt Graham (Australia) will look to overtake Kingsbury once again. Also, it's worth keeping an eye on Frenchman Benjamin Cavet, a runner-up in the last World Championship and World Cup.

In men’s aerials, 23-year-old Maxim Burov (Russian Ski Federation) is on an absolute roll as he won the last two World Championships and his second crystal globe last season.

The American dominance in halfpipe, led by David Wise (two-time Olympic gold medallist) and Aaron Blunck - winner of the crystal globe in the discipline the past two years - might be threatened by 19-year-old Nico Porteous of New Zealand, this year’s world champion and PyeongChang 2018 Olympic bronze medallist.

Defending World Cup champion Colby Stevenson (USA) and Andri Ragettli (Switzerland) are the household names in slopestyle, especially after scooping silver and gold respectively in the last World Championship. Chasing them, you'll likely find Norwegians Ferdinand Dahl, Christian Nummedal and Oysten Braten.

There are heavy expectations on Canadian Reece Howard, reigning Rookie of the Year, who won two crystal globes in 2021 in ski cross and cross alps tour. And don't underestimate Swiss veteran Alex Fiva, who took home this year’s ski cross world title.

Finally, the Big Air field is quite open as only one World Cup event took place last year (won by 21-year-old Birk Ruud of Norway). However, the man of the hour is 2021 world champion Oliver Magnusson of Sweden.

Women’s preview: high hopes for Laffont, Eileen Gu

All you can do is chase French phenom Perrine Laffont when it comes to moguls. The 22-year-old is after her third consecutive overall crystal globe (there was no overall award given in 2021) and fifth consecutive in the moguls in this new season. An Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion, Laffont should be mindful of world championship silver medallist Yulia Galysheva (Kazakhstan). But one thing is certain: Laffont will have fun in the process!

Australian Laura Peel has been dominating the aerials, winning the World Championship and the last crystal globe of the discipline, but watch out for Americans Ashley Caldwell – silver medallist at the World Championship – and last season’s runner-up Winter Vinecki.

After her breakthrough at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games (three medals), teenage superstar Eileen Gu of the People's Republic of China will battle for her first crystal globe. The 18-year-old had outstanding performances at the 2021 X-Games – winning gold in the superpipe and slopestyle – and at the 2021 World Championship, with gold medals in the halfpipe and slopestyle.

Canadian Rachael Karker is following Gu closely in the halfpipe - with a silver medal in the World Championship and last season’s crystal globe – while Gu’s main rivals in slopestyle are Tess Ledeux (FRA), the World Cup’s last champion, as well as 21-year-old Mathilde Gremaud and 30-year-old Sarah Hoefflin, both from Switzerland.

Last year’s only big air World Cup event was won by Guilia Tanno (Switzerland), while Anastasia Tatalina, from the Russian Ski Federation, is the 2021 world champion. The early contenders in the ski cross are defending champion Fanny Smith (also Swiss) and world champion Sandra Naslund of Sweden.

When it comes to the mixed aerials competition, a first time-event at the Beijing Olympic Games, last year's lone event saw the Russian Ski Federation, Switzerland and USA climb the podium. With a balanced and versatile team, the Swiss are a good bet to defend their title in the Nations Cup.

Schedule of the 2021/2022 FIS freestyle skiing World Cup

October 22 – Chur (Switzerland) – big air
November 20, 2021 – Stubai (Austria) - slopestyle
November 27, 2021 – Secret Garden (China) – ski cross
December 2-3-4-10-11, 2021 – Ruka (Finland) – moguls, aerials, team aerials
December 4, 2021 – Steamboat (USA) – big air
December 10, 2021 – Copper Mountain (USA) - halfpipe
December 10-11, 2021 – Val Thorens (France) – ski cross, moguls
December 10-11, 2021 – Ruka (Finland) – aerials
December 11-12, 2021 – Idre (Sweden) – moguls, dual moguls
December 14-15, 2021 – Arosa (Switzerland) – ski cross, ski cross team
December 17-18, 2021 – Alpe d’Huez (France) – moguls, dual moguls
December 19-20, 2021 – Innichen (Italy) – ski cross
December 30, 2021, January 1, 2022 – Calgary (Canada) - halfpipe
January 5, 2022 – Le Relais (Canada) – aerials
January 7-8, 2022 – Mammoth (USA) – halfpipe, slopestyle
January 7-8, 2022 – Mont-Tremblant (Canada) – moguls
January 12-13-14, 2022 – Deer Valley (USA) – moguls, aerials
January 14-15, 2022 – Nakiska (Canada) – ski cross
January 16, 2022 – Font Romeu (France) - slopestyle
January 22-23, 2022 – Idre (Sweden) – ski cross
January 23, 2022 – Chiesa (Italy) – moguls
February 26-27, 2022 – Yaroslavl (Russia) – aerials, team aerials
February 26-27, 2022 – Tazawako (Japan) – moguls, dual moguls
February 26-27, 2022 – Sunny Valley (Russia) – ski cross
March 3-4-5, 2022 – Bakuriani (Georgia) - slopestyle
March 5, 2022 – Moscow (Russia) – aerials
March 5-6, 2022 - Krasnoyark (Russia) - moguls, dual moguls
March 10-11-12, 2022 – Tignes (France) - slopestyle
March 11-12-13, 2022 – Reiteralm (Switzerland) – ski cross
March 12-13, 2022 – Shymbulak (Kazakhstan) – dual moguls, aerials
March 19, 2022 – Veysonnaz (Switzerland) – ski cross
March 19-20, 2022 – Megève (France) – moguls, dual moguls
March 26, 2022 – Silvaplana (Switzerland) - slopestyle

*Information subject to change