Park City’s Kaila Kuhn claims first World Cup win after event moves from Deer Valley

Kaila Kuhn during the Stifel Lake Placid Freestyle World Cup Presented by iHeaRtradio - Finals on January 12, 2026 at the Lake Placid Olympic Jumping Complex, Lake Placid, NY. Photo: Mike Lawrence // U.S. Ski Team @mikelawrencesports// @usskiteam

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Citing a lack of snow, Deer Valley Resort made the difficult decision to relocate its World Cup event after decades of hosting successful annual competitions in Park City. Lake Placid, New York, became one of two venues to step in as a last-minute host for this year’s FIS Aerials World Cup.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard reports that on the final day of competition of the 2025-26 FIS Aerials World Cup season, Kaila Kuhn delivered for the second day in a row on Monday, taking home the first World Cup victory of her career at the Stifel Lake Placid Freestyle Cup presented by iHeartRadio. She was third the day before in the individual aerials competition.

Kuhn, a Park City resident and student at the University of Utah grew up in Michigan. 

“I’ve done this jump 100 times before, and when the crowd is here and the pressure is on, I just rely on that training and that’s what I did today,” Kuhn said to U.S. Ski & Snowboard after the event. “I knew that if I relied on the jumps I did all summer, then I could put it to my feet when it mattered.” 

It was a cold, snowy, blustery day in Lake Placid, New York. Not only was it the final competition of the season before the Olympic Winter Games, but it was the final chance to qualify for Team USA. Then, on top of that, the season’s overall trophy, the World Cup crystal globe, was on the line. 

In the qualification round, it was Kuhn leading the women for the second day in a row, with teammate Kyra Dossa within the top 12 to land a spot going into the finals. Kuhn, who was back on the individual aerials podium for the first time since 2021, less than 24 hours ago, qualified in first place with a lay-full-full. Going off the triple, athletes were launching themselves nearly 55-60 feet into the air; on the double, they’re going up to 40 feet. Other Americans on the startlist were Tasia Tanner, Karenna Elliott, Vinecki, Amelia Glogowski, Dani Loeb and Cate McEneany – they did not advance to finals. 

For the men, no men advanced to the finals. American athletes on the start list were Derek Krueger, Ashton Salwan, Chris Lillis, Connor Curran, Ian Schoenwald, Kane Scott, Gavin Canzano, Beaudin Napolitano and Beau Magner. 

In the final, there were two jumps on the line for the top 12 women. Only six would advance to the second round of jumping. In the first round, Kuhn performed a lay-full-full, which landed her in fourth. Into the second round, she mixed it up with a full-full-full, securing the win by having the highest-scoring jump of the round. From there, it was all about soaking up the feelings that come from winning your first-ever World Cup competition. Dossa, who was also in the finals, was 12th on the day. 

“It’s pretty indescribable,” said Kuhn, when asked how it felt to win today’s competition and make Team USA. “There is no better place where I would want to get my first World Cup win, but also ending the season with a win, especially going into the Olympics, is a huge confidence boost, and I will be going into the Olympics this year with this win in the back of my mind.” 

With today’s result, Kuhn finished the season in third place in the overall World Cup standings. 

The 2025-26 FIS Aerials World Cup has officially come to an end, but this is not the end for the athletes who are going to represent Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games in February. While the official team has not been announced, you’ll see many of the athletes who were competing in Lake Placid at the Olympic aerials venue in the mountain town of Livigno, Italy, in a few weeks. 

The second half of events moved from Deer Valley, the moguls, is set to take place in New Hampshire this weekend.