2012 FIS Freestyle World Cup
Lake Placid, NY USA
January 20, 2012
MEN'S AERIALS

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2012 FIS Freestyle World Cup
Lake Placid, NY USA
January 20, 2012
LADIES AERIALS

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2012 FIS Freestyle World Cup
Lake Placid, NY USA
January 19, 2012
MEN'S MOGULS

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2012 FIS Freestyle World Cup
Lake Placid, NY USA
January 19, 2012
LADIES MOGULS

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2012 FIS Freestyle World Cup
Mont Gabriel, QUE, CAN
January 15, 2012
MEN'S AERIALS

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2012 FIS Freestyle World Cup
Mont Gabriel, QUE, CAN
January 15, 2012
LADIES AERIALS

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2012 FIS Freestyle World Cup
Mont Gabriel, QUE, CAN
January 14, 2012
MEN'S DUAL MOGULS

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FIS Freestyle World Cup
Mont Gabriel, QUE - Canada
January 14, 2012
Ladies Dual Moguls

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2012 FIS Freestyle World Cup
Meribel, France
December 20, 2011
Men's Dual Moguls

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2012 FIS Freestyle World Cup
Meribel, France
December 20, 2011
Ladies Dual Moguls

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FIS FREESTYLE US FREESTYLE SELECTIONS
December 19, 2011 - Steamboat, CO
Ladies and Men's Moguls

Action starts in Steamboat Tomorrow with Ladies and Men's Moguls

DETAILED EVENT DAY SCHEDULE - CLICK HERE
LADIES START LIST - CLICK HERE
MEN'S START LIST - CLICK HERE

Action Is LIVE on www.URTUR.com/live.html 

FIS FREESTYLE WORLD CUP
VISA US FREESKIING GRAND PRIX
Ladies and Men's Ski Halfpipe - Finals

Ladies Final Results:
First Place - SIGOURNEY Brita - USA
Second Place - GROENEWOUD Rosalind - CAN
Third Place - FAIVRE Virginie - SUI
Complete Final Results - CLICK HERE

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Press Release:

SOURCE: US FREESKIING MEDIA - STORY BY Nick Cunkelman - COPPER MOUNTAIN, CO. (Dec. 9) — A year after barely missing the podium at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix held at Copper Mountain, U.S. Freeskiing Pro Halfpipe Team member Brita Sigourney (Carmel, CA) took its topmost step to kick off the 2011-12 season. Wing Tai Barrymore won the men's with U.S. Freeskiing Pro Torin Yater-Wallace (Snowmass, CO) second as Americans swept the podium. The FIS World Cup and AFP 5Star event was the first international competition since halfpipe skiing was accepted into the 2014 Olympics last spring.

HIGHLIGHTS

* Brita Sigourney won the first Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix halfpipe stop of the 2011-12 season with a run that went 5, straight air, 9, alley-oop, straight-air, an alley-oop 5, 7 to switch.    * Torin Yater-Wallace took second in the men's competition with a run that featured a double flare, left-side 9 tail grab, right side 9 leading tail grab, alley-oop double flatspin 9, 10 to switch.
* Pro Team members Devin Logan (West Dover, VT) and Jen Hudak (Park City, UT) placed ninth and twelfth while Tucker Perkins (North Hampton, NH), David Wise (Reno, NV), and Simon Dumont (Bethel, ME) took fifth, sixth, and ninth, respectively.
* The Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix, a FIS World Cup and AFP 5Star (Association of Freeskiing Professionals), was the first international competition since the acceptance of halfpipe skiing into the 2014 Olympics.
* 17-year-old Maddie Bowman took fourth with a run that went leftside 5, straight air mute, leftside 9, straight air, straight air, rightside 5, 7 to switch.
* Switch specialist Duncan Adams gave the crowd reason to ooooh and aaaaah during his first run of finals as he threw the only switch straight-air in the competition. For his second run Adams added perhaps the tightest grabs of the day in a run that featured a switch 5, switch 7 alley-oop tail and finished with a switch 10.
* Switzerland's Nils Lauper was the only skier to attempt back-to-back doubles on the day, and he barely misses landing the second one as his last hit during his final run.
* After landing a final run that went leftside double-cork 12, rightside cork 9, leftside cork 10, switch rightside cork 7, leftside cork 9, alley-oop flatspin 5, Tucker Perkins noted that he's looking to add a following tail grab to his double-cork 12 this season.
* France's Xavier Bertoni, skiing with a broken left hand, still managed to grab both his alley-oop flat 7 and cork 10 with the injured mitt.
* Action continues in the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Saturday.

QUOTES
Brita Sigourney
It's such a relief to start the season with a win—it was a surprise! I always put so much pressure on myself and it’s just so nice to get the first competition out of the way and start the season out really nice. I try not to put any expectation on myself—I don't ski well under pressure. I'm always out just to have a good time and if I win, that's a good plus. I'm super stoked to progress and keep the season going really strong.

 Maddie Bowman

I've only been on the snow for a week and a half. The season can't get any better. That last nine was way better than the first. I landed higher on the wall.

Torin Yater-Wallace
In my second run I grabbed my tricks a little better. And just executed it a little more. It was cleaner than my first run and it worked out for me. We had a great cut to the pipe last night and I was feeling great.

Wing Tai Barrymore
This is only the beginning of the season and to start it with a win is just awesome. I'm just stoked. The pipe was unbelievable. It was a beautiful day…just unbelievable.

Tucker Perkins
In qualifiers the other day I took my worst crash in two years here when [the pipe] was super under vert. But I came out with confidence today. It was a relatively stock run from last year. I've been landing the double cork 12 the past few days, been feeling that.

FIS FREESTYLE WORLD CUP
VISA US FREESKIING GRAND PRIX
Ladies Ski Halfpipe - Qualifications

Ladies Top 12 - Advances:
1 - GROENEWOUD Rosalind (CAN) 91.2
2 - LOGAN Devin (USA) 88.8
3 - BOWMAN Maddie (USA) 81.4
4 - SIGOURNEY Brita (USA) 78.4
5 - HUDAK Jennifer (USA) 77
6 - CARADEUX Anais (FRA) 76.4
7 - HANSEN Keltie (CAN) 73.6
8 - HOWELL Dara (CAN) 73
9 - BURKE Sarah (CAN) 72.8
10 - FAIVRE Virginie (SUI) 71
11 - MITSUBOSHI Manami (JPN) 70.6
12 - MATSUURA Emi (JPN) 68

FIS FREESTYLE WORLD CUP
VISA US FREESKIING GRAND PRIX
Men's Ski Halfpipe - Qualifications

Men's Top 12 - Advances:
1) WISE David - USA - 87.8
2) YATER-WALLACE Torin - USA - 86.4
3) BERTONI Xavier - FRA - 85.2
4) LAUPER Nils - SUI - 85.0
5) WELLS Josiah - NZL - 82.6
6) ADAMS Duncan - USA - 82.2
7) DUMONT Simon - USA - 81.0
8) RIDDLE Mike - CAN - 78.6
9) PERKINS Tucker - USA - 78.4
10) BARRYMORE Wing Tai - USA - 77.4
11) CROOK Peter - IVB - 77.0
12) MARION Dan - USA - 76.6

Complete Qualification Results - CLICK HERE

Press Release:

SOURCE  - www.freeskier.com – Shay Williams – 12/07/11 - The North American competition season kicked off today with the US Grand Prix of Halfpipe at Copper Mountain, CO. Today's, under sunny and cold conditions, roughly 70 men took to the stunt ditch in hopes of qualifying for Friday's finals. 

Three heats of 20-24 competitors were assembled, under the familiar "two-run, best score taken" format. The top three scores from each heat would move on to Friday's event (a total of nine skiers) . Other than the top three scores from each heat, the highest three overall scores from all combined heats would move on.

Qualifying from heat one were Switzerland's Nils Lauper, America's Duncan Adams and Canada's Mike Riddle. Nils is known for inhumanly large amplitude which sometimes makes him a bit out of control, however that was no the case today. Duncan Adams is regarded as one of the most stylish and technical switch pipe skiers, shown in today's runs. And Mike Riddle (last year's 2nd place Grand Prix finisher), showcased his technical and lofty runs.

Qualifying from heat two were America's David Wise, France's Xavier Bertoni and America's Simon Dumont. All three were visibly holding back what they were capable of, David's run was the biggest and cleanest of the heat, looking like he barely exerted any effort. Xavier, an X Games gold medalist showed the technical nature of his skiing in today's runs, while Simon Dumont—another X games gold medalist—showed his aggressive and technically sound skiing.

Qualifying from heat three were America's Torin Yater-Wallace, New Zealand's Jossi Wells and America's Tucker Perkins. Torin, who dragged his hands on his first run, put it together on run two, with possible the largest amplitude of the day. Jossi Wells kept both his runs the same, with smooth and fluid skiing, making zero mistakes along the way. And Tucker Perkins, an aggressive and strong skier, showed his technical trickery in today's runs.

The final three qualifiers were Wing Tai Barrymore, Peter Crook and Dan Marion, all of the USA. Narrowly missing out on the finals were Klaus Finne (FIN), Taylor Seaton (USA) and Yannic Lerjen (SUI).

The day may have been chock full of halfpipe skiing, but the vibe felt loose, with music and sunshine permeating all day. And while this is a USSA event, and an American Team Olympic qualifier in the future, the field was stacked internationally with skiers representing Canada, New Zealand, France, Switzerland, Finland, Japan, and many more. The women's qualifiers were set for today as well, but they were pushed to Friday morning. Here is the schedule for Friday's events, all time in Mountain Standard Time.

8:40 am - 10:30 am: Ski Halfpipe Ladies’s Qualifications
12:00 - 1:30 pm: Ladies and Men’s Ski Halfpipe Finals

www.freeskier.com 

MEN'S QUALIFICATIONS TODAY

START LIST AVAILABLE HERE - Starts at 8:30am - LIVE on URTUR

SOURCE USSA - USSKITEAM.COM - December 7, 2011

NEW OLYMPIC EVENT SHOWCASED AT COPPER

COPPER MOUNTAIN, CO (Dec. 6) – A record field will be in the 22-foot halfpipe with the Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix at Copper this week, the first major international competition since halfpipe skiing was added to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Simon Dumont (Bethel, ME ) and Jen Hudak (Salt Lake City), both medalists at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships last seasons, will lead the U.S. Freeskiing Pro Team into its first competition. They will face a strong field of over 110 athletes from 13 nations in the opening FIS Freestyle World Cup and AFP Platinum level event.

 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix is an Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) Platinum Level event and opens the International Ski Federation's (FIS) FIS Freestyle World Cup.
•  Full event coverage will be showcased on NBC (Dec. 18, 12:30 p.m. ET) and Versus (Dec. 24, 3:00 p.m. ET). Live webcast will be available on major freeskiing websites.
• X Games medalists Simon Dumont and Jen Hudak lead a strong U.S. Freeskiing Pro Team into its first competition.
• X Games champion Kevin Rolland of France and World Champion Mike Riddle of Canada will be among favorites in the men's halfpipe, along with former AFP tour champion Jossi Wells of New Zealand.
• X Games champ Sarah Burke of Canada will be a contender in the women's field.
• Other top U.S. skiers will include U.S. Freeskiing Pro Team athletes David Wise (Reno, NV) , X Games silver medalist Torin Yater-Wallace (Snowmass, CO) and 2011 AFP leader Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, CO) for men with 2011 AFP tour leader Devin Logan (W. Dover, VT) and X Games silver medalist Brita Sigourney (Carmel, CA) for women.
• 2010 Champions: Men: Justin Dorey, Canada (Dumont 3^rd); Women: Rosalind Groenwoud, Canada (Hudak 2^nd); NOTE: Dorey not competing due to injury
• Men's qualification heats are Wednesday with finals Friday from 12:00-1:30 p.m. MT. Women qualify Friday morning
• The Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix is a part of the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, which also includes halfpipe snowboarding Saturday. The series will also feature a Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix event at Mammoth Mountain, CA in March.

 TV

NBC – Sunday, Dec. 18  12:30-2:00 p.m.

Versus – Saturday, Dec. 24 – 3:00-4:00 p.m.

 WEBCAST

Freeskier.com

FuelTV.com

GrindMedia.com

Newschoolers.com

URTUR.com (qualifying only)

SCHEDULE

Wednesday, Dec. 7
8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Men's qualifying heats

Friday, Dec. 9

8:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – Women's qualifying heats
12:00 – 1:30 p.m. – Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix finals

2:00-3:00 p.m. – The North Face Junior Jam

4:00-5:00 p.m. – U.S. Freeskiing public team announcement (Burning Stones Plaza)

 U.S. FREESKIING PRO TEAM

Men

Simon Dumont (07/09/1986; Bethel, ME)

David Wise (06/30/1990; Reno, NV)
Torin Yater-Wallace (12/02/1995; Snowmass, CO)
Tucker Perkins (01/05/1991; North Hampton, NH)
Gus Kenworthy (10/01/1991; Telluride, CO)

Women
Devin Logan (02/17/1993; West Dover, VT)
Jen Hudak (09/07/1986; Park City, UT)
Jess Reedy (06/04/1983; Avon, CO)
Brita Sigourney (01/17/1990; Carmel, CA)

SOURCE: NEWSCHOOLERS.COM

12 freestyle skiers ran the finals in the last pre-season stadium big air of the year, King of Style, which just wrapped up at Stockholm Olympic Stadium in Sweden.

In case you missed the live broadcast, it was a tight race at the top, and in the end, the winner of this year's King of Style was Elias Ambühl, who picked up his third big air victory this Fall, followed by Bobby Brown in second place, and James 'Woodsy' Woods in third. 

Elias Ambühl is the 2011 King of Style. Photo by Johan Lygrell

FINAL RESULTS:

1) Elias Ambühl
2) Bobby Brown
3) James Woods
4) Tom Granier
5) Jacob Wester
6) Jesper Tjäder
7) Jon Olsson
8) Jossi Wells
9) Gus Kenworthy
10) Kai Mahler
11) PK Hunder
12) Oscar Harlaut

SOURCE: NEWSCHOOLERS.COM

The Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix in Copper Mountain, CO and Mammoth Mountain, CA got a boost from the International Ski Federation this week. Halfpipe skiing competitions at both sites, as well as the slopestyle skiing competition at Mammoth Mountain, were added to the FIS Freestyle World Cup calendar as the events prepare for their Olympic debut at Sochi, Russia in 2014.

The addition to the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup gives the competitions top sanctioning in the sport, along with already being a part of the Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) World Tour as platinum level events.

Photo by John Vandervalk

"It's important to us to have our freeskiing events at the highest levels of both the FIS and AFP," said U.S. Freeskiing Director Jeremy Forster. "We especially appreciate the willingness of FIS to partner with the freeskiing community not only on these events but in creating consistency of judging, formats and education across the sport worldwide."

The Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix will open with a halfpipe skiing competition Dec. 7-9 in Copper Mountain. The series will conclude Feb. 29 – Mar. 3 in Mammoth Mountain with both halfpipe and slopestyle skiing. Slopestyle is a new addition to the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup schedule.



Mike Riddle, Justin Dorey and Simon Dumont at last year's Grand Prix. Photo by John Vandervalk

USSA's Grand Prix circuit started with snowboarding in 1995 and has continued as the longest standing top circuit in the sport. Freeskiing was added to the program a year ago with a debut event at Copper.



The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, which rolled out a new U.S. Freeskiing program last January, has been a leader in pushing the new sports through FIS to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC added halfpipe skiing to the 2014 Olympic program this past April, with slopestyle getting the final nod in July.

 PART 2:

Words by Eric Meyers / Photos by Peter Morning  -  SOURCE: NEWSCHOOLERS.COM

A little more is on the line this winter when the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix comes to Mammoth Mountain, as the USSA announced this week that the event’s halfpipe and slopestyle competitions have received FIS Freestyle World Cup status. The event will now directly affect the efforts of U.S. Ski Team Members that are vying for the chance to represent their country in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

The 2014 Winter Olympics will be the first time that slopestyle skiing has ever appeared in the legendary event, and Mammoth Mountain has already begun preparations for the event to ensure that our sport’s first foray into the Olympiad goes smoothly. 

The 22-foot tall, 550-foot long superpipe is nearing completion in the Mammoth Unbound Main Park, and it won’t be long before athletes from all over the world are flying to the resort to begin their winter training schedules. While the superpipe will be open soon, it will receive a fresh rebuild mid-winter so the athletes have brand new walls to work with at the Grand Prix. Over on the park side, the season started off with plenty of features to help skiers and snowboarders shake off the summer rust, with three jumps and 14 rails. 

Mammoth team rider Parker White.

The Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix slopestyle will take place in Main Park – voted Best Terrain Park in the West by the readers of SKI Magazine – with much of the course viewable from the warmth of the lodge. “USSA is looking to us to set the standard for the Sochi Olympics,” said Mammoth Unbound Terrain Park Manager Michael Gregory. The setup will take much inspiration from the 2011 TTR Five-Star Grand Prix of Snowboarding event at Mammoth, which featured a pair of double pads with jib features, followed by a 55-foot jump, butter box, and ending with a pair of back-to-back jumps in the sixty to eighty foot range. 

USSA's Grand Prix circuit started with snowboarding in 1995 and has continued as the longest standing top circuit in the sport. Freeskiing was added to the program a year ago with a debut event at Copper, and the Colorado resort will also host a halfpipe skiing event to kick off this year’s circuit as well.

“Mammoth's event this year plays a role as freeskiers will be focused on earning enough FIS points to be eligible for Olympic selection, so the Mammoth event will be the first time people have had an opportunity to do that in the U.S.,” said Grand Prix Tour Director Eric Webster. “It is also significant because it will be the first time that FIS has awarded overall World Cup titles (the globes) in Freeskiing.”

Mammoth team rider Chris Logan

The Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix season culminates in Mammoth from February 29 to March 3, so start making travel plans now to see the Unbound Ski Team member Kaya Turski defend her home slopes. 

Relentless Energy London Freeze
Freeskiing Big Air
October 29, 2011

First Place – Jossi WELLS – NZL
Second Place - Oscar SCHERLIN – SWEv
Third Place – PK HUNDER - NOR

Video:

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Men's Final Results:
First Placee - Nils LAUPER - SUI
Second Place - Jonas HUNZIKER - SUI
Third Place - David ORTLIEB - SUI
COMPLETE FINAL RESULTS - CLICK HERE
64 Entries / 12 Countries

(SOURCE - AP - EDDIE PELLS - Spetember 28, 2011) Some kids go to college on the five-year plan. Hannah Kearney figures she'll take even longer than that.

The Olympic champion's plans to go to Dartmouth weren't so much put on hold as put on a different timeline. She heard the moguls calling again and decided she couldn't stay away. Instead of competing this season on a limited, domestic schedule while she goes to college, Kearney is back on the mountain full-time. Her ultimate goal: An Olympic gold repeat at the 2014 Games in Sochi.

"It made a lot of sense to me to continue doing what I love while I'm in my physical prime," the 25-year-old said. "It seems silly to step away."

Some may have argued it seemed silly to keep going.

Kearney, who is from Vermont, won the Olympic gold medal in 2010, making up for an early slip that resulted in a 22nd-place finish four years previous when she was the favorite. She defeated her biggest rival on the circuit, Canadian Jenn Heil, then came out in the 2010-11 season and beat Heil for the World Cup title, as well.

What more is there to prove?

"Sometimes, I wonder that myself," Kearney said. "But I knew I wasn't done. I was never satisfied. I know I can be better at what I'm doing. I haven't reached my peak. It's hard for athletes. Who wants to leave what they love doing? But I know this isn't the time because I can still do better."

Kearney's dean at Dartmouth was willing to work with her on some creative scheduling that will have her taking mostly spring and summer classes through 2014. By then, she figures, she'll have an idea of what she wants to do in her post-skiing life.

During her first semester, she took economics, an English Women's Gender Studies class and some history.

"I was plugging away at those. Exploring," she said. "That's the idea of college. To explore and learn."

But her trips to the mountain were every bit as invigorating as they'd always been. Maybe more.

Kearney teamed up with a freestyle legend, 1998 Olympic aerials champion Eric Bergoust – a technical master of ski jumping, who is working with Kearney on new techniques as she tries to add a twist to the back flip that helped her win Olympic gold.

Not that she will necessarily need that trick to be competitive over the next four years. But that's not the point.

"I owed it to myself to continue to attempt to progress," Kearney said. "The minute you say, `OK, that's good enough,' then I've lost my edge. I'm not longer a professional athlete and that's laziness."

That, not surprisingly, is not part of Kearney's makeup.

She wants to eek every last drop out of a ski career while she still has the physical tools to do it. When she was attending school, she commuted between Dartmouth and the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid for up to six hours a week.

"It was six hours in a car when I could've been training or studying," Kearney said. "To me, it just seemed like a way to stress myself out and not give either one my best effort."

So, she chose. And skiing won.

"It has to be my plan to go back and win a gold medal," she said. "That's what's on my mind."