All of the pro riders were actually stoked to be doing slopestyle instead of a big air this year. Slopestyle provides more opportunity to show the judges who's really the best rider, and more opportunity for the riders to put variety and creativity into their runs. The money booter at the bottom of the run was as big as any big air kicker anyway. The slopestyle and halfpipe events this year were definitely a big step up for skiing.
'The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.'  -Jim Morrison