Snow Australia Awards – Male Athletes of The Year

Mountainwatch | Press Release

The Snow Australia Awards recognise the achievements of our elite snowsport athletes over the past 12 months, and today we congratulate the Male Athletes of the Year for the Olympic disciplines, as nominated by their respective National Discipline Committees

These athletes are now nominated for the overall Male Athlete of the Year – Olympic Disciplines, which will be presented at the Snow Australia Awards on Thursday 2 May in Melbourne.

Snowboard Park & Pipe Male Athlete of the Year (Halfpipe) – Scotty James
Competing selectively throughout the season, Scotty James showed he remains one of the premier halfpipe riders on the planet. Scotty opened the season in perfect fashion, winning the Secret Garden World Cup in China before another top 10 performance at Copper Mountain. In January, Scotty won his third Laax Open before going on to a record sixth X-Games SuperPipe gold in Aspen. Such was his performance in limited outings, Scotty still finished third on the Halfpipe World Cup standings behind Japan’s Ruka Hirano (who competed in two more events) – and compatriot Valentino Guseli.

Snowboard Park & Pipe Male Athlete of the Year (Big Air/Slopestyle) – Valentino Guseli
Valentino Guseli’s record breaking 22/23 campaign was always going to be hard to replicate, but if anyone was up for the challenge… it was Val. He continued to be a Park & Pipe triple threat, competing in 11 World Cups for three podiums and a halfpipe victory in Calgary.

Going into the final World Cup of the season, Val sat 40 points behind Japan’s Ryoma Kimata on the overall standings. When Kimata missed the slopestyle final in Silvaplana, Val required at least a third place finish or better to move into first overall. A man for the moment, Val finished third in the final and defend his Overall Park & Pipe Crystal Globe.

 Snowboard Cross Male Athlete of the Year – Cam Bolton
Entering this season, Cam Bolton had claimed four podium finishes from 59 World Cup races, dating back to his first event back in 2011. Cam doubled that tally this season alone, with four second place finishes in a career-best campaign.

A further six top ten results saw Cam finish third on the overall snowboard cross World Cup standings, headed only by the gold and silver medallists from the Beijing Winter Olympics. Over the course of the season, Cam was only ever twice out of the top 10, qualifying for four big finals and winning three of his four small finals.

Photo: FIS Snowboard

Mogul Skiing Male Athlete of the Year – Cooper Woods
Cooper Woods enjoyed his best season to date on the Moguls World Cup circuit with a number of breakthrough performances. Cooper built into the season with regular top 10 results in both singles and dual moguls, before eventually scoring his first World Cup podium at Waterville in New Hampshire.

In a discipline which sees more than 50 athletes in the starting gate at each event, Woods never finished outside the top 17. Those consistent results over 13 World Cups saw Cooper finish a career-best seventh on the World Cup moguls standings, 10th overall and 11th in dual moguls.

Freeski Park & Pipe Male Athlete of the Year – Kai Martin
Kai Martin’s return to the green and gold sparked his most impressive international season to date. The Sydney-born freeskier had been representing Canada for five years before switching allegiances to Australia, and tasting instant success with slopestyle gold at the Australia New Zealand Cup in The Remarkables. Kai went on to make his World Cup debut in the opening event of the year in Chur, Switzerland, and scored his first World Cup points with a 23rd place result at Tignes in March.

Cross Country Skiing Male Athlete of the Year – Hugo Hinckfuss

Hugo Hinckfuss continued to enjoy strong results in the United States this season and has started to translate that success onto the world stage. Hugo also had a string of impressive Sprint qualifiers on the US Super Tour, finishing in the top three on three occasions including the USA Championship Freestyle Sprint at Soldier Hollow. He also took home a silver medal in the US Super Tour 10km Classic event at Kincaid Park in Alaska. Hugo returned to the World Cup for the first time in 26 months in February, returning career-best results in both the Sprint and 10km free.

Photo:Snow Australia

Alpine Skiing Male Athlete of the Year – Louis Muhlen Schulte

Louis Muhlen-Schulte will forever be known as the first Australian male to score World Cup points in giant slalom following a 27th place finish at Aspen in March. Louis’s strong results during the northern winter were launched by an impressive domestic campaign which included slalom and giant slalom victories at the New Zealand National Championships at Coronet Peak. The historic result makes him just the 15th Australian and 10th Australian male to ever score Alpine World Cup points. He is the first Australian male since Craig Branch more than a decade ago to achieve this feat.

Alpine Snowboard Male Athlete of the Year – Harvey Edmanson
Harvey Edmanson continued to hone his craft in the 2023/24 season, competing in seven World Cup races along with 88 Europa Cups. In January, Harvey scored his best ever Europe Cup result, fourth place in parallel slalom at Folgaria in Italy, before backing it up with an eighth place finish at Pamporovo in Bulgaria later in the month. The results scored him the highest two FIS points results of his career and a 23rd place on the overall Europa Cup standings