Australia's Britt Cox has beaten a field of the world's top mogul skiers to clinch a surprise victory on day one of the Australian Mogul Championships at Perisher.
The win on Tuesday against strong competitors from the dominant North American skiing giants sets Cox, 21, as one to watch ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.
The world No.18-ranked Cox, who placed fifth at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, mixed technical ability and speed as she pulled off two difficult jumps and raced down steep uneven terrain to win the first day of the two-day event at Perisher, held on one of the toughest courses in the world.
She was delighted with her run and promised more to come on Wednesday.
"This is a fantastic event and a great field of athletes so that is very motivating," she told AAP.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow and skiing harder and jumping bigger."
Fellow Aussie Rohan Chapman-Davies, the men's world No.44, also pulled off a surprise coup to land himself in third spot in the men's competition.
He placed ahead of Australia's world No.2, Matt Graham, who salvaged fifth spot with a straight over back-flip with two rotations after suffering a mishap earlier in his run.
The men's competition was dominated by world No.1 Mikael Kingsbury, who continued his strong form to blow the top of the field away.
The Australian Mogul Championships has a strong international field with 17 of the world's top 25 mogul skiers competing and are set to continue at Perisher on Wednesday.
