Zhang and d’Artois wrap up 2018 with top spots in Secret Garden
Dec 20, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe
The final competition of 2018 went down with a bang in Secret Garden (CHN), as the local Chinese hero Zhang Kexin and Canada’s stylish ripper Simon d’Artois took big victories at Thursday’s halfpipe event, wrapping up yet another exciting year of the FIS Freeski World Cup tour.
It was a full day of halfpipe action at the future Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games venue in Secret Garden, following a shift in the competition program due to possible incoming weather. With an early start of the day, 30 athletes checked in on top of the pipe eager to battle for a spot in the finals slated to go down later in the day.
And with top 6 ladies and top 10 men left, a perfectly shaped halfpipe and optimal snow conditions, everything was ready for the final showdown.
On the ladies’ side the reigning Secret Garden champion and the local favourite Zhang Kexin made a strong statement, boasting big airs and spinning all four directions including a massive right 720 to kick things off. That, along with a switch right 900 in the middle of her run, helped Zhang earn a total score of 84.75 points to top the rankings.
She would only improve later on, cleaning up her second run, holding the grabs and sticking the landings and, with an 87.75 points, she took her second World Cup victory as well as the halfpipe World Cup leader yellow bib.
“It feels great to win in Secret Garden again,” said Zhang, “I really enjoy skiing here and taking a spot on top of the podium in front of the home crowd is just amazing.”
The second place on the day went to Canada’s Rachael Karker, who also scored her career’s first World Cup podium. Despite a very intensive scheduled in December, the 19-year-old Karker showcased once again that she’s without a doubt the one to keep an eye on this season. In the last three weeks alone she missed a podium by one spot in Copper, just to come back with a surprise win at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, and now finishing as a runner-up in China.
Another Chinese up-and-comer Li Fanghui rounded-out the ladies’ podium on third, proving that a very young Chinese halfpipe team has plenty of reason to look into the future with confidence and positive expectations.
In the men’s competition Canadian veteran Simon d’Artois went for his highly anticipated first World Cup win, stomping all of his runs on the day, with of a huge air to fakie, a switch left 1260 tail, switch right 720 mute, left dub 1260 safety and a left alley-oop dub 720 high safety all landed with style and amplitude. Putting his last run down, d’Artois steezed it out as only he can do, earning a high score of the day with 93.50 points.
“I had a lot of fun and I skied really well,” said d’Artois, “I put down two qualification runs and three final runs so I’m really happy with consistency. It’s been a while since the last time I was on top so I’m just super stoked.”
Despite all the efforts from the 2018 Olympic bronze medallist Nico Porteous (NZL), who tried to impress the judges with his left 1080 seatbelt as well as three different doubles, his score of 89.50 points was just not enough to get above d’Artois in the ranking as Porteous had to settle for the second spot, claiming his career’s first World Cup podium.
Third place on the day went to USA’s Hunter Hess who also scored his first World Cup podium.
The FIS Freeski World Cup comes back to action after the holiday break, with the slopestyle competition scheduled to take place in Font Romeu (FRA) on January 10-12, 2019.
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