Olympic Gold Medalist and second-place finisher Yuto Totsuka, and third-place finisher Sena Tomita, maintain their Snow League World Championship Standings with all sights set on the season finale in LAAX, Switzerland.
ASPEN, CO (February 28) – Olympic Bronze Medalist Ryusei Yamada (JPN) and 16-year-old Sara Shimizu (JPN), competing in her Snow League debut, claimed victory at Event Three of The Snow League at Buttermilk at Aspen Snowmass.
Yamada and Shimizu entered Finals Day as the top qualifiers and battled their way through the head-to-head brackets under perfect bluebird skies. With ideal halfpipe conditions, a packed and energetic crowd, and live music fueling the atmosphere, the stage was set for a high-energy showdown from start to finish.
In the women’s competition, Shimizu delivered a dominant performance, winning both runs in all three rounds and earning the top three scores of the day. She saved her strongest performance for the final against second-place finisher Maddie Mastro (USA).
Mastro launched a progressive run featuring a double crippler Indy and a frontside double cork 1080. Shimizu responded with the highest-scoring women’s run of the day, a 94.50, executing a near-flawless top-to-bottom performance opening with a massive frontside double cork 1080 truck driver nearly 13-feet out, into a Cab 720 mute, linking up a pair of 900s—a frontside 900 tail grab into a backside 900 mute—and finishing with a frontside 540 Indy, matching her first hit amplitude.
Women’s Final Brackets
This is the same run that saw Shimizu finish fourth at the Olympics, but she says it is the first time she was able to put down her run this clean. Shimizu says her goal for her debut was just to participate, so to come away with the win “means so much.”
Mastro’s runner-up finish, matching her second-place result at Event One, moves her from fifth to third in the Snow League World Championship Standings. Current standings leader Sena Tomita (JPN) finished third today, maintaining her overall lead in The Snow League standings.
Women’s Season Standings – Top 10
Sixteen-year-old Rise Kudo (JPN) was unable to compete in the third-place matchup after sustaining a fall in practice. She earned fourth place, moving up to fourth in the overall standings. Olympic bronze medalist Mitsuki Ono (JPN) holds onto second place in the standings despite an early exit in the quarterfinals against Tomita.
The men’s competition delivered standout moments throughout the day, with the semifinals producing the biggest highlights. Olympic gold medalist and current Snow League World Championship standings leader, Yuto Totsuka (JPN) laid down his Olympic gold medal-winning run to move past Cam Melville Ives (NZL), earning the top score of the day, a 92.50, to secure his place in the final.
Yamada was equally tested in his semifinal matchup against Jake Pates (USA). Run one of three saw Yamada unleash his effortless style down the halfpipe. He linked up a stylish switch McTwist Japan, into a Cab double cork 1080 drunk driver, followed by a frontside double cork 1260 mute, a McTwist Japan soaring nearly 17 feet out of the pipe, and a finishing with a frontside double cork 1080 melon grab to punch his ticket to the final.
Men’s Final Brackets
The final round between Yamada and Totsuka opened with both riders throwing down a switch alley-oop double backside rodeo 900 in a one-hit showdown, with Yamada taking the first run. Totsuka evened the matchup to force a decisive third-run tiebreaker. In the final exchange, Totsuka went down, leaving the door open for Yamada. Rather than play it safe, Yamada charged into a full run of his own, also falling, but his all-in efforts were then rewarded, securing his inaugural Snow League victory in dramatic fashion.
Yamada’s victory propels him from fourth to second in the Snow League World Championship Standings, behind overall leader Totsuka. Event Two champion Ayumu Hirano (JPN) remains in third as the championship race tightens heading into the final event at LAAX, Switzerland.
Men’s Season Standings – Top 10
Fans were treated to more than just world-class riding throughout the day. The energy remained high with a halftime performance by NEIL FRANCES, and Wyclef Jean closing out Event Three at Aspen Buttermilk. The field of Olympians and Snow League founder Shaun White joined in the celebration onstage bringing the packed crowd to its feet and capping off a memorable weekend of competition.
Next up is Event Four at LAAX, Switzerland, March 19–21, where the freeski field will rejoin the snowboarders in the final opportunity to earn crucial Snow League World Championship Standings points and battle for the overall title as Season One reaches its dramatic conclusion.
How to Watch The Snow League
NBC and Peacock will present coverage of The Snow League in the United States. Following the live stream of finals on Peacock, NBC will air an Encore Presentation featuring the best of the Finals Day action on Sunday, March 1 from noon to 1 p.m. ET.
Viewers in Canada can relive the action with recaps shows on Game+ television network.
European viewers can watch recap shows on Eurosport 1 on Monday, March 16 at 9 p.m. CET and Eurosport 2 on Tuesday, March 17 at 10 p.m. CET.
The complete global listings are available at this link.
About The Snow League
Launched in June 2024, The Snow League is the first professional winter sports league dedicated to snowboarding and freeskiing. Founded by three-time Olympic gold medalist and entrepreneur Shaun White, Season One features a four-event global format boasting a $2.2 million season purse, with athletes competing to earn points to determine the overall champions. The season kicked off at Buttermilk in Aspen Snowmass (March 7–8, 2025), then headed to Yunding Snow Park, China (Dec. 4–6, 2025), where 16 of the world’s top freeskiers joined the roster at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games venue. The League returns to Aspen (Feb. 27–28, 2026) and concludes at LAAX, Switzerland (March 19–21, 2026), where the first-ever Snow League World Champions will be crowned.
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