David Wise (Reno, Nev.) battled through wind and snow to claim victory at the FIS Freeski World Cup halfpipe under the lights Saturday night at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

“Conditions were challenging, but the skiers still showed up and gave it their best here in Calgary,” said Wise. “I haven’t won a contest with my first run in a long time, so it feels like a double win for me. Stoked to share the podium with Nico and Noah, they both crushed it in tonight’s halfpipe.”

Wise, despite the wind and snow, displayed huge amplitude on run one and stomped a perfect run earning a score of a 90.00. As he caught his breadth in the finish carral, Wise said, “that took everything I had.” His first run score would hold as the top score of the night.

Wise put together what looked to be another stellar run on his second attempt, but lost his ski upon landing his last hit. Just like the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, he would have to push through an equipment malfunction, but this time around he had the luxury of sitting in first place.

Wise has laced together quite the season thus far with a third-place finishes at the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colo., and the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colo., as well as a silver medal at X Games in Aspen, Colo.

U.S Rookie Team member Hunter Hess (Bend, Ore.) also skied very well landing his third and final run to jump into fourth place just missing the opportunity to collect his second ever World Cup podium. New Zealand’s Nico Porteous finished second and Canada’s Noah Bowman was third.

For the ladies, Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) put on a great show, but was unable to reach the podium. She was in podium contention until the third and final run where China’s Kexin Zhang put all the pieces together to slide into third ahead of Sigourney. Sigourney was in the fourth position with one more opportunity to find her way back to podium contention, but she was unable to do so. U.S. Rookie Team member Svea Irving (Winter Park, Colo.) performed very consistently landing her first two of three runs with solid amplitude down the halfpipe.

Sharpe topped the podium for her first World Cup win of the season. Karker finished second and Zhang closed out the podium in third.

Competition in Calgary has mixed up the FIS World Cup freeski halfpipe standings. Sigourney moved from eighth into fifth and Karker is now the cup leader. For the men, following his win, Wise moves from seventh to third putting him in contention for the Crystal Globe with one more competition to go at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., March 6-9. Also, Hess moved up one spot from fifth to fourth. New Zealand’s Nico Porteous is the current leader.

RESULTS
Men’s halfpipe
Women’s halfpipe

CUP STANDINGS
Men’s halfpipe
Women’s halfpipe