Sena Tomita and Yuto Totsuka Take Historic First Wins at The Snow League's Debut at Aspen Snowmass

Associated Press

09-03-2025

Sena Tomita (JPN) and Yuto Totsuka (JPN) made history by winning The Snow League's inaugural event at Buttermilk at Aspen Snowmass in the women's and men's snowboarding halfpipe competition. Each earned a first-place prize of $50,000 out of a total prize purse of $370,000 for the event. Tomita and Totsuka took the lead in the Snow League World Championship Standings, claiming 100 points each, with three events remaining in Season One.
In addition to the dramatic action in the halfpipe, The Snow League's inaugural event was highlighted by a surprise performance from Sofi Tukker, who took the stage for an energetic halftime performance. The star-studded crowd, including Nina Dobrev, J Balvin, Miles and Keleigh Teller, Julianne Hough, and Pom Klementieff, then watched Big Boi take the stage to close out the first-ever Snow League in style, with athletes, fans, and the Aspen vibe squad joining together to dance the afternoon away.
The Snow League founder, Shaun White, reveled in seeing his vision come to life. White, who was on stage with the athletes to present the inaugural Snow League trophies, designed by Tiffany & Co., said, 'I've never been so excited for a competition. There was so much drama, so much excitement,' he beamed. 'I don't know when I've been this excited for a competition—as a spectator watching the sport I love, it's been so amazing to see.'
Today's event at Buttermilk in Aspen, Colorado showcased a completely reimagined halfpipe finals format with eight men and eight women athletes pitted in head-to-head battles.
The women's final saw a dramatic back-and-forth contest between the top athlete from qualifying, Maddie Mastro (USA) and Tomita. Each claimed a winning run in the best of three run format—first Tomita and then Mastro. This led to a third and final run, where Tomita rose to the challenge, overtaking Mastro by a mere 0.5 points to win. Tomita's final run saw her throw a huge 12-foot frontside 1080 tailgrab, into a switch frontside 720, linking up a pair of 540s, finishing strong with a frontside 900 melon grab, and a final Method.
Speaking through a Japanese translator, Tomita shared, 'I'm so happy to win the inaugural Snow League event—this feels like the start of something big!' When asked what the victory meant to her, she said, 'It's hard to put into words, but this is so awesome!' The 25-year-old was emotional, revealing that it had been a challenging season leading up to the event. Despite the nerves, she delivered when it mattered, claiming the win in front of a cheering crowd in Aspen.
In the third-place matchup, it was 16-year-old Gaon Choi (KOR) claiming the win—Choi had shown a fierce competitiveness earlier in the day, going back-and-forth with Tomita in the semifinals before falling to her in the third run. In her head-to-head battle with Mitsuki Ono (JPN), Choi won both of the first two runs to take third place, with Ono finishing in fourth.
In the men's semifinals, a showdown of a trio of Japanese stars and a rising American battled it out for the top spots on the podium. Ayumu Hirano (JPN), the top qualifier coming into the finals, was relegated to the third-place matchup after losing an exciting semifinal battle against Totsuka. In the other semifinal, 16-year-old Alessandro Barbieri (USA) lost out to Ruka Hirano (JPN), with the Japanese star winning the first two runs to claim victory.
The final featured Totsuka (JPN) going against Ruka Hirano in a matchup that saw both athletes put down immaculate first runs, with Totsuka edging out Hirano. It was in the second run that Totsuka soundly defeated Hirano, posting the highest men's run score of the day at 96.5. Totsuka dropped in on the right side, firing into a nearly 13-foot switch backside double cork 1080 Japan, into a backside 900 mute, and linking up back-to-back 1440s, going frontside triple cork 1440 Indy into a switch frontside triple cork 1440 Indy that had the crowd go wild.
Speaking in his native Japanese, Totsuka said through an interpreter, 'To win [the Snow League] in these conditions was incredible.' When asked what it was like to be the winner of the first-ever Snow League event, Totsuka said it was an incredible feeling, and the fact that the legend, Shaun White, had created this event and to be able to win it was so much fun.
Ayumu Hirano faced the young Team USA athlete Alessandro Barbieri in the third-place matchup, who, in a valiant attempt to beat Hirano, put together a run that he had never stomped before. Barbieri said, 'Just landing that run was enough for me to throw everything [he threw his helmet and snowboard in excitement]. Even if I didn't win the round, I was still buzzing from it.' Hirano answered back to beat Barbieri in both runs to take third place on the podium.
Beyond the prestige of a podium finish, today's Snow League Finals Day presented athletes with a high-stakes opportunity to earn a share of the groundbreaking $1.6 million purse spread across the four snowboarding events. Competitors vied not only for the inaugural Snow League title and critical World Championship Standings points but also a share of the $370,000 prize purse in Aspen, divided equally between genders.
Men and women's podium finishers earned $50,000 for first, $20,000 for second, and $10,000 for third. All finalists earn prize money, with $5,000 for fourth and $2,500 each for fifth through eighth. Additionally, each of the 36 athletes receives a $5,000 appearance fee, further reflecting The Snow League's commitment to advancing snowboarding competition.
The first event of The Snow League in Aspen Snowmass set the bar for the remainder of a groundbreaking first season of competition. Up next will be Event Two at Yunding Secret Garden in China, to be held December 4–6, 2025. The stars of snowboarding will face off again to earn points and challenge for the top spot in the Snow League World Championship Standings. Additionally, Freeskiing will make its debut as the ski athletes are set to join the snowboarders in China, as the future of winter sports competition expands to a new discipline.
Fans can enjoy on-demand replays of the inaugural Snow League event in Aspen available on Peacock and are also invited to watch the Encore Presentation of Event One of The Snow League on the NBC network in the United States on Saturday, March 29 at 1:00 p.m. ET and on Warner Bros. Discovery's linear channels in Europe on Tuesday, March 25, at 8:00 p.m. CET.
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 $1.6 million prize purse, with athletes competing to earn points to determine the overall champions. The season kicks off at Buttermilk in Aspen Snowmass (March 7–8, 2025) and then moves to Yund and Secret Garden, China (Dec. 4–6, 2025), where 16 of the world's top freeskiers will join the roster at the Beijing 2022 Olympic venue. The League returns to Aspen (Feb. 26–28, 2026) and concludes at LAAX, Switzerland (March 19–21, 2026), where the first-ever Snow League World Champions will be crowned.
The Snow League is powered by its sponsors, including the three Founding Partners, Marriott Bonvoy, INEOS Automotive and Pacifico®, which are joined in the Snow League family by Hublot and Tiffany & Co.
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SOURCE: The Snow League
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PUB: 03/09/2025 06:08 AM/DISC: 03/09/2025 06:07 AM