Dehlinger First, Lillis Third in Deer Valley Aerials
The Stifel U.S. Ski Team men stepped up at home on Friday, with Quinn Dehlinger putting down his first win in three years and Chris Lillis taking third in front of the home crowd at Deer Valley at the Intermountain Health Freestyle International presented by Stifel.
The weather proved difficult again with rain in the morning switching to heavy snow and wind in the afternoon. The qualifications were originally planned for mid-day, but with the conditions changing quickly, all events were shifted to the evening. The athletes competed one jump in the qualification with six people heading to a one-jump final.
Dehlinger, Lillis and 2024 Deer Valley podiumer Connor Curran all made it through to the men’s finals, with Tasia Tanner pushing into the women’s finals.
With the snow falling and the crowd cheering, Dehlinger put down the hardest trick of the day—the storied “Daddy" or a full double full full—to land on the top of the podium.
“It’s always been a dream to win here at Deer Valley,” said Dehlinger. “Winning on home soil is just something different. This is the Super Bowl of aerials. The crowd is always the biggest, the environment is always the best, so to win here is something special.”
2022 Olympic gold medalist Lillis also put down a Daddy, but bobbled on the landing to finish third. He was still thrilled, having competed at the World Cup at Deer Valley since 2016 and had never before secured a podium.
“First hometown podium I’ve ever had!” said Lillis. “That’s a lot of fun for me. I’ve been dreaming of doing that in front of the Deer Valley crowd.”
Dehlinger, a two-time World Championships medalist, is returning from injury, having blown his knee last year. 2024’s Deer Valley World Cup weather proved similar, with winds and snow keeping the men from throwing triples in the competition. When he saw many of the men not throwing triples this year in practice due to the conditions, he took it upon himself to start the trend. Many athletes subsequently followed, causing a heavy-hitting final.
“I was sitting in the crowd last year with a blown knee, and I was thinking to myself man if I was up there, I wouldn’t let that happen,” said Dehlinger. “We showed up today and it was soft and slushy and I knew it was going to get a little bit colder. So we just bide our time and then I just sent. Once I sent, all the boys followed me up.”
Standing on the podium alongside Dehlinger and Lillis was Dmytro Kotovskyi of the Ukraine in second. Curran finished just off the podium in fourth.
Tanner fell hard in the finals, but is OK. She finished sixth. It was a clean sweep of the women’s podium by Australia, with Laura Peel first, Danielle Scott second and Abbey Willcox third.
Next up, the moguls skiers are back at Deer Valley for the dual moguls on Saturday, Feb. 8.
HOW TO WATCH
All times in ET
Saturday, Feb. 8
9:30 p.m. – women’s and men’s dual moguls – LIVE on Outside TV (free), on demand on Outside+
Sunday, Feb. 9
2:00 p.m. – women’s and men’s dual moguls (tape delay) – NBC/Peacock
