Hall, Harwood and Stevenson on the Podium
Finals at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Aspen kicked off with men's and women's slopestyle early Saturday morning. After a cold and sunny week of training, conditions changed for finals offering warm temperatures and flat light.
Junior Worlds silver medalist, Ella Andrews, dropped first for the American women. This was only Andrew's second World Cup final, but she handled it with ease. Andrews put down a clean first run that earned her sixth for the day. This was Andrew's second highest finish at a World Cup, after a second place finish in Mammoth last season.
X Games gold medalist Rell Harwood was the other American woman in the final. After qualifying second, Rell dropped towards the end of the pack. Harwood put down a clean first run, but it wasn't enough for the podium. On her second go, she cleaned up her rails and her last hit: a left double 1260 safety. The judges rewarded her with third place, earning Harwood her first World Cup podium. Harwood was extremely happy with the outcome and with her skiing, standing on the podium alongside of France's Tess Ledeux in first and Canada's Megan Oldham in second.
On the men's side, the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team was out in full force with five of 16 competitors: Alex Hall, Colby Stevenson, Mac Forehand, Konnor Ralph, and Cody LaPlante. Alex Hall came out swinging, putting down a beautiful first run that earned him first place, and his first World Cup win of the season. Hall was stoked on the victory, saying, "I was so hyped to put one down today! The Aspen Buttermilk course was really fun and everyone in the field killed it today. I was really happy with my run and was able put it down about as smooth as I could." Colby Stevenson finished second, with a great final run to bump Norway's Birk Ruud to third. LaPlante struggled to put down a clean run, finishing the day in 15th, but was proud of his effort to put together a challenging and stylish run. Forehand and Ralph finished the day in ninth and sixth, respectively, putting down good runs, but not enough to crack the podium.
The Stifel U.S. Freeski Team is wrapping up their Aspen stint, with the Visa Big Air finals going down on Thursday, February 6. After that, they are taking some much needed time off before heading off to the last North American World Cup of the season in Quebec, Canada.
