Freestyle Skiing
Finley Melville Ives
- Halfpipe
- Nationality
- New Zealand
- Hometown
- Wānaka, New Zealand (born Dunedin)
- Born
- 6 July 2006
- Primary discipline
- Halfpipe
About Finley Melville Ives
New Zealand freeski halfpipe specialist born in Dunedin, raised in Wānaka; twin brother of snowboarder Campbell Melville Ives. Won silver at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics (92.50) before breaking through as World Champion, winning gold at the 2025 FIS World Championships in Engadin (96.00) - the top score on a podium that also included Nick Goepper (silver) and Alex Ferreira (bronze). Won 2026 X Games superpipe gold (95.00), finishing ahead of Goepper. During 2026 Winter Olympics qualifying in Livigno he suffered a broken collarbone and was stretchered off the course, ending his Games without a final appearance; despite missing the season's final World Cup event he held on to claim the 2025-26 freeski halfpipe Crystal Globe with 280 points, becoming the first New Zealander to win a freeski halfpipe Crystal Globe.
The 280-point Crystal Globe total and first-NZ-winner status are precisely confirmed via RNZ (30 Mar 2026: 'he retained his lead on 280 points, having won two previous rounds and notching a runner-up finish in the five-leg World Cup series'), i.e. 2 wins + 1 runner-up in the 2025-26 series itself. A separate June 2026 Newschoolers bio describes '4 world cup podiums including 3 wins' across his last two seasons combined. Exact all-time WC win count therefore varies slightly by source/scope; the 280-point season total is solid. '2025 World Champ HP gold' and '2026 X Games HP gold' both confirmed accurate.
Sponsors: Monster Energy (confirmed via Monster Energy's own current athlete page, monsterenergy.com/en-us/ski/finley-melville-ives); Outdoor Research (gloves - similarly an athlete-specific 'glove ambassadors' URL, outdoorresearch.com/blogs/glove-ambassadors/fin-melville-ives, found via search but not fetched/confirmed directly).
Setup
2 items
Goggles
Smith Optics
- Halfpipe
Smith Optics (model unspecified)
Athlete-specific Smith Optics page found via search.
Eyewear/goggle sponsorship.
Gloves
Outdoor Research
- Halfpipe
Outdoor Research (model unspecified)
Athlete-specific Outdoor Research 'glove ambassadors' page found via search; not directly fetched/confirmed .
Glove ambassador sponsorship.
Setup verified 11 July 2026
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finley_Melville_Ives
- https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/591003/injured-fin-melville-ives-wins-halfpipe-world-cup-series-crown
- https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/587545/broken-collarbone-for-kiwi-free-skier-fin-melville-ives
- https://www.usskiandsnowboard.org/news/goepper-second-ferreira-third-world-champs-halfpipe
- https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/other-sport/fin-melville-ives-wins-world-cup-series-crown-despite-injury
- https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/winter-olympics/melville-ives-keeps-humour-despite-halfpipe-crash