Olympic gold medalist Alex Hall headlines the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colorado, airing on NBC Sports and Peacock this weekend.
For some skiers and snowboarders, it’s their first competition since the Olympics in February.
The first finals are Friday -- men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe and ski big air. The halfpipe landscape changed with Shaun White‘s retirement and Chloe Kim‘s break from competition this year.
Without them, two-time Olympic medalist Scotty James of Australia leads the men’s field that also includes U.S. Olympians Taylor Gold and Chase Josey. Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, the reigning Olympic champion, didn’t enter after competing in his national skateboarding championships last month.
Spain’s Queralt Castellet, who took silver behind Kim at the Olympics, is in Friday’s women’s final along with U.S. Olympian Maddie Mastro.
Friday’s men’s ski big air final includes two reigning Olympic champions: Hall, who won slopestyle gold in February, and Norwegian Birk Ruud, who prevailed in ski big air’s Olympic debut.
The women’s ski big air final includes Olympic silver and bronze medalists Tess Ledeux of France and Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland. Eileen Gu, the Olympic gold medalist from China, did not enter Copper but has been training while balancing Stanford freshman classes.
U.S. Grand Prix Broadcast Schedule
Day | Time (ET) | Event | Platforms |
Saturday | 12 p.m.* | Ski Big Air | Peacock |
Sunday | 12:30 p.m.* | Snowboard Big Air | NBC, Peacock |
4:30 p.m.* | Snowboard Halfpipe | NBC, Peacock | |
Saturday, Dec. 24 | 5 p.m.* | Ski Halfpipe | NBC, Peacock |
*Delayed broadcasts. All coverage also streams on NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app for subscribers.
Two-time Olympic medalist Alex Ferreira reached Saturday’s men’s ski halfpipe final, which will not include two-time Olympic champion David Wise, who was eliminated in qualifying. New Zealand’s Nico Porteous, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, is expected to be out until 2023 after offseason knee surgery.
The women’s ski halfpipe final, also Saturday, includes Olympic bronze medalist Rachael Karker of Canada, plus U.S. Olympians Brita Sigourney, Hanna Faulhaber and Carly Margulies. Gu won this event at the Olympics.
U.S. Olympian Chris Corning made Saturday’s snowboard big air final. None of the reigning Olympic big air medalists entered.
Julia Marino, who took slopestyle silver at the Olympics, is in the women’s big air final. Anna Gasser of Austria, who won the first two Olympic big air titles, did not enter Copper.
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