Japan’ Yuto Totsuka holds a 41-point lead over countryman Ryusei Yamada in the men’s snowboard division, leaving the championship race open heading into LAAX.
Crowd favorites Yuto Totsuka, and Ryusei Yamada, head to the Snow League season finale both in position to take the championship title in LAAX, Switzerland, March 19-21. As the fourth and final event of the inaugural Snow League season, LAAX will determine who is crowned the league’s first men’s snowboard champion.
Japan’s Totsuka—the newly minted Olympic gold medalist—leads the current standings with 270 points and holds the clearest route to the title, though not without a challenge. With one event remaining, Totsuka needs a fourth-place finish or better in LAAX to secure the inaugural Snow League championship, regardless of how the rest of the field performs.
Yamada might have something to say about that. He currently trails Totsuka by 41 points in the Season One standings, sitting in second place. Yamada claimed the win in a finals head-to-head against Totsuka in Aspen, posting a 91 over Totsuka’s 85. This result flipped the script from China, where the two also met head-to-head in the semifinals with Totsuka coming out on top. The Japanese compatriots have consistently electrified the crowd when matched against each other, fully embracing and exploring the contest’s head-to-head format.
A friendly pact of sorts has even emerged, with both athletes throwing down a “one hit, one trick” battle for the cleanest switch alley-oop double backside rodeo 900 in both Event Two and Event Three. Each has won. Will we see a repeat at LAAX?
Snow League’s head-to-head format adds another layer of strategy to the ongoing battle. Rather than relying on a single best run, riders must repeatedly answer their opponent in real time as they advance through knockout rounds. In any scenario, a rider can be required to put down nine full runs to get through a competition day, adding an aspect of endurance halfpipe competition that hasn’t been seen before. While Totsuka and Yamada have discovered a way to save a run with their “one hit, one trick” pact, the rest of the field is holding strategy close.
LAAX is not only an opportunity to be named The Snow League champion, but riders will be battling for positions in the top 8 to guarantee their invitation to Season Two.
Veteran Pat Burgener currently holds the eighth and final secure position heading into the last event and will look to defend it in front of an enthusiastic crowd on home turf in Switzerland. Just behind him sit Korea’s Chaeun Lee and American Jake Pates, both within reach of breaking into the cutoff with a strong result in LAAX. Pates, who joined The Snow League at Event Three, is in the middle of an Olympic-born breakout moment after a long hiatus from the sport and has an opportunity to secure his invite to Season Two.
With the inaugural Snow League title still undecided and several positions in the top standings up for grabs, the final stop of the season promises a heated finish. In a format built around direct head-to-head battles, the championship may ultimately be decided by one single run in the LAAX next week.
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 returned 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.
Follow The Snow League on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
MEDIA CONTACTS
The Snow League
