Gu and Ferreira bring the heat to Secret Garden halfpipe season-opener
Dec 09, 2023·Freeski Park & Pipe
The 2023/24 FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup season opened on an incredible high on Saturday in China, where perfect conditions and a perfectly cut halfpipe lead to a heavy-hitting day of action that was capped off by victories for two of the freeski world’s finest competitors in Eileen Gu (CHN) and Alex Ferreira (USA).
GU RULES SECRET GARDEN YET AGAIN
Here in China it’s Eileen Gu’s world, and the rest of us are just living in it. Ever since the now 20-year-old claimed pipe and big air gold and slopestyle silver at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games she has become one of the host nation’s most beloved personalities - a true celebrity the likes of which the freeski world has never seen.
While shouldering the expectations of the most populated nation on the planet might be a cross too heavy to bear for some, Gu seems to handle the pressure and attention with ease, and despite the attention and the fact that Saturday was her first finals back in action after missing 11 months due to injury, there was no question as to whether or not Gu would stand atop the podium by competition’s end.
Already in first place after her first run, Gu stepped things up in run two. Starting things off with the right 900 Buick that has become her signature trick, Gu then went right 720 opposite tail, to a switch left 360 Japan, then a left alley-oop flatspin 540 mute, before finishing things off with the right side version of that same trick with a safety grab for good measure.
Add it all up and you get a score of 94.25 and one of the most resounding wins of Gu’s career - fully 12 points ahead of second place finisher Hanna Faulhaber (USA).
“Coming back and having my first competition here in Secret Garden after 11 months out of the bib, it’s a dream come true,” said Gu from the finish area, “Seeing all the fans out here cheering me on, it gives me memories of the Olympics, for sure.
“I feel really proud seeing how many people in China have taken up snowsports since the Olympics in 2022 and the real passion people have started to cultivate for it here, especially young people. There’s a ton of girls out here skiing and snowboarding, too, and if I helped influence that, that’s all I could have ever asked for.”
As mentioned above, second place on the day went to reigning World Champion Hanna Faulhaber, who put her signature amplitude on display throughout the day but had a minor bobble in each of her runs.
Her best of the three was run one, in which she started things off with a massive tail grab, before going into a left 900 safety, then a right flare safety, a switch right 720 safety and finally a left 540 Japan to finish things off with a score of 82.25 for the fourth podium of her World Cup career.
Rounding out the women’s podium in third place with a score of 79.25 was Canada’s Amy Fraser, who started her run with a bold switch 900 safety, before going into a switch left 540 tail, then a switch right 720 safety, then a left flair tail, before finishing things off with back-to-back 900s, first right and then left.
HARD-CHARGING FERREIRA POWERS TO FIFTH WORLD CUP WIN
Over on the men’s side of things the veteran Alex Ferreira showed once again why he’s been one of the best in the business for well over a decade, as he attacked the pipe from first run through to last, earning his fifth World Cup victory in the pipe that he won Olympic bronze just under two years ago.
Leading off his 91.00 point-scoring winning run with a switch left 1080 tail, Ferreira then sent a massive right double 1620 cindy on hit two, then into a left 1080 tail, a switch right double 1080 Japan, before finishing it all off with a bang, stomping a left double 1620 safety on his final hit.
“First off, I just want to thank you to Secret Garden for putting together this awesome venue, and to Alli (Zehetner) for cutting this pipe,” Ferreira smiled from the finish area following his final run. “I was talking to my coach, Elana Chase, on the bus ride up today, saying, ‘E, I don’t know what’s going on but this is the least stressed I think I’ve ever felt for a final.’ I think that’s because I’ve got my life in order and I’m just so happy to be skiing. I’ve been training really hard and everything’s just unfolding in front of my eyes exactly how I envisioned it.”
Second place behind Ferreira was the breakout story of this week in Secret Garden, as 15-year-old Luke Harrold of New Zealand dropped in on the first World Cup competition of his young career and promptly walked away with his first podium, displaying the type of poise and composure it typically takes years to cultivate on the World Cup circuit.
Harrold’s podium-worthy second run began with a sweet switch right alley-oop double 900 critical, which he then mirrored with a switch left alley-oop double 900 mute, into a switch left double 1080 safety, then a right double 1260 safety and finally a left double 1260 safety, skiing out to a score of 89.25 and the first of what is likely to be many podiums of his career.
Rounding out the top-3 in third place was the USA’s Hunter Hess, who returned to the site of his first World Cup podium back in 2019 and added his second with one of the most exciting runs of the competition.
Beginning his run with a hugely creative switch left 720 safety blocked out to 540, Hess then went switch right 720 mute, left double 1260 Japan, right double 1260 double Japan, and finally a mind-bending misty 540 mute that Hess himself said was inspired by snowboarding’s McTwist. The 25-year-old would earn a score of 88.75 for his efforts, third place and a whole bunch of stoke for an inspired performance.
As soon as awards wrapped it was off the hill and on the road for the FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup squad, as training for next week’s Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Copper Mountain kicks off on Monday. We’ll see ya there.
QUICK LINKS
