Troy Podmilsak of Park City lands on podium in Swiss Big Air World Cup

The Big Air Jump in Chur Switzerland. Photo: U.S. Ski & Snowboard, @mikedawsy

CHUR, Switz. — U.S. Freeski Team athlete Troy Podmilsak, 18, of Park City, placed 3rd in the opening World Cup Big Air in Chur, Switzerland. He was the youngest athlete in the event and had the second-highest-scored jump in the contest. The scoring format is a combination of the best two scores out of three.

“I came into finals qualifying in 1st place. In finals, I fell on my first run. It was a tough position to be in but I knew I had to dig deep and put it out of my head. I just relied on my training and had confidence,” Podmilsak said. “On my second jump, I stomped an 1800 triple cork mute and got the 2nd highest score of the contest with a 94. My third jump I landed a trick that I had only done twice before. It was a Switch dub bio 1620. I could have gone a little bigger but it got me on the podium.”

Podmilsalk has already started off this season strong, especially against physical hiccups over spring and summer of this year.

“My offseason was tough,” he said. “After winning both Junior World Big Air and Slopestyle events in March 2022, I was injured and was not able to train for six months. My injury required surgery to remove a bone spur on my heel that was super angry and inflamed. I had surgery in August, and I was not able to get back to snow until September in New Zealand.”

In the qualification round, he had a high scoring of 94.00, which landed him the top spot leading into the finals. Podmilsak was the only U.S. skier to make the finals in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

He finished third overall behind Olympic Champion Birk Ruud of Norway and Noah Porter MacLennan of Canada.