Snowboard at Milano Cortina 2026

Born in Backyards, Now Worth Olympic Gold

Snowboarding’s origin story is the stuff of counterculture legend — homemade boards, banned from ski resorts, pioneers who looked more like surfers than athletes. That was the 1970s and ’80s. Today, Olympic snowboarding is a high-tech, hyper-competitive discipline where athletes throw 1800-degree spins (five full rotations) in halfpipe and navigate giant slalom courses that would challenge any alpine skier. The sport hasn’t lost its soul, though — style still counts, and the riders who combine technical difficulty with creative expression tend to win.

Snowboard events at Milano Cortina 2026 are staged across two venue areas: the alpine events (parallel giant slalom) in Cortina, and the freestyle events (halfpipe, slopestyle, big air, and snowboard cross) in the Livigno area. There are 11 medal events total.

The Disciplines

Halfpipe is the crown jewel. Athletes drop into a massive U-shaped snow channel and perform tricks on each wall — amplitude (how high above the lip), difficulty, execution, and variety all factor into the judges’ scores. Runs last about 45 seconds and typically feature five to six hits. The difference between a 90-point run and a 95 often comes down to a single trick’s landing.

Slopestyle features a full course with rails, boxes, kickers, and creative features. Athletes choose their own line and trick selection, with judges scoring overall impression, difficulty, and execution. The strategic choice of which features to hit — and which to skip — adds a layer of course management.

Big Air is the purest expression of aerial snowboarding: one massive jump, one trick, maximum difficulty. Three runs, best two scores count. It rewards athletes who can land the most difficult tricks cleanly under intense pressure.

Snowboard Cross is mass-start racing through a course with banked turns, jumps, and rollers. Four riders race simultaneously, top two advance. Contact is inevitable, crashes are frequent, and the results are gloriously unpredictable.

Parallel Giant Slalom pits two riders head-to-head on mirrored courses, racing through gates in a bracket elimination format. It’s the most “traditional” snowboard event and rewards carving precision.

The Stars

Shaun White retired after Beijing 2022, closing the most recognizable chapter in halfpipe history. But the sport has moved on spectacularly. Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, who edged White for gold in Beijing, has continued to push the technical ceiling with back-to-back 1440s (four full rotations) that seemed impossible a decade ago.

For the United States, the snowboard team remains one of the strongest in the world. Chloe Kim is the generational talent in women’s halfpipe — she won gold in PyeongChang at 17 and defended it in Beijing. Now 25, she enters her third Olympics as the overwhelming favorite. Her amplitude and trick consistency are in a class of their own.

In slopestyle and big air, the U.S. fields deep squads. Dusty Henricksen won the 2025 World Championship in slopestyle and brings a fearless trick repertoire. Red Gerard, the 2018 slopestyle gold medalist, is still competitive and provides veteran savvy.

Snowboard cross remains wide open. Italy’s Michela Moioli won gold in 2018 and will be racing on home snow — the Italian crowd factor in snowboard cross could be a real advantage.

What to Watch For

In halfpipe, listen for the commentators to mention “cab” (switch takeoff), “double cork” (off-axis double flip), and “1260” or “1440” (rotation degrees). Higher numbers mean more spinning, and adding a “double cork” to a 1260 makes it exponentially harder. If you see a rider throw a frontside triple cork 1440, you’re watching something that was literally impossible five years ago.

Athletes to Watch

Chloe Kim (USA, Halfpipe) — The two-time defending Olympic halfpipe champion is the most dominant rider in women’s halfpipe history, with amplitude and consistency that no rival has been able to match.

Ayumu Hirano (JPN, Halfpipe) — The reigning Olympic men’s halfpipe champion dethroned Shaun White in Beijing with a historic run and has continued pushing the technical frontier of the event.

Dusty Henricksen (USA, Slopestyle / Big Air) — The young American has won World Championship gold in slopestyle and brings a combination of technical difficulty and creative style that makes him a frontrunner in multiple events.

Lindsey Jacobellis (USA, Snowboard Cross) — The legendary snowboard cross racer finally won her long-sought Olympic gold in Beijing at age 36 and returns for one more campaign with nothing left to prove — except that she can do it again.

Michela Moioli (ITA, Snowboard Cross) — The 2018 Olympic gold medalist will have the full force of the Italian crowd behind her in snowboard cross, making her a formidable threat on a home course she knows intimately.

Venue Spotlight

Snowboard freestyle events take place in Livigno, a high-altitude resort area near the Swiss border that receives abundant natural snowfall and boasts some of Italy’s most reliable winter conditions. The purpose-built halfpipe and slopestyle courses meet the latest FIS specifications for competition-level features. Parallel giant slalom runs on a dedicated course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, while big air utilizes a striking urban-adjacent venue designed for spectator engagement.