Blunck and Sildaru shine in halfpipe season-opener at Copper Mountain
Dec 07, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe
Copper Mountain (USA) - The 2018/19 halfpipe season got underway in explosive fashion on Friday at the Toyota US Grand Prix Copper Mountain FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup, where Kelly Sildaru (EST) and Aaron Blunck (USA) took the season’s first victories in a highly entertaining competition.
The 22’ superpipe at Copper had been running better and better throughout the week, and on Friday it was simply perfect. With sunny skies shining down on Copper’s slopes and the world’s top pipe skiers dialed in and ready to perform, the first halfpipe competition of 2018/19 set the stage for what promises to be an exciting season.
Though Sildaru qualified for finals in second behind PyeongChang 2018 Olympic gold medallist Cassie Sharpe (CAN), anyone who saw the 16-year-old Estonian’s runs in qualifiers knew that with just a couple of small adjustments she would be challenging for top spot on the podium.
On Friday she put those adjustments into practice, putting down three stomped runs that all scored 89.00 points or higher. The highlight of the three was her near-flawless second run, that featuring back-to-back 900s to start things off and a switch left-side 900 safety on her last hit that earned her a score of 93.00 and her first halfpipe World Cup victory.
“I didn’t really expect to win today at all,” said Sildaru after awards, “These girls (Sharpe and third place Brita Sigourney) are skiing so well and have inspired me so much, and I haven’t been skiing halfpipe so much - the last time was two-and-a-half months ago in New Zealand - so I’m pretty stoked about the result today.”
Sharpe pushed hard to top Sildaru with her last run, stomping a huge left-side 1080 tail grab on the last hit, but a few small bobbles in the middle of the pipe meant she would have to settle for a score of 90.50 and second place.
“Kelly is a fierce competitor,” Sharpe acknowledged from the finish area, “She’s out here winning slopestyle and winning pipe and she’s got the skills and the tricks to keep landing on top of the podium. Me and the rest of the girls have got to keep stepping up our game and grabbing our skis and going big if we want to get back on top.”
Sigourney finished the day in third with a score of 88.00, giving her her first podium at Copper in almost five years.
The men’s competition saw top qualifier Aaron Blunck step his game up another notch when it really counted, putting down a staggeringly progressive second run that, though it only included only four hits, saw the 22-year-old Colorado native spin double corks in all four directions. With his grabs locked in and his amplitude pushed above what he showed in qualifiers, Blunck earned a score of 96.25 and the third World Cup victory of his career.
“I’ve been working on that run for a little bit now, so to land it in the first contest of he year has got me so hyped,” said Blunk, “I just about put it down in the first run but I had a little hand drag, but that helped me get the nerves out. In that second run I was just thinking, ‘You got this, let’s go put it down,’ and I did and I’m stoked.”
Second place went to Miguel Porteous of New Zealand, who came into Copper mountain as the less heralded of the Porteous brothers (younger sibling Nico won silver at PyeongChang 2018), but left as the higher-ranking of the duo, earning his first career World Cup podium with a score of 93.75.
“It’s a pretty amazing start to the season,” said Porteous, “To come in here after a good few weeks of training in Europe and to land on the podium is awesome. My first today run went as good as I could have. I couldn’t improve it in my last two runs but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
Third place went to David Wise (USA), as the PyeongChang 2018 men’s gold medal winner earned his fourth career Copper Mountain podium.
Next up for the FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup is a trip across the Pacific Ocean to China’s Secret Garden resort, where the last halfpipe competition of the 2018 calendar year is going down from December 19-21.
QUICK LINKS:
Ladies’ top three runs highlight videos FIRST / SECOND / THIRD
Men’s top three runs highlight videos FIRST / SECOND / THIRD
Photos
TRICK LIST:
Men
Aaron Blunck - Switch Left Double Cork 900 Japan, Switch Right Double 1080 Safety, Left Double Flare 1080 Safety, Right Double 1440 Tail.
Miguel Porteous - Left Double 1260 Mute, Right Double 1260 Safety, Left 1080 Tail, Switch Left Alley-Oop, Double Flare 900 Safety, Switch Right Alley-Oop Flare 540 Safety
David Wise - Switch Right 700 Japan, Left Double 1260 Tail, Right 1080 Tail, Switch Left 700 Tail, Right Double 1260 Mute.
Ladies
Kelly Sildaru - Left 900 Tail, Right 900 Mute, Left 540 Mute, Left Alley-Oop 540 Tail, Right Alley-Oop Tail, Right 720 Tail, Switch Left 900 Safety.
Cassie Sharpe - Right 900 Tail, Left 900 Safety, Right 700 Safety, Switch Left 360 Mute, Straight Air Truck Driver, Left 1080 Tail.
Brita Sigourney - Left Alley-Oop Japan, Left 900 Tail, Left Alley-Oop 540 Safety, Left 540 Safety, Right 700 Mute.
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