Atkin takes career first and Blunck repeats in Copper halfpipe World Cup
Dec 14, 2019·Freeski Park & Pipe
A big ol’ Colorado snowstorm couldn’t put a damper on a day of pipe riding at the Land Rover US Grand Prix Copper Mountain halfpipe World Cup on Friday, with the riders on hand making the best of the tough conditions to battle for the podium and Zoe Atkin (GBR) and Aaron Blunck (USA) rising above the rest to take wins at the second World Cup halfpipe event of 2019/20.
While the best efforts of the expert Copper park crew ensured the venue was as good as it could be throughout finals, it was truly a herculean effort just to do so, and accumulating snow in the flat bottom meant speed would be an issue throughout the day. Riders in both the women’s and men’s fields were forced to scale back their runs as a result.
Atkin goes technical in tough conditions
Still, that didn’t stop Atkin from putting down the most technical run of the day in the women’s competition, dropping a left-side 720 on her first hit before going switch through her next three airs - including back-to-back switch 540s both ways - and putting an exclamation point on things off with a right-side 720 on her second-to-last.
Atkin would earn a top score of 87.75 in an impressive performance for the youngster who was claiming her first career World Cup win.
“I’m so excited,” 16-year-old Atkin said from the finish area, “Honestly, I’m speechless. It feels so surreal. I’ve been working on going as big as I can and being able to spin all four ways to set myself apart from the other competitors, and I’m happy to be able to put that run down today.”
Second place went to the USA’s own Brita Sigourney, who was able to maintain her amplitude despite the speed issues, launching her signature ally-oop on her first hit and then keeping things going with a left 900 and corked right side 720 further down the pipe. Sigourney’s third and final final run gave her a score of 85.00 for her fourth career podium at Copper Mountain and the 10th podium of her World Cup career.
Third place went to Canada’s Rachael Karker, as the 22-year-old lead off with a big left-side flare and included a left 900 and a super corked left 720 later in her run. The third-place result was the the third podium of her career, with all those top three finishes coming in the last 12 months.
Finishing just behind Karker in fourth was Zhang Kexin, the winner of the season-opener in Cardrona (NZL). The result was enough for Zhang to maintain her lead atop the women’s halfpipe World Cup standings with 150 points.
Blunck outbattles Wise and Bowman
In the men’s competition it was two-time reigning world champion Aaron Blunck stepping up to defend last season’s Copper Mountain win with another top performance to kick off the 2019/20 season.
While last year Blunck blew everyone away with a run that included four doubles in four hits, there would be no such heroics this season due to the conditions in Colorado.
Still, Blunck lead off his run with a left double cork 1080 into a second hit switch 1080, finishing it all off with a left side 1080 on his final hit to earn himself a score of 87.00 and the fourth World Cup win of his career.
The win, combined with his third-place finish at the season’s first event in Cardrona, would vault Blunck into top spot on the halfpipe World Cup standings with 160 points, putting him just ahead of his teammate Birk Irving who won in Cardrona and finished fourth on the day in Copper.
Second place would go to two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist David Wise, also of the host US squad, who was returning to action after breaking his leg at the Audi Nines showcase in May. Always one of the most powerful skiers in the pipe, Wise pushed through the snowy conditions to throw down a left double cork 1260 on his first hit into a right 1080 on his second, stomping the rest of his second run clean for a score of 85.25 and the 16th podium of his World Cup career.
Third place went to Noah Bowman of Canada, who was able to stomp a third and final run that featured his signature switch-stance smoothness and was highlighted by a switch left ally-oop double cork 1080 in the middle of the pipe. Bowman now sits third on the World Cup halfpipe standings with 140 points - just 10 back of Irving’s 150 and 20 points back of Blunck.
The halfpipe World Cup now jumps across the Pacific to China, where the final pipe competition of the decade will go down at the future Olympic venue in Secret Garden from December 19-21.
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