Aerials Athletes Compete First Events of the Season
Aerials skiers of the U.S. Ski Team competed in their first events of the season Dec. 20-21 at the Utah Olympic Park NorAm in Park City. Electing not to go to China for the first aerials FIS World Cup Events, the team opted for more on-snow training and the NorAm served as good early season competition experience.
NorAms are the level of competition below World Cups and are the development pipeline for up and coming aerials athletes to prove themselves. Utah Olympic Park (UOP) provided a great site and the weather proved favorable - no wind for three days made for great jumps from the U.S. Team, U.S. clubs and the Canadian Development Team. “It was great to see lots of young aerialists from both countries doing new tricks and having fun!” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Aerials World Cup and Development Coach Eric Bergoust.
On Friday Chris Lillis landed in first and Eric Loughran in second. Megan Nick scored the top spot for the women and Winter Vinecki came in second. On Saturday Eric came in first and Alex Bown landed the third spot. On the women’s side Kaila Kuhn came in first, Winter Vinecki earned second and Megan Nick came in third.
The U.S. Team enters another prep period at the UOP where they will focus on higher degrees of difficulty in their jumps. Their first World Cup is set for January 25, 2020 in Moscow, Russia.
The U.S. Ski Team Women swept the podium on Dec. 21 with Kaila Kuhn in first, Winter Vineck in second and Megan Nick in third.
Men's podium Dec. 20: U.S. Ski Team athletes Chris Lillis and Eric Loughran came in first and second, Canada's Miha Fontaine came in third.
Men's podium Dec. 21: U.S. Team athletes Eric Loughran and Alex Bowen came in first and third, Canada's Miha Fontaine came in second.
