Canadian freestyle skier Brendan Mackay emerged victorious in the first-ever men’s halfpipe event at Shaun White’s Snow League held in Secret Garden, China. Hailing from Calgary at 28 years old, Mackay secured the gold medal by triumphing in three head-to-head matchups, ultimately defeating 17-year-old Luke Harrold from New Zealand in the final round.
The Snow League features a distinctive format where skiers face off one-on-one in a series of best-of-three duels across three rounds. Mackay overcame Hunter Hess from the United States in the quarterfinals and later bested American Nick Goepper in the semifinals to clinch the title. As the 2023 halfpipe world champion, Mackay earned a $50,000 US prize for his first-place finish, part of the $250,000 total freeski prize pool.
In the women’s event, Eileen Gu of China, who previously achieved success at the Beijing Olympics, secured the first women’s Snow League title for freeskiing by defeating her compatriot Zhang Kexin in the final. Gu and Mackay currently lead the Snow League standings with 100 points each, with the next event scheduled to take place in LAAX, Switzerland in March 2026.
Gu, originally from San Francisco but competing for China, is anticipated to be a top contender in all three freeski disciplines at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy, having previously won gold in halfpipe and big air, along with a silver in slopestyle in China three years ago. Additionally, in the snowboard events, Ayumu Hirano of Japan and Patti Zhou of China emerged as the respective winners in the men’s and women’s competitions.
Viewers can relive Mackay’s impressive performance in the freeski halfpipe event via the provided video replay link.
