Eighteen-year-old Finley Melville Ives (Wānaka) has won his maiden World Cup, claiming the top spot at the FIS Freeski Halfpipe World Cup in Calgary. This marks the first World Cup podium of his career and makes him the youngest New Zealander to ever win a FIS Freeski World Cup.
Almost unable to believe it himself, Melville Ives exclaimed; “I just can’t believe it, I am so stoked! I have trained so hard and I am so happy to put down my run. It has been a dream run of mine for so long, so to finally put it down in the pipe is unreal.”
The mercury has hovered around -20 degrees Celsius this week in Calgary, but the frigid conditions didn’t cause any issues for Melville Ives. Up against some of the strongest halfpipe competitors on the World Cup Tour, Melville Ives put down his winning run on his first of two runs in the finals.
Melville Ives laced together a highly technical run, which included a left double corked 1620 mute grab into a unique left alley oop double corked flat spin 1080 mute grab to take the lead after the first run with a score of 92.75.
Melville Ives qualified into today’s finals in the middle of the pack, meaning after he had completed his second run (recording a ‘Did Not Improve) he had a nervous wait with nine athletes still left to drop who could influence the podium. His first run score proved untouchable, and held throughout the remainder of the competition for Melville Ives to secure his maiden World Cup victory.
He was joined on the podium by two of the most successful freeskiers in the game, Nick Goepper (2nd place) and Alex Ferreira (3rd place) of the USA. Melville Ives has looked up to Goepper and Ferreira throughout his career, saying; “Both of them are my heroes growing up, I have watched them on the TV and at the Olympics, I can’t believe it, this is nuts!”
Fellow Kiwi Luke Harrold (Lake Hāwea, 16) finished just off the podium with a season’s best fourth place result.
Today’s competition marks the final stop of the 2025 FIS Freeski Halfpipe World Cup Tour, with Ferreira crowned the overall winner taking home the Crystal Globe. Melville Ives finished in fourth place overall in the 2025 Freeski Halfpipe World Cup standings.
The next major event on the horizon for the Kiwi Freeski Halfpipe Team is the World Championships, scheduled for the end of March in Switzerland.
5 days ago