In Cardrona, New Zealand, Sara Shimizu opened Snow League Season Two with second place in the halfpipe. At the league’s first World Challenge, an invitation-only event with a new team format, she finished behind Queralt Castellet. Incoming weather cancelled the finals; the official results were taken from the semifinals. With Team Challengers, Sara also shared the team title.

Arriving as winner of the last Season One stops

Sara did not come to Cardrona as a debutant. In Snow League Season One she won Event Three in Aspen on 28 February 2026 — her league debut — and followed it with victory at the LAAX finale on 21 March. She finished fifth in the Season One standings. The first league world titles were awarded in LAAX to Sena Tomita and Yuto Totsuka; Ruka Hirano was third in the men’s standings and Rise Kudo fourth among the women.

An invitation to Cardrona, and a new format

The Snow League, founded by Shaun White, is the professional league dedicated solely to snowboard and freeski halfpipe. The World Challenge on 18 and 19 September 2026 at Cardrona Alpine Resort opened the second season — not as a regular individual standings event, but as the league’s first team contest.

Sixteen athletes started in four teams: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Challengers. Sara lined up for the Challengers alongside Ryusei Yamada and freeskiers Mischa Thomas and Fin Melville Ives. The format used head-to-head halfpipe duels in a best-of-three, with rotations capped at 720 degrees in the semifinals.

Silver for Sara, the team title for the Challengers

Competition day was 19 September. Incoming weather brought the contest to a close after the semifinals; organisers used those rounds as the official result.

In women’s snowboard, Sara Shimizu took second place (7 points) behind Spain’s Queralt Castellet (10). Gaon Choi of Korea was third, Brooke D’Hondt of Canada fourth. According to the official event report, Sara adapted her run to the semifinal brief, with a stalefish crippler among her tricks of the day.

The Challengers led after the semifinals and won the team standings with 37 points, ahead of Europe (27), Asia Pacific (22) and North America (14). Yamada, Melville Ives and Thomas each won their discipline; Sara’s second place added important points. The winning team prize of 20,000 US dollars was split equally among the four teammates.

A New Zealand season opener: Hiromu Watanabe wins in Cardrona

A few weeks later, Cardrona was the stage again — this time for the FIS Australia New Zealand Cup Premium from 3 to 8 October.

On 3 October Hiromu Watanabe took third in big air. On 7 October he won the slopestyle. Both results now sit among this season’s recorded achievements.

Also in Cardrona, Kiara Morii finished sixth in women’s big air; she did not start the slopestyle there. Earlier, at the ANC slopestyle at The Remarkables on 25 September, Hiromu placed fifth, Kiara sixth and Suzuka Ishimoto seventh.

What’s next

Snow League Season Two continues first in Aspen, from 7 to 9 January 2027, as confirmed by the league. Sara returns there as the winner of the last Snow League event in Aspen. Before that, the FIS calendar has the big air World Cup in Innsbruck from 26 to 28 November 2026. We will report once our riders’ starts and results are confirmed.