Ferreira Wins; Blunck, Faulhaber Podium at Dew Tour Pipe Finals

2018 Olympic Silver medalist Alex Ferreira earned the top spot Saturday at the Dew Tour at Copper Mountain, Colorado. This win follows on his victory from the week prior at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, making it two-for-two at Copper.  

Ferreira’s earned his top score of 95.75 with a run that included a switch leftside 1080 tailgrab, into a rightside double cork 1620 tailgrab, into a leftside double cork 1440 safety grab, followed by a switch down-the-pipe double cork 900 Japan grab, and finishing off with a leftside double cork 1260 safety grab. And you know he swung that ski pole to celebrate that run.

Ferreira said, “There’s a lot of spinning in that run, and I’ve actually never done it before and to be able to do it and put all the pieces together for the puzzle it was pretty incredible, not just for the result, but for my mental game.”

Aaron Blunck came back to soundly claim second following a frustrating finish the week prior. He earned his top score of 94 in his final of three runs, putting down a double cork-studded run both ways from top to bottom, finishing with a rightside double cork 1260.

“It was a huge difference from last week, going 0 for 3 to 2 for 3 this week,” said Blunck. “This whole week I was just having so much fun, enjoying the times. At the end of the day, skiing is skiing and it’s just so much fun. I just had to remember that and keep it in the back of my head. That was the biggest difference.”

Blunck adds this second-place podium finish to his first-place finish at the first Olympic qualifying event at the U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen last March.

Birk Irving finished in fourth continuing his methodical climb up the ranks, followed by two-time Olympic Gold medalist David Wise in fifth, Hunter Hess in eighth and Lyman Currier in ninth.

Women’s Halfpipe Finals

In the women’s field, Hanna Faulhaber earned a career-best finish on Friday, landing in third place. Faulhaber’s top score of 90.75 came on her final run of finals.

The 17-year-old freeskier from Aspen, Colorado is quickly becoming recognized for her amplitude, which she displayed in fine form on her first hit. She then upped the difficulty of her run incorporating a cork 900 on her final hit—a first for her in competition.

“By adding the 9, it has stepped up my level of skiing by quite a bit. But there is definitely still a lot more to improve,” said Faulhaber in an interview with the Aspen Times.

As for her performance, Hanna said, “Unreal! I’m just so out of words right now. I put down two solid runs and was pretty stoked. It feels great—first Dew Tour podium and first big podium period. I’m stoked at a loss for words.” 

2018 Olympic Bronze medalist Brita Sigourney finished in eighth place, this follows her fourth-place finish at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix the week prior.

This event marks the third of six U.S. Olympic ski halfpipe qualifying events. The qualifying circuit now continues up north in Calgary, where the U.S. Freeski team will have two more chances to compete, before the final stop at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, California.

FULL RESULTS
Men's Ski Halfpipe Final
Women's Ski Halfpipe Final

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