Wānaka’s Campbell (Cam) Melville Ives has claimed the first World Cup podium of his career, finishing second at the Snowboard Halfpipe final at the Laax Open in Switzerland yesterday (January 18).

Cam delivered a career-best performance, landing a huge second run that scored 91.00 points and briefly put him in the lead. He was eventually edged into second by four-time Olympian Scotty James, who posted a winning score of 98.75 on the final run of the competition.

Cam’s final included five major tricks - a cab triple cork, frontside triple cork, backside double cork, double alley-oop rodeo and switch alley-oop rodeo - earning high marks for both difficulty and amplitude. It is the first time an athlete has landed back-to-back triple corks in competition.

“First run I made a mistake early in the run, hit a wrong edge and ran out of pipe at the end,” Cam said.

“Second run I adjusted the trick into a single. I felt pretty calm and relaxed… just relaxed into the feeling of when it’s warm and sunny there, and that helped with the nerves,” he said.

Snowsports New Zealand high performance snowboard coach Tom Willmott said Cam had been working towards the run for a long time, experimenting with different combinations before finally piecing it together.

Cam will next compete at the X Games in Aspen (January 24-26) as he builds toward the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in February.

PHOTO: FIS/David Tributsch