In the women’s competition, however, it was a two-skier show, as Johanne Killi and second-place finisher Kirsty Muir (GBR) were a cut above on the day.

Killi’s winning run started on the rails with a left 270 on to switch, then a switch right 270 on to forward on the down rail, and then a right k-fed on the big rainbow rail. Through the jumps, Johanne Killi then went right 360 Japan, left 900 tail grab, switch left 720 Japan, and finally switch right 720 Japan to finish things off for a score of 84.80 and her third win in three slopestyle World Cup starts this season.

Most people would probably be surprised to learn that, before what has turned into the most successful season, Killi was contemplating not competing this winter at all.

“I was struggling with my mental health (before the season),” Johanne Killi said from the finish area just after the awards ceremony, “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue skiing, but I decided I would just travel with the team to see if I changed my mind. At some point, I decided that I just wanted to do slopestyle comps, and now I have three slopestyle wins and I’m so, so happy. I can’t believe it. It makes me so much more motivated to keep skiing.

“Opening up to my team and my friends and family that I had kind of lost motivation helped me to feel better about what I was going through. Now I’m making my own choices about skiing and it’s made me more relaxed about it.”

As mentioned, with a score of 82.00 it was Kirsty Muir who gave Johanne Killi the strongest challenge of the day on Saturday, as the 18-year-old followed up her top qualifying performance on Thursday with another strong day at the Mammoth venue on Saturday.

Super smooth through the rails and finishing her run off with a right-corked 720 safety to left-corked 900 tail grab on the final two jumps, Muir would easily earn her second career World Cup podium while moving herself up into fourth place on the slopestyle World Cup rankings.

Finally, third place for the women with a score of 70.80 was World Cup rookie Ruby Star Andrews (NZL), who dropped in on just the second World Cup competition of her young career and walked away with her first career podium.

Last season’s Leysin 2022 Junior World Champion in slopestyle, Andrews has made the transition to the World Cup tour look easy, stomping a Mammoth final run highlighted by her stylish rail section where she went left slide frontside 270 out on the first rail, switch right 270 on the down, and then left back swap continuing 270 out on the rainbow rail.

With two World Cup slopestyle competitions left in the season, Killi has a perfect 300 points, putting her 140 clear of Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) and her 160.