Gu and Ferreira open halfpipe season on top
Dec 11, 2021·Freeski Park & Pipe
The 2021/22 FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup season opened in thrilling - and chilly - fashion at Copper Mountain Resort (USA) on Friday, with China’s Ailing Eileen Gu and Colorado’s own Alex Ferreira braving the cold and falling snow to stomp impeccable first runs and walk away with the first halfpipe victories of this all-important Olympic season.
Despite a decent-sized snowfall overnight, crews at Copper had the halfpipe in primo shape come time for competition early afternoon, and while the snowfall kicked up as the competition went on, nearly everyone in both the women’s and men’s fields was able to step up and put down a solid run.
Gu rolls on with second World Cup win in less than a week
None, of course, were more solid than Eileen Gu on Friday, as the 18-year-old - who was fresh off a big air win at the Visa Big Air presented by Toyota at Steamboat Resort just six days ago - showed once again why she’s arguably the most exceptionally well-rounded freeskier in the world right now.
Leading off her first run with a right side 900 with the Buick grab that only she is doing in the women’s field, Gu followed that up with a left 900 Japan, a right 720 opposite tail, a switch 360 Japan, a left alley-oop flat 540 mute and finally a left 540 double grab to earn a score of 90.50 that would hold up to all challengers and give her her second career halfpipe World Cup win.
However, according to Gu, she has plenty much more to give than what we saw at Copper.
“Today the conditions were really tough,” she said, just before the awards ceremony, “It snowed overnight and it’s still snowing right now, so that affected me a lot and I had to make some last minute changes to my run. I wasn’t able to do a lot of the tricks I’ve been working on early in the season. But the conditions were the same for everybody and I’m happy I was able to put the run that I did.”
“I love competing with all the girls,” Gu went on, “I feel like halfpipe skiing, and just women’s freeskiing in general is at a really progressive point right now and it’s super exciting to be a part of it and be at the forefront of it. Being able to have play any little part in that progression is a huge deal for me.”
In second place, just half a point back of Gu, was Canada’s Rachael Karker, who boosted some of the most consistent amplitude of the day and was one of the few skiers in Friday’s snowy finals who actually laid down their best-scoring run in their third attempt.
Kicking things off with a giant left flare mute grab and immediately following that up with back-to-back 900s, Karker’s combination of variety and airtime earned the 24-year-old a score of 90.00 and her eighth career World Cup podium.
Third place on the day went to another freeski triple threat in Kelly Sildaru of Estonia. Squeezing more hits into her run than any other skier dropping in on the Copper pipe, Sildaru included a right 900 mute to left 900 opposite tail to open her high-scoring second run in style. With a score of 88.75, she would make her first halfpipe World Cup start in almost three years a good one by earning her eighth career World Cup podium.
Colorado local Ferreira finally hits the podium at Copper Mountain
Over on the men’s side of things the field of 10 finalists represented just three nations - the USA, New Zealand and Canada - and by competition’s end each one of of those countries would be celebrating a podium.
Making a triumphant return to competition just a few months after undergoing neck surgery to relieve nerve pain was 27-year-old Alex Ferreira of the host US squad, who won his first World Cup competition in over four years with some technical wizardry in the tricky conditions.
Opening things up on hist first run with a massive switch left 1080 tail grab, Ferreira proceeded to lace up a right double 1260 mute, a left double 1440 safety grab, a switch right 1080 tail grab and finally a left double 1260 safety to earn a score of 93.50 and all but assure himself of an Olympic spot on the tough US Freeski Team with the victory.
“I’m just so grateful to be here,” Ferreira smiled from the finish area, “I’ve actually never done well in Copper - it’s a my first win here, my first podium here ever. I had neck surgery about five months ago and I’m so grateful to everyone who played in role in getting me back to where I needed to be and so grateful to be on the podium with these real gentlemen.”
Those gentlemen Ferreira mentioned were reigning World Champion Nico Porteous of New Zealand and the rapidly rising Brendan Mackay of Canada, both of whom were able to elevate their scores into the 90-point range but couldn’t quite reach Ferreira’s heights.
Porteous would land in second place on the strength of his unique blend of style and tech, despite the fact he wasn’t able to showcase the back-to-back 1620 combination that has become his trademark.
Still, with a 92.25-scoring first run that featured four doubles - including a sequence of right double 12 safety grab, left double 1620 safety and a show-stopping left double alley-app flatspin Japan to finish his run, Porteous showed why he’s considered by many to be the best in the halfpipe world right now.
This would leave third place to Mackay, who earned his top-3 spot with his typical burly style, leading things off with a high-risk switch double alley-oop 900 critical grab into a switch double 1080 safety combo and finishing off with a right double 1260 safety for the third podium of his World Cup career.
Next up on the FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup calendar we’ll be heading to Calgary for a pair of special back-to-back holiday competitions, first on December 30th and then again on January 1st to ring in the new year in style.
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