The Swatch Nines never fail us. Somebody changes the game forever, without fail, every year when the progression session brings together the most creative, talented, and innovative athletes in skiing and snowboarding. Take just a few examples of “world firsts” that came out of Switzerland recently:
– Valentino Guseli set a new world record for the highest air ever on a snowboard in 2024.
– Norwegian snowboarder Oyvind Kirkhus stuck the world’s first switch backside quad 1620 this week.
-Skier Hiroto Ogiwara landed the first backside 2160 in 2022.
– Japanese snowboarder Reira Iwabuchi put up the first-ever frontside triple 1260 in women’s snowboarding, also in 2022.
The list could go on. And it will. That’s part of what makes the expression session so exciting. And one standout performance at this year’s event came from a para-skier named Jay Rawe. Rawe, who was injured in a BASE-jumping accident about a decade ago, became the first para-skier to land a cork 360 to 50-50. It’s a pretty psychotic trick, whether you watch it in slow motion slopeside or you see Rawe’s P.O.V. footage as he clears most of the large rail and lands flush for the 50-50 slide.
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