Park City, UT – X Games champions David Wise and Maddie Bowman stayed on their roll, winning in Park City’s superpipe at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix on Saturday.
Both men’s and women’s finals saw amazing runs with high scores for the combination FIS Freestyle World Cup and AFP Platinum level contest. It was the third straight win for Bowman, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., and second straight for Reno, Nev.’s Wise. The win gave Bowman a clean sweep of the two Grand Prix’s after her win at Copper Mountain in January.
“I was pretty tired coming out of X Games, but this weather brings out the best in everyone. I was really excited to ski today and had a great time. I would like to think that showed in my skiing, although I think I could have skied a little bit cleaner, I kind of washed out a little bit on my 9, but I was able to hold it together,” said Bowman, whose podium run of a right 900, left 540 mute grab, mute grab, left 900 tail grab, right 720 and switch left 540 placed her ahead of Japan’s Ayana Onozuka. Switzerland’s Virginie Faivre wrounded out the women’s podium in third.
U.S. Freeskiing rookie Annalisa Drew, of Andover, Mass., was sixth. With her fourth first place finish on the 2013 AFP World Tour, Bowman overtakes Drew in the top spot on the AFP women’s Halfpipe World Ranking.
Wise’s win avenged a defeat to Canadian Mike Riddle at the first Grand Prix stop in Copper Mountain, Colo.,, and matched his season-ending win last year in the March Mammoth Mountain contest.
“Today under the sun it’s a lot easier to put down solid runs and everybody did,” said Wise. “It was pretty heated – sitting down at the bottom and to have to hold on to my first run score and watching everyone do some of their best runs of the season, it was pretty nerve-wracking, but at the same time that is the exciting part of this sport. I am just stoked and every contest for me is just building momentum into the next competition.”
Aspen, Colo. teen Torin Yater-Wallace was second in a men’s event, and his right double cork 1260 mute grab, left 1080 tail grab, switch right 720 mute grab, alley-oop double flat 900 Japan grab to double 900 Japan grab scored only two-tenths of a point behind Wise’s right 720 opposite mute grab, switch double cork 1080 Japan grab, right double cork 1260 mute grab, left double 1260 mute grab, alley-oop 540 tail grab.
France’s Kevin Rolland was third. U.S. Freeskiing Rookie Team skier Aaron Blunck, of Crested Butte, Colo., was fifth in just his fifth World Cup start.
With their wins, Wise and Bowman were both crowned U.S. champions for their results across the two U.S. Grand Prix halfpipes.
“My whole family is here and it’s really nice to have their support. It was such a nice surprise to win National Champion, I wasn’t expecting it!” said Bowman.
Next up is Sochi, Russia for a FIS World Cup test event in the Olympic halfpipe Feb. 16. Earlier on Saturday the FIS canceled Sochi slopestyle due to warm weather impacting course construction. The halfpipe was still scheduled and slopestyle may be rescheduled later in the season.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix – Park City Mountain Resort, UT – Feb. 2, 2013
Halfpipe
Men:
Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Points |
1 | 3 | WISE David | 1990 | USA | 93.8 | 1000.00 |
2 | 1 | YATER-WALLACE Torin | 1995 | USA | 93.6 | 800.00 |
3 | 5 | ROLLAND Kevin | 1989 | FRA | 93.00 | 600.00 |
4 | 2 | KRIEF Thomas | 1993 | FRA | 91.8 | 500.00 |
5 | 8 | BLUNCK Aaron | 1996 | USA | 91.4 | 450.00 |
6 | 4 | RIDDLE Mike | 1986 | CAN | 89.6 | 400.00 |
7 | 14 | MARGETTS Matt | 1988 | CAN | 89.4 | 360.00 |
8 | 20 | DUMONT Simon | 1986 | USA | 88.4 | 320.00 |
9 | 29 | PERKINS Tucker | 1991 | USA | 87.8 | 290.00 |
10 | 27 | WELLS Beau-James | 1995 | NZL | 82.6 | 260.00 |
Women:
Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Points |
1 | 4 | BOWMAN Maddie | 1994 | USA | 85.2 | 1000.00 |
2 | 8 | ONOZUKA Ayana | 1988 | JPN | 84.4 | 800.00 |
3 | 5 | FAIVRE Virginie | 1982 | SUI | 82.8 | 600.00 |
4 | 7 | CARADEUX Anais | 1990 | FRA | 82.6 | 500.00 |
5 | 2 | GROENEWOUD Rosalind | 1989 | CAN | 82.2 | 450.00 |
6 | 13 | DREW Annalisa | 1993 | USA | 80.8 | 400.00 |
7 | 10 | JAEGER Mirjam | 1982 | SUI | 78.8 | 360.00 |
8 | 11 | GUNNING Megan | 1992 | CAN | 75.2 | 320.00 |
9 | 19 | SJAASTAD CHRISTIANSEN Tiril | 1995 | NOR | 67.8 | 290.00 |
10 | 6 | SIGOURNEY Brita | 1990 | USA | 67.00 | 260.00 |