Troy’s Trophy Case gets gold addition as Parkite Podmilsak wins World Cup for freeski

Park City's Troy Podmilsak training with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team in Austria Photo: @loganswney // courtesy of U.S. Ski & Snowboard

BEIJING, China — Park City’s Troy Podmilsak, a member of the U.S. Freeski Team and a former member of the Park City Ski Team, brought home his first World Cup victory on Friday in Secret Garden, China, the venue that played host to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Although Podmilsak was the 2023 big air world champion, he still lacked a World Cup victory in his trophy cabinet — that has now changed. 

Podmilsak impressed the judges in a challenging field, finishing the day with a 185.50 across his two scored runs. He showed off his right triple 2160 with a mute grab, the trick he premiered at the 2023 World Champs. Alongside the 21, Podmilsak threw a switch right triple 1980 with a safety grab. He was joined on the podium by Canada’s Dylan Deschamps in second and New Zealand’s Luca Harrington in third.

This win only adds to ‘Troy’s Trophy Case’ alongside his gold medal from the X Games.

Mac Forehand, the only other American man to progress through to the finals, finished right off the podium in fourth. Forehand impressed the judges with his switch left triple 1980 with a mute grab, but couldn’t clean up his second trick enough for a podium finish.