Park City, UT – Hannah Kearney made it back-to-back wins at Deer Valley Resort and her third of the season, taking dual moguls on Saturday night at the Visa Freestyle International. Canada’s Alex Bilodeau won for the men.

“I did feel comfortable, sometimes too comfortable. That probably meant I should’ve been skiing faster, but there’s a really fine line between skiing too and just right. I think I found the right balance tonight. I focused on my form which if you’re skiing well, it’s easier to ski fast,” said Kearney, of Norwich, Vt. “Duals forces you to ski faster. That’s about the only thing it helps because your technique gets far worse in duals. We’re heading into a training camp now so I can make all those adjustments and the ultimate goal is to ski as fast as you do in duals in singles.”

The Deer Valley course showcased extreme speeds in the head to head action before a nighttime crowd of spectators that numbered in the thousands. World Cup standings leader Justine Dufour-Lapointe, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, earned silver, while Kazakhstan’s Yulia Galysheva won the bronze. But while Kearney felt that she should’ve skied faster, she drove her competitor in the final dual to ski faster than ever before.

“I have never skied that fast ever in my entire life,” said Dufour-Lapointe. “Just to know that I am capable of skiing that fast is so great. Too bad, I hit a bump a little too heavy and it made me make a mistake, but it’s okay, being on the podium is cool and keeping my yellow bib is even cooler.”

Saturday’s win vaulted Kearney past teammate Heather McPhie, of Bozeman, Mont., into second in the World Cup standings behind Dufour-Lapointe despite missing the first two events of the season after a training injury.

“I feel fantastic physically. I think that’s what maybe got it for me tonight is that I was the strongest,” Kearney added. “My legs feel good and being here in Deer Valley gives us all the opportunities we need to recover and be fully nourished, which isn’t always the case at every event. So, between Deer Valley feeding us and having the Center of Excellence here along with all the U.S. Ski Team we really are setting ourselves up to succeed.”

Bilodeau, the Olympic moguls champion who also won the dual mogul World Championships on the same Deer Valley course, competed flawlessly to take the gold for the men, his first World Cup victory since 2011.

“It’s definitely very good to be back on top of the podium and I’m so happy with my skiing, it was improving every run today and so it’s looking good for the rest of the season,” said the Rosemère, Quebec native, who explained that he used a different strategy for each of the four competitors he faced in the head-to-head competition.

Patrick Deneen, of Cle Elum, Wash., battled Bilodeau down to the wire, taking second.

“It was a really tight duel tonight and I was really pleased with the way I skied. I’m a pretty fast skier, so I just ski the same way whether its duals or singles. Tonight it seemed like everybody was pushing their speed and I had some crashes against me,” Deneen said. “I actually thought after qualifying that Alexandr Smyshlyaev was going to win, especially because he won the qualifying round and was skiing so well all night. I was bummed to be in his bracket but happy to beat him and find a podium today.”

Bradley Wilson, of Butte, Mont., scored a career first podium in third and managed to outski yellow bib holder, Mikael Kingsbury, ending Kingsbury’s 19 World Cup win streak when his ski popped off just before the second air in his quarter-final dual.

“Honestly, I can’t even explain this feeling right now,” said Wilson. “It’s a dream come true to podium here at Deer Valley, my home mountain. I came in here needing to get a podium to qualify for World Championships later this year. It’s just one of those things that I just can’t really explain. You’re in the zone and I honestly can’t really remember much. It’s just a dream come true.”

“I would have preferred to finish my streak with a fall, or trying to push the limits to the max as opposed to losing a ski for no major reason, so for sure it’s disappointing,” said Kingsbury, who finished fifth. “But still I’m happy with the result of the day. I think I skied well all week and I’m still the World Cup leader.”

The U.S. Freestyle Ski Team is now headed to Steamboat Springs, Colo., for a weeklong camp in preparation for the Olympic test event in Sochi Feb. 15.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Visa Freestyle International – Deer Valley Resort – Park City, UT – Feb. 2, 2013
Dual Moguls

Women

Men