Gerard Punches Ticket to 2018 Olympics

Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.) took the win at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Aspen’s Snowmass Mountain, which officially nominated him to the U.S. Olympic Team for snowboard slopestyle and big air.

Snowmass Mountain was again covered with a thick layer of snow this morning, causing delays in the slopestyle competition and an eventual decision to not hit the last jump due to low speeds. But the competition was still high, with Gerard throwing a massive second run and scoring an 87.28 over Hiroaki Kunitake of Japan. New Zealand’s Tiarn Collins was third.

“Qualifying for the Olympics today was amazing, but the best part about today was having my little sister Asher with me at the top before I dropped in,” said Gerard, whose family watched him at the event. “This was a pretty fun contest. I love riding at Snowmass.”

Ryan Stassel (Anchorage, Alaska) had trouble with his first two runs, but put down a clean third run to take seventh. Chandler Hunt (Park City, Utah) finished eighth.

In the women’s slopestyle, Jessika Jenson (Rigby, Idaho), who won the slopestyle qualifiers, took fifth place. Ty Walker (Stowe, Vt.) was seventh.

Gerard joins his U.S. Snowboard Team comrade Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.) on the Olympic slopestyle and big air team. Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) is the only U.S. female slopestyle and big air rider to have been named, so far.

The final Olympic spots will be decided at the last Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain Jan. 18-21.

RESULTS
Men’s slopestyle
Women’s slopestyle

OLYMPIC STANDINGS
Men’s and women’s snowboarding