Mammoth Lakes, CA – Extreme weather conditions that closed the mountain and significantly curtailed training earlier in the week didn’t hamper the performance of Montreal’s Kaya Turski in Sunday’s Visa U.S. Grand Prix ski slopestyle at Mammoth Mountain in California. Pittsburgh, Penn.’s Tom Wallisch won the men’s event.
Turski, a former professional in-line skater who has walked away with a gold medal at every event she’s entered this season, scored 93.2 on the seven-feature course to best second-place Devin Logan of the Vermont by almost five points. Logan scored 87.6. Emma Wint, of Breckenridge, Colo., was third at 83.4.
Turski, who has spent the last three winters living in Mammoth, said she definitely had a mental advantage on Sunday. “It was great to stay in my own place and sleep in my own bed. But still, it was a tough week with everything getting postponed. I’m really happy and really excited with my runs.”
And of the fact that she’s won everything she’s entered this year, including X Games, and both Dew Tour events? “I’m feeling great, I’m rolling with some great momentum at the moment.”
Wallisch won the men’s VISA U.S. Grand Prix, FIS World Cup and platinum AFP slopestyle event with a score of 96.40, and in his signature style he stomped all of his tricks and executed them with confidence. His consistent podium placement has elevated him to be the winningest male slopestyle skier in history after arriving on the podium five times this season, with four of those in first place. Eighteen-year-old Alex Bellemare of Canada and Joss Christiansen of Park City, Utah, rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better day today, the course was smooth and the snow was soft, not to mention the park was sweet,” Wallisch said. “It was an awesome event and I am so happy that the U.S. Grand Prix is here to help us show the world what our sport is about, it sets a good precedence for the next events that we do leading up to Sochi in 2014. I can’t wait!”
“It feels awesome, I haven’t felt this good in while,” added Bellemare, who calls St. Boniface, Quebec home. “It all happened on the rails for me today. I was pretty creative, with a high difficulty and a super clean solid run. I’m from Quebec,” he explained with a laugh, “so I love rails because we have no jumps to practice on there.”
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Visa U.S. Grand Prix
Mammoth Mountain, CA – Mar. 4, 2012
Slopestyle
Women:
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Points |
| 1 | 2 | TURSKI Kaya | 1988 | CAN | 93.2 | 1000.00 |
| 2 | 1 | LOGAN Devin | 1993 | USA | 87.6 | 800.00 |
| 3 | 7 | WINT Emilia | 1994 | USA | 83.4 | 600.00 |
| 4 | 8 | SEGAL Anna | 1986 | AUS | 78.4 | 500.00 |
| 5 | 9 | TSUBOTA Yuki | 1994 | CAN | 70.4 | 450.00 |
| 6 | 17 | STEVENS Darian | 1996 | USA | 64.00 | 400.00 |
| 7 | 13 | TAKAO Chiho | 1984 | JPN | 56.00 | 360.00 |
| 8 | 3 | HOWELL Dara | 1994 | CAN | 44.00 | 320.00 |
| 9 | 22 | SATOO Hitomi | 1988 | JPN | 43.2 | 290.00 |
| 10 | 24 | SUMMERHAYES Katie | 1995 | GBR | 37.8 | 260.00 |
Men:
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Points |
| 1 | 2 | WALLISCH Thomas | 1987 | USA | 96.4 | 1000.00 |
| 2 | 75 | BELLEMARE Alex | 1993 | CAN | 89.2 | 800.00 |
| 3 | 8 | CHRISTENSEN Joss | 1991 | USA | 87.2 | 600.00 |
| 4 | 18 | YATER-WALLACE Torin | 1995 | USA | 86.2 | 500.00 |
| 5 | 6 | LAKER Christopher | 1993 | USA | 85.00 | 450.00 |
| 6 | 21 | GAGNIER Charles | 1985 | CAN | 84.2 | 400.00 |
| 7 | 4 | KENWORTHY Gus | 1991 | USA | 83.00 | 360.00 |
| 8 | 14 | WOODS James | 1992 | GBR | 82.2 | 320.00 |
| 9 | 3 | BROWN Bobby | 1991 | USA | 81.2 | 290.00 |
| 10 | 56 | SEMB FREDRICSSON Fridtjof | 1992 | NOR | 77.8 | 260.00 |