Lake Wanaka, New Zealand – Canada’s Noah Bowman and Britta Sigourney of Carmel, Calif., on Sunday were crowned as the first FIS Junior World Champions in the freestyle ski halfpipe.nA heavy overnight snowfall delayed the start of the event while the pipe was cleared of new snow but by 1 p.m. competition was underway for a two-run final.
Bowman threw down the run of the day in his first run, which in hindsight was good planning on his part. A huge left 5 mute into a right 7 tail, into a switch left 7 mute, right 5 reverse mute, left 9 tail, perfectly executed earned him 40.5. Walter Wood of Snowmass Village, Colo., and Canada’s Kristopher Atkinson took second and third, respectively.
Stop-start conditions and eventual dense fog saw the men’s finals being decided on just one run, causing disappointment among competitors who didn’t land their first run which included one of host country of New Zealand’s top riders, Byron Wells.
“It was a tough day out there and disappointing for everyone that the weather wasn’t better,” said head judge, Ola Sundequist. “It was a shame Byron didn’t land his first hit based on what we had seen at training. And it was a shame all the riders didn’t really get the chance to show what they can do.”
“I wasn’t too worried about the weather,” said Bowman. “I did a safer run for my first run and was planning to do a harder one second time round but luckily I scored well on that first run.”
The women’s event was one rider short of completion and Devin Logan of W. Dover, Vt., waited over two hours for a gap in the fog to complete her second run. But Mother Nature wasn’t her side and the women’s event also reverted to a one run final. While Sigourney had put down her highest scoring run in her second run, her first attempt was also enough to earn her first place with 41.1 with a left 5, alleyoop, straight tail mute, alleyoop 5 finishing with a straight 7.
“It was a little challenging out there at first with the pipe being stuck in a big cloud but I was really glad we got to do the competition,” said Sigourney. “I’m stoked with my results and it was too bad Devin didn’t get to do her second run after waiting so long.”
Hannah Haupt of Sun Valley, Idaho, took second and Logan rounded out the podium in third, making it a North American clean sweep of both the men’s and women’s podiums.
At the end of competition the U.S.A. were announced as recipients of the Marc Hodler Cup Nations Trophy as the most successful nation in the freestyle ski disciplines.
“We’re excited and really proud to have represented the USA the way we did,” Cheryl Pearson, U.S. freestyle program manager. “The kids stayed focused and stuck to their game plans throughout the competition and were in the top six in every event. We’d also like to thank the organizing committee for running such an excellent event.”
The final event of the 2010 FIS Snowboard & Freestyle Junior World Championships is the snowboard big air on Tuesday with live music and the official closing ceremony.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 FIS Freestyle Junior World Championships
Cardrona New Zealand
August 29, 2010
Men’s Ski Halfpipe
1. Noah Bowman, Canada
2. Walter Wood, Snowmass Village, CO
3. Kristopher Atkinson, Canada
4. Fabian Meyer, Switzerland
5. Jonas Hunziker, Switzerland
Women’s Ski Halfpipe
1. Brita Sigourney, Carmel, CA
2. Hannah Haupt, Sun Valley, ID
3. Devin Logan, W. Dover, NH
4. Blake Peterson, Park City, UT
5. Keltie Hansen, Canada