The 23-year-old Wānaka star made her return from an ankle injury to win a silver medal at the elite LAAX Open in Switzerland at the weekend.
It marked a 10th career world cup podium for the Olympic snowboarding slopestyle champion.
"There is nothing like competing when there’s perfect weather out and everyone is on point, so we were all feeding off each other and it was sick," Sadowski-Synnott told Snow Spots NZ.
"It means everything to me to be back competing at a high level.
"My ankle took so much longer than expected to come right, but I am so stoked to be snowboarding.”
Sadowski-Synnott was back in the bib after having a quiet 2024 as she recovered from the injury.
Almost 100 snowboarders descended on the Swiss Alps for the LAAX Open, the second slopestyle event of the season and widely regarded as the world cup series’ pinnacle competition.
Sadowski-Synnott dropped into her first-run switch, putting down two technical rail tricks before heading into the jump section, where she laced back-to-back 900s on the first two jumps and finished strongly on the quarter pipe feature with a backside air.
She was the first athlete of the day to put down a top to bottom run and was awarded a score of 75.36.
Sitting in second heading into her second and final run, Sadowski-Synnott knew she needed to add something special to challenge Mia Brookes, of Great Britain, for the top of the podium.
She upgraded her second jump to a huge switch backside 1260, which marked the first time any woman has landed that trick in a slopestyle competition.
The judges increased her score, but a couple of bobbles in the top section of her run meant she was unable to top Brookes’ first-run score and remained in second position.
"I am super hyped on the switch backside 1260 — that was the first time I have landed it in a slopestyle competition," Sadowski-Synnott said.
"I luckily put two down in practice, so coming into the second run I had confidence; I was stoked to put it down.”
Brookes, the 17-year old snowboard slopestyle world champion, claimed her first LAAX Open win, and Japanese boarder Kokomo Murase was third.
Dane Menzies and Lyon Farrell represented New Zealand in the men’s finals, finishing seventh and eighth respectively.
Menzies put down a notably solid second run, executing his tricks nearly flawlessly, while Farrell, who always bring his infectious positive energy to the course, put down the first backside 1620 off a shark fin feature landed in competition.
Sadowski-Synnott will next be in action at the invitation-only Aspen Winter X Games next weekend.
• Wānaka skier Ben Richards started the Freeride World Tour with a bronze medal at the Baqueira Beret Pro in Spain at the weekend.
Richards, who was named the tour’s rookie of the year in 2024, put down a trademark fast and fluid run.
Variable snow conditions forced a switch to a new venue, the La Bamba face in backcountry in the Baqueira Beret valley, that had never been used by the tour before.
“I am stoked," Richards said.
"Honestly, with these conditions I am happy to make it through the finish line on my feet.
"My run went better than I anticipated. The snow is pretty spicy but still rippable, and we ski conditions like this all the time at home, so I just tried to stay positive.”
Richards put down a fast, direct line with his skis remaining in the fall line to score exceptionally high in the fluidity category of the judging.
This, combined with plenty of airtime and two huge 360s thrown off the features, impressed the judges, who gave him a score of 89.
American skiers Ross Tester and Toby Rafford were the only athletes to score in the 90s and finished first and second respectively.
Auckland-born Tauranga skier Conrad Niven made his Freeride World Tour debut in the men’s snowboard category but crashed out of competition. — APL
