Stepan Hudecek

Vysoké Mýto, Czechia | Active FIS record: 2017-present | Known for: big air, slopestyle, doublecork 1800 double tailgrab, SPEEDRUSH | Current: Faction athlete and Czech World Cup freeskier

Copper Mountain In Minus Fifteen

The Copper Mountain jump sat under hard Colorado cold, with the landing frozen, the light thin, and a medical delay stretching the wait before the second hit. Stepan Hudecek had already landed one strong jump. Then he reached for a trick no skier had taken into competition cleanly before.

The move was a doublecork 1800 double tailgrab: two flips, five spins, and both skis grabbed in the air. Hudecek nearly held it, nearly stayed upright, and still left Copper Mountain with one of the clearest markers of his career. The result was 13th in a 2022 World Cup big air, but the bigger signal was technical ambition.

Vysoké Mýto To The Czech Freeski Team

Hudecek was born on October 20, 2003, in Vysoké Mýto, Czechia. FIS lists him as an active Czech freestyle skier with the club Freestyle lyzovani Most, while OLYMP CSMV lists Josef Kalenský as his coach.

The Czech Freeski Team page places him in the national representation group, beside the structure of coaches and academy development that supports Czech slopestyle and big air athletes. That pathway matters because Czech freeskiing does not have the same depth of domestic infrastructure as Norway, Switzerland, Canada, or the United States. A Czech skier reaching regular World Cup starts has to travel, adapt quickly, and use international parks as the main progression ground.

Lausanne Before The World Cup Start List

His first major international checkpoint was Lausanne 2020 at the Winter Youth Olympic Games. The Czech Olympic Team lists Hudecek 21st in ski slopestyle and 11th in big air, with both events held in the Leysin Park & Pipe programme.

That result sits beside an important context: his Czech teammate Matěj Švancer won big air gold at the same Games. Hudecek did not leave with the medal, but he was already inside the same Czech generation that pushed the country into modern park-and-pipe relevance. Lausanne gave him a public baseline before World Cup start lists became the stronger part of his archive.

Copper Mountain Made The Trick Public

The 2022 Copper Mountain Big Air World Cup remains one of Hudecek’s defining contest moments. Czech Television reported that he placed 13th, improving his previous World Cup best by 15 positions and recording the second-best Czech result in that discipline after Švancer’s sixth place from January 2021.

The technical story came on his second jump. After a long delay in minus 15 Celsius conditions, Hudecek attempted the doublecork 1800 double tailgrab. He later explained that he had both grabs in the air but made a bad side movement when releasing them. The landing cost him a final spot, but the attempt showed the direction of his skiing: not cautious qualification management, but high-risk big air progression.

The Double Tailgrab Problem

Faction later described Hudecek as holding a world-first distinction for landing a doublecork 1800 double tailgrab. Czech media also framed the trick as a world-first because the rotation alone was not the unique part. The added double tailgrab changed the difficulty.

In big air, a 1800 can become a spin-count headline. Hudecek’s version adds a different layer: grab symmetry, timing, and body control while the skier is already inverted and rotating at high speed. Both hands must find the ski tails without flattening the trick or killing the landing position. That is why the trick matters more than the number alone.

World Championships And The Long International Loop

Hudecek’s FIS record shows the long travel map of a developing World Cup skier. He has competed at World Championships in Bakuriani 2023 and Engadin 2025, with starts in both slopestyle and big air. His World Cup record includes venues such as Chur, Stubai, Beijing, Copper Mountain, Laax, Mammoth Mountain, Tignes, Silvaplana and Kreischberg.

Those names give the shape of his education. Chur and Beijing test big air under city-event pressure. Laax, Mammoth, Stubai, Silvaplana and Tignes test full slopestyle-course speed, rail precision, jump amplitude and landing consistency. Hudecek’s profile is not built from podiums yet, but it is built from repeated exposure to the same courses where the top names in freeskiing set the standard.

Landgraaf, Szczyrk, And Rail Event Evidence

The FIS record also shows a rail-event layer that helps explain his skiing. In October 2024, Hudecek won FIS events at SnowWorld Landgraaf in both slopestyle and rail event, then later appeared in European Cup rail events at Antwerpen, Den Haag and Szczyrk.

That rail record matters because a big air skier can look one-dimensional if only the huge rotation is discussed. Hudecek’s path includes rails, indoor snow, artificial-slope rhythm and compact setups where balance matters more than airtime. Rail skiing requires flat-base control, quick feet, 270 entries, stable shoulders, clean exits and the ability to keep speed after contact. Those skills transfer directly into slopestyle.

SPEEDRUSH At Hintertux

Hudecek’s strongest film marker is SPEEDRUSH, released through Faction’s RAW SERIES Season 2 and featured by Downdays in January 2025. The segment was filmed at Hintertux, Austria, directed, filmed and edited by Simon Bartik, with Henrik Lampert producing.

The project fits his nickname. Faction calls him “Speedy,” and SPEEDRUSH turns that identity into a visual idea: fast preseason laps, chaotic pacing, park features hit with little dead space, and skiing that moves before the viewer settles. Hintertux gives the setting real weight. Autumn glacier parks are where European freestylers test new tricks before the winter circuit, with hard snow, changing light and narrow weather windows.

Why Speedy Is Still Emerging

Hudecek is already beyond a beginner profile. He has Youth Olympic results, World Championships starts, World Cup big air and slopestyle experience, a Faction athlete page, a RAW SERIES segment, and a trick that has been documented as a world-first.

At the same time, his record does not yet read like a dominant contest career. There are no X Games medals, Olympic finals, World Cup podiums or repeated major finals in the public record. His current importance comes from progression, risk, style, and representation for Czech freeskiing. The next step is clear: convert the technical ceiling into finals, then into results that match the ambition already visible in his tricks.

The Current Checkpoint

The current public shape of Stepan Hudecek is precise: active Czech big air and slopestyle skier, Faction athlete, Speedy by nickname, World Cup regular, rail-event competitor, and RAW SERIES skier with SPEEDRUSH filmed at Hintertux.

His profile should be watched through two lenses at once. The first is competitive: FIS starts, World Championships, European Cup results, and the pursuit of World Cup finals. The second is creative and technical: double tailgrabs, fast park laps, rail control and the ability to make Czech freeskiing visible outside its usual borders.