With the finale of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix this weekend at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., the first freeskiing members of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team were announced. Three men and three women were recognized as Olympic selections in halfpipe skiing at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team Nomination Ceremony presented by Visa in front of a packed house at the base of Mammoth's Unbound Terrain Park. All six achieved their team status through objective selection criteria.

The slopestyle skiing team will be announced Sunday at Mammoth Mountain. The entire freeski team, including any additional selections based on team quotas, will be announced this coming week.

The team will be headlined by 2014 Olympic gold medalists David Wise (Reno, Nev.) and Maddie Bowman (S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.). Five of the six were on the 2014 team. The only newcomer is Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.).

The final selection events in slopestyle are set for Sunday at Mammoth Mountain including one event for women and two for men.
 
NBCUniversal will present more than 2,400 hours of coverage across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, NBCOlympics.com, and the NBC Sports app - the most ever for a Winter Olympics.
 
All members of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team will be confirmed by the United States Olympic Committee when it formally names Team USA this Friday (January 26).
  
2018 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM (FREESKI)
Men's Halfpipe
Alex Ferreira, Aspen, Colo. (08/14/1994) 
David Wise, Reno, Nev. (06/30/1990) *
Torin Yater-Wallace, Basalt, Colo. (12/02/1995) *
 
Women's Halfpipe
Maddie Bowman, S. Lake Tahoe, Calif. (01/10/1994) *
Devin Logan, W. Dover, Vt. (02/17/1993) *
Brita Sigourney, Carmel, Calif. (01/17/1990) *
 
* Competed in past Olympics
 

ATHLETE PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
Brita Sigourney
I think Sochi was a pretty unpredictable Olympics, especially being my first Olympics ever, but also when we got there things were not exactly as they were promised. I guess it prepared me to not have expectations and to go in just trying to have a good time and enjoy the experience.

Devin Logan
The courses here at Mammoth have always been spectacular, being the last Olympic qualifier, you always want to give it your all and show your best runs. I feel the pipe was on point, especially under the lights, we don’t get to do that often. It was a really cool experience to come down to the corral with a crowd under the lights. As for slopestyle, Mammoth is known for their insane jumps and creative rail lines. This course with the shark fin feature, the first jump I would say, it really let us be creative in the slopestyle course. It was great and prepared us leading into the curved jumps we will see in Korea next month that we also saw a Snowmass.

Alex Ferreira 
Mammoth did a great job getting the event together and organized. It was a tough year with snow for all of the west, so they did a great job. The pipe was pretty icey, that will happen at night, but it was still amazing to be skiing under the lights and it got the people fired up. Thank you Mammoth!

Maddie Bowman 
It’s super cool to come to Mammoth and ski under the lights. It creates a really special atmosphere. Being from Tahoe and coming down here to ski halfpipe growing up, I never thought I would be skiing under the lights at Mammoth at the last Olympic Qualifier, so It was pretty special and brought me back to growing up in California.

Maggie Voisin 
Doing what we do there is obviously going to be a lot of ups and downs. At a young age, I happen to go through a lot, especially with the last Olympics and breaking my ankle, then my first event back from the Olympics I tore my ACL, I mean I was 15 and 16 when I went through those injuries. However, I don’t think I would change anything, they really shaped me as an athlete and a person, I was able to build off those injuries. It’s crazy to sit here today going to my second Olympics. I’m feeling a little bit of redemption and fire from the last games. There’s a lot of ups and downs, but for me I have always believed you need to take the positive out of every situation. Through my ankle and knee injury I learned how to take care of my body mentally and physically, I’m not going to say it was all easy, there was definitely tough times, but it’s made me who I am today. I have had the support of my fellow athletes, family, friends, and the whole U.S. Team and wouldn’t be here today without it.

David Wise 
I have been saying this since the beginning of the year, It started out as a prediction and has come true. This is the strongest team we have ever put together for any sport, any discipline, the U.S. Halfpipe guys will be one of the strongest teams ever. The hardest part of our job this year is done now. We’ve made the team, it certainly wasn’t easy and took a lot of dedication, but we’re here and now we do get to enjoy the ride to Korea. 

Maddie Bowman 
Everyone here can speak to how hard and stressful this process can be, even in the years leading up. My hat just goes off to all the athletes up here. The pressure we go through, the selection process, and there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that everyone has done an amazing job dealing with. 

Alex Ferreira 
I went to a lot of training camps, went to the gym a lot, took care of my body both mentally and physically. Took some time off, but also enjoyed the ride. I am just happy to be here. 

David Wise
I think we as action sports athletes have a bad wrap for being lazy humans, we are just out there for the ride having a good time, but the reality is it takes an insane amount of dedication. At least for myself, I honestly spend more time doing my job in the summer then I do in the winter whether in the gym, riding my mountain bike, trying to get as fit as I possibly can. I was either blessed or cursed with a larger frame then most of the guys up here, so I outweigh them by out 30 pounds or so and that’s not by choice, but rather the body God gave me so I have to spend a little extra time staying in shape so I can take those deep landings when I have a bad take off. That’s my journey, but I bet every athlete up here has a different version of that. Some people are super into Yoga, some are into meditation, it’s different for all of us, each person has their own way of making this work and it's incredibly fascinating to look at it from that side. 

Torin Yater-Wallace 
I tend to be hurt a lot haha, so I try to stay as healthy as I can, but probably spend a quarter of the amount of time in the gym as Dave does, for me it’s all about skiing as much as I can and with that comes getting hurt sometimes. This year has been stressful, I felt a lot of pressure with the lack of snow and a lot of the halfpipes we are dealing with were just being finished the day before, so its been quite the ride. To be here and get it done has been an amazing ride. I’m happy to be feeling good and healthy and go into this next Olympics without having my lungs collapse. I was trying to do my best out there, we have had a different qualifying process this year where we are competing against the whole field and not just each other, so every event you basically had to podium, that added another level of pressure as opposed to the last time just trying to rank yourself against the Americans. I won last year’s Mammoth Grand Prix which was great, but it added a lot of pressure. It took me a lot of tries, but finally at this last one, I was able to put it down on my last run. I was dealing with a pretty verty wall, as David said they did an amazing job putting it together, but with a little bit of new snow, the cut gave the right wall a lot of vert and you are kind of struggling trying to adapt to the pipe. I fell the first two runs because of that and on my last, I took a slightly safer run, but it was good enough to get me on the podium and that’s what I needed. I’m really grateful 

Brita Sigourney
it is really stressful, I really try not to think about that aspect of it. Last night I definitely had an inner battle, I had a really bad warm up, I wasn’t really landing any of my tricks that I never struggle with and it kind of got to my head. I had a moment with my coaches and myself and thought I know how to do these things, I can do it in my sleep, and there’s no reason why I can’t do it when it matters. I had to put those negative thoughts behind me and just put my game face on for the contest. So much about skiing is the mental aspect, if you are able to overcome those hurdles, you can do anything you can set your mind to. For those looking to get into freesking, I would say follow their heart and if she’s having fun to keep doing it, never put pressure on yourself ever, and to do what feels good. 

With the finale of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix this weekend at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., the first snowboarding members of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team were announced. A dozen athletes were recognized as Olympic selections in halfpipe and slopestyle at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team Nomination Ceremony presented by Visa in front of a packed house at the base of Mammoth's Unbound Terrain park. All 12 achieved their team status through objective selection criteria.

The entire snowboard team, including any additional selections based on team quotas, plus teams in snowboardcross and parallel giant slalom, will be announced this coming week.

The team will be headlined by two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White (Carlsbad, Calif.), veteran three-time medalist Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow, Vt.) and rising star Chloe Kim (Torrance, Calif.). The slopestyle athletes will also compete in big air to close out the Olympics, a new addition to the event program.
 
NBCUniversal will present more than 2,400 hours of coverage across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, NBCOlympics.com, and the NBC Sports app - the most ever for a Winter Olympics.
 
All members of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team will be confirmed by the United States Olympic Committee when it formally names Team USA this Friday (January 26).
  
2018 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM (SNOWBOARDING)
Men's Halfpipe
Ben Ferguson, Bend, Ore. (01/21/1995)
Jake Pates, Eagle, Colo. (07/30/1998)
Shaun White, Carlsbad, Calif. (09/03/1986) *
 
Women's Halfpipe
Chloe Kim, Torrance, Calif. (4/23/2000)
Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, Vt. (07/26/1983) *
Maddie Mastro, Wrightwood, Calif. (02/22/2000)

Men's Slopestyle
Chris Corning, Silverthorne, Colo. (09/07/1999) 
Red Gerard, Silverthorne, Colo. (06/29/2000)
Kyle Mack, West Bloomfield, Mich. (07/06/1997)

Women's Slopestyle
Jamie Anderson, S. Lake Tahoe, Calif. (09/13/1990) *
Julia Marino, Westport, Conn. (09/11/1997)
Hailey Langland, San Clemente, Calif. (08/02/2000)
* Competed in past Olympics
 

PRESS CONFERENCE COMMENTS

Chloe Kim
It’s nice to know you have all these people who have been through it all before to help you. I called Kelly the other day and she helped me through it. It’s really nice of these guys to help - they just really look out for us.

Shaun White
It’s fun for me because I’ve been through it all. To see these guys in the back be so excited - yah, it’s an experience of a lifetime to be an Olympian. You don’t really know that, that is until you go. You become a part of this bigger thing. It’s fun for me to We’re all going together.

Kelly Clark
I love the Olympics - I’ve given my life to pursuing this dream. But it’s easy to get caught up in a lot of things. You should not treat the Olympics as a destination or something that defines you. It should be a part of your snowboarding career. We wouldn’t be here unless we loved what we did.

Shaun White
You get to these goals in life and it’s not always what it seems. You can be the Olympic champion but you sacrifice things along the way. It’s all about your moral compass - is it something you want to pursue, these dreams. Sitting here today, I’m much more of a happier person and comfortable with who I am and what I’ve accomplished than ever before. Growing up in this limelight is a difficult thing to have your words get extended across the world - ‘did I mean to say that?’ You’re wearing your flag and representing your family. I’m proud to be in a sport that’s ever-changing.

Hailey Langland
I didn’t think it was possible to go to the Olympics until last year. I had invitations to these big contests like X Games and that was cool. But my coaches told me the Olympics were a possibility and here I am.

Julia Marino
The Olympics was a possibility in my head when I was 17. I started thinking about it when I was on the Rookie Team when I was 16. To be here now and to finally have that dream come true is pretty special. To be with a bunch of my friends up here is pretty fun.

Chris Corning
We’ve all trained very hard and we’ll have fun. I’ve always wanted to go to the Olympics but it only became a reality a year ago. We had been working so long for it and all of a sudden in a snap we’re here.

Red Gerard
Most of it is we do these contests all year long. It’s an Olympic year so it’s a bonus when you make it.

Maddie Mastro
I was a contest snowboarder and it only hit me this year. It’s unreal and a dream come true.

Chloe Kim
When I went through the Olympic qualifying process when I was 13 I thought more about it. I’m just so stoked to be going with these guys.

Jake Pates
It’s super crazy. For so many years I’ve been idolizing the other people on this team. It’s a super cool journey and nice to see all the hard work pay off. To represent the USA is a dream come true.

Ben Ferguson
Four years ago I almost made it but I was just a kid. I thought maybe in another four years I could possibly make it.

Shaun White
I would love to feel like an underdog, but I don’t. Ever since I can remember I’ve been expected to do well. I’m going in to do my best. Getting the 100 was just the best - all the hard work I had put in was paying off. The coaches just said ‘do the hard stuff.’ What an amazing turn for me to win the event, solidify my spot on the team and get the perfect 100. The Olympics will be awesome but that day will forever be a highlight for me. Maybe I’ll be an underdog in skateboarding.

Chris Corning
Big air will be a totally new aspect of snowboarding. Now having just one jump in such a crazy stadium with people wondering how the judges will score - maybe even a trick that’s never been done before.

Julia Marino
It’s going to be new for everyone to experience big air. It’s great to get a new aspect of snowboarding out there for people to see. The progression of women’s snowboarding has been insane the last few years.
 

In the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, both the U.S. men and women swept the snowboard slopestyle podium at Mammoth Mountain. With Olympic spots on the line, Kyle Mack (Bloomfield, Mich.) led the men, clinching his spot in the Winter Olympics, while Jules Marino (Westport, Conn.) and Hailey Langland (San Clemente, Calif.) took second and third respectively for the women to grab their spots in Korea.

Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.), who qualified for the Olympics at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass last week, took second place. Brock Crouch (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) was third.

Mack, who was sitting in third place in the Olympic standings behind Gerard and Chris Corning (Silverthorne, Colo.), locked up his spot with a clean run. “I’m feeling just amazing, unbelievable right now,” said Mack. “Red is one of my best friends—he’s been such a homie, and I couldn’t be more excited to be heading to Korea with him. I’m just excited to go and be a part of it and represent my country.”

In the women’s event, Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif) had already qualified for the Olympics in the Dew Tour in December, but still went all out to take the win.  

“I knew I would be going with Jules and Hailey,” said Anderson, after her run. “They are just so talented and young and filled with good energy. They’re just amazing people and riders”

Langland and Marino were equally as excited to attend their first Olympics. “This is a really surreal moment right now,” said Marino. “It definitely hasn’t sunk in. Before Hailey and dropped in for our last run we knew we were going to the Olympics together. We’re 17 and 20 and we are going to the Olympics. That’s insane. It’s such a big event and I can’t believe it. We were so stoked and just gave each other a hug and couldn’t be happier that we get to experience it together.”

The fourth spot on the U.S. Olympic snowboard slopestyle team will be named at the beginning of next week. The objective spots will be officially nominated on Saturday night at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team Nomination Ceremony Presented by Visa. Live stream the ceremony on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team Facebook page at 8:30 p.m. MT. 

RESULTS
Men’s slopestyle results
Women’s slopestyle results

OLYMPIC STANDINGS
Officially qualified men
Chris Corning
Red Gerard
Kyle Mack

Officially qualified women
Jamie Anderson
Jules Marino
Hailey Langland

Tess Johnson (Vail, Colo.) knocked on the door of her first podium finish at Mont Tremblant on Saturday, posting a career-best finish in fourth place. Brad Wilson (Butte, Mont.) was the top U.S. men’s finisher in 8th.

Johnson’s skiing was consistent all day. She qualified fourth going into finals and third going into super finals. Her run in super finals scored an impressive 84.34, but it wasn’t enough to match the third place score of 84.61 from Kazakstan’s Yulia Galysheva. Canada’s Justine Dufour-LaPointe and Andi Naude took home podiums in front of a home country crowd, finishing first and second.

The U.S. women advanced a total of four women, including Johnson, into finals. Keaton McCargo (Telluride, Colo.), Morgan Schild (Rochester, N.Y.) and Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.) finished eighth, 14th and 15th respectively.

On the men’s side, Wilson and Troy Murphy (Bethel, Maine) advanced to finals, but were unable to punch tickets to the super finals. Murphy finished 14th. Japan’s Ikuma Horishima bested Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury on his home turf to take home his first World Cup win of the season. Kazaksan’s Dmitriy Reikherd was third.

The moguls World Cup tour will now take a break and resume after the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. With all Olympic selection events in the books, the U.S. team headed to PyeongChang 2018 will be announced next week.

RESULTS
Men’s Moguls
Women’s Moguls

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) powered through a twisty turn sprint course at the base of the towering ski jumps in Planica, Slovenia to finish fourth in a classic sprint World Cup. Sweden’s Stina Nilsson took the women’s win.

Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo took the men’s win with Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.) 19th and Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.) 20th.

Diggins, who qualified 19th, advanced from the opening heat on a lucky loser spot, then finished second in the semi finals to advance to the championship round.

In the finals heat, Norway’s Kathrine Rolsted Harsem, the fastest qualifier on the day, took the early lead with teammate Mika Caspersen Falla on her heels and Nilsson behind. The trio built a gap on Diggins, who held her own against the chasing pack. In the final stretch, Nilsson powered past the Norwegians for the win.

"This course was new to me but I love it,” said Diggins. “It’s a really hard one with some tight corners and a fast finishing stretch, and it’s an exciting one to ski!”

The Planica sprint course starts with a downhill then winds its way back up a series of bridges and tight switchback corners with a long finishing stretch that created some great classic ski racing sprints.

“I’m really happy with where my classic skiing is at this season,” said Diggins. The Olympic sprint in PyeongChang will be classic. “I’ve made the finals of every sprint I’ve qualified for this season which was a big goal of mine - to get better with my consistency in making it through rounds.”

Weather made things interesting as the course was set in the shadows of the towering peaks along the Slovenian-Austrian border. “The course was changing out there today as the sun came over the mountains and warmed up the tracks, so our wax techs were working hard all day to keep up with the changing kick,” she said. “But I was really happy with how we worked together and had great communication, and I felt like I was able to go out and hammer my hardest.” 

Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.) made semi finals on a lucky loser spot and finished ninth. Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) got boxed out in her early quarter final heat and ended up 21st. Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.) was 23rd.

Bjornsen was in a good position in her quarter final before she got caught in traffic with German skier Sandra Ringwald tangling with her and bring Bjornsen down. It was too late in the heat to make up the time.

“Some days you make your luck and some days you find some bad luck,” said Bjornsen. “I have had a couple moments in the past few races that I have found some bad luck, and discovered myself on the ground, but I am ready to start making my own luck again.”

Bjornsen will sit out tomorrow’s 10k classic to continue her recovery from the Tour de Ski.

A men’s 15k and women’s 10k classic are scheduled in Planica on Sunday. Olympic selection for cross country is now closed. The full team announcement will be made later next week.

RESULTS
Men’s Classic Sprint
Women’s Classic Sprint

 

Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) finished 15th to lead four Americans into the top 30 in Saturday’s FIS Ski World Cup downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

“I’m not too satisfied with my performance,” said Nyman, who is still not 100 percent following last season’s knee injury. “I skied some sections pretty well, and I was a little hesitant in some sections, but it’s coming along … every day it’s getting better with my confidence and my knee.”

Germany’s Thomas Dressen won his first career World Cup race, edging out Swiss Beat Fuez by 0.20 seconds for the victory. Austria’s Hannes Reichelt was third.

Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.) came out of the 46th start position to finish one place behind Nyman in 16th.  Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.) came out of the 45th start position to finish 22nd; and Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) was 28th.

The weekend will culminate with slalom Sunday, where David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.) and Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.) will headline the roster for the Americans. Kasper led the way in his first World Cup slalom race in nearly three years, earning a top 20 result in Wengen, Switzerland last weekend.

RESULTS
Men’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Saturday, Jan. 20
3:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel – NBC (same day broadcast)
11:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill; Cortina – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)
12:00 a.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Sunday, Jan. 21
5:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G; Cortina – Olympic Channel TV
7:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom; Kitzbuehel – Olympic Channel TV
9:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G; Cortina – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)
10:00 p.m. - Men’s slalom; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Tuesday, Jan. 23
6:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom; Kronplatz – Olympic Channel TV
2:30 p.m. - Men’s slalom; Schladming – Olympic Channel TV
12:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom; Schladming – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Beaming with confidence and skiing with power, Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) produced a dominating performance to win her 79th career FIS Ski World Cup race and secure her Olympic Team selection in Saturday’s downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Jackie Wiles (Aurora, Ore.) finished third and also punched her ticket to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

“I was definitely disappointed with my result yesterday with that big mistake, but today was a great run - clean, solid,” said Vonn, who won by 0.92-seconds over Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein. “I’m very happy with my skiing and it gives me a lot of confidence going forward into the Olympics.”

Wiles was skiing just off Vonn’s pace at the top intervals but nearly overcooked a turn after catching a rut. But she made a strong recovery and built speed toward the bottom of the course to grab her second career World Cup downhill podium.

“I had a lot of fun,” Wiles said. “A little scary at the bottom, but I kept is rolling and it came together. “

“It was a great day having Jackie on the podium,” added Vonn, who has been a mentor for Wiles and provided financial assistance for her early in her career through the Lindsey Vonn Foundation. “I’m really, really proud of her!”

 “She has done a lot to help me get to this point,” Wiles said of Vonn. “She’s a great friend and role model, and I’m super thrilled to be on the podium with her.”

It was a banner day for U.S. Ski Team with seven athletes finishing in the top 30, including Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) in seventh; Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho) in 11th; Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) 16th; Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) in 25th; and Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) in 26th.

Shiffrin leads the overall World Cup standings by a massive 907 points over Italy’s Sofia Goggia.  She also leads the overall World Cup slalom and giant slalom standings and is third in the downhill standings behind Goggia and Weirather.

Up next, the women compete in super-G Saturday in Cortina. 

“I’m excited,” Vonn said of Sunday’s super-G. “I think I’m skiing better super-G than downhill. I have a lot of confidence from today and yesterday, so I’ll attack as always and see how it goes.”

RESULTS
Women’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Friday, Jan. 19
4:00 p.m. - Men’s super-G; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Saturday, Jan. 20
3:00 p.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel – NBC (same day broadcast)
11:00 p.m. - Women’s downhill; Cortina – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)
12:00 a.m. - Men’s downhill; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Sunday, Jan. 21
5:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G; Cortina – Olympic Channel TV
7:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom; Kitzbuehel – Olympic Channel TV
9:00 p.m. - Women’s super-G; Cortina – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)
10:00 p.m. - Men’s slalom; Kitzbuehel – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)

Tuesday, Jan. 23
6:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom; Kronplatz – Olympic Channel TV
2:30 p.m. - Men’s slalom; Schladming – Olympic Channel TV
12:00 a.m. - Men’s slalom; Schladming – NBCSN Encore (same day broadcast)
 

On a night when it really counted, Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) came through with a Toyota U.S. Grand Prix win in the Visa freeski halfpipe presented by The North Face at Mammoth Mountain and a ticket to PyeongChang. California crowd favorite Kyle Smaine (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.), the 2015 World Champion, finally nailed his run on the third try to take the victory for the men.

Sigourney, who stepped it up last weekend at Aspen-Snowmass to finish second, was strong and consistent all night, putting down a 91.20 on her second run for the victory over Olympic champion Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) and Devin Logan (West Dover, Vt.). All three qualified objectively for PyeongChang. It will be a repeat Olympics for Sigourney, who was sixth in Sochi. Bowman won gold in Sochi while Logan won silver in Slopestyle. It will be Logan's first Olympic halfpipe appearance.

“I don’t know, I just have been feeling really good,” said Sigourney, looking back on her last two weekends of qualifying. “I think it’s all just confidence. I got a couple good results and I think it goes a long ways.”

Sigourney joins a very strong team anchored by Bowman, who won gold four years ago. “I am so stoked on our team that qualified,” she said. “Devin and Maddie are my best friends, so couldn’t be happier to be going with them.”

Smaine came through on his third and final run to lay down a 92.20, winning over Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.) and Torin Yater-Wallace (Aspen, Colo.). All three had their podium performances on the third run. Ferreira and Yater-Wallace will join Olympic champion David Wise to the Olympics, qualifying objectively. It will be Ferreira’s first Olympics. He set himself up well with a win in the Dew Tour a month ago. Yater-Wallace will be going back for his second Olympics.

“I can not believe it, I seriously can not believe it,” said a jubilant Ferreira, who narrowly missed out on the 2014 team. “I am the happiest human in all the land and so happy to be here and along for the ride.” 

What made it even sweeter for Ferreira was that his longtime Aspen friend Yater-Wallace was coming along too. “It’s really special to be going with Alex to the Olympics,” said Yater-Wallace. “Unfortunately last time around he was skiing insanely well, but so was the rest of the field. Being his first Olympics, it’s just an unreal feeling, I am just really proud of him, it’s been a long time in the making of Alex really blowing up in the scene and he’s capitalizing now. He’s proved that he has at the top level and he’s been getting podiums.”

Yater-Wallace had a lot to reflect on himself with the medical challenges he has endured over the last few years. 

“It’s a very special night locking in my confirmation to the Olympics team,” he said. “It’s really an honor to get one of the first three spots this time around vs a discretionary position like Sochi. That was one of the big things in my head was to actually prove that I could ski and get there. For myself, it’s been kind of a tough year, there was a lot of pressure being as I won the first selection event, and since we have had a lot of strange halfpipes working against us with the lack of snow along with a slight foot injury that I have been working on, I am just so glad it all came together and couldn’t be more thankful. I am really happy to be feeling better and skiing like myself again.”

Logan came away from Sochi with slopestyle silver, but had really wanted to double up in halfpipe,. “It’s definitely a relief,” said Logan. “Four years a go I didn’t make the pipe team and I was so close and really wanted it. Now I’ve come out four years later and will be headed to the Olympics for pipe. Slope is still undecided, but this is definitely weight off the shoulders, I am feeling confident and hopefully get another spot and go for two.”

She was optimistic about the upcoming Olympics, with the opening ceremonies just three weeks away. “I am so excited to go back to Korea – the people, the culture, it’s all amazing there,” she said. “It was the best pipe I have ever ridden, and last year I got 2nd in the test event. Hopefully I can take this confidence into the Olympics and keep it all rolling.”

A possible fourth spot for men or women may be announced next week. On the men’s side, the competition was fierce and deep with both 2014 Olympian Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, Colo.) and Youth Olympics Games medalist Birk Irving (Winter Park, Colo.) made strong bids.

The Toyota U.S. Grand Prix continues Saturday with a busy day of Slopestyle for both skiing and snowboarding, plus the final snowboarding halfpipe of the Olympic qualifying period.

Trick List

Men
Kyle Smaine:left down the pipe double flat spin 9 japan, right 10 tail, switch left 7 screaming seamen mute, right 9 seatbelt japan, left double 12 mute

Alex Ferreira: right double 12 mute, left 7 tail, switch right 7 japan, left 9 tail, right down the pipe double flat spin 9 japan

Torin Yater-Wallace: right double 12 mute, left 7 safety, switch right 7 safety, right alley oop dub 9 japan, right down the pipe double 9 japan

Women
Brita Sigourney: straight air mute, alley oop japan, left 9 tail, left alley oop 5, left 5 safety, right 7 safety

Maddie Bowman: straight air mute, left 7 tail, right 7 mute, switch left 7, right 5 safety, left 9 tail, air to dakine japan

Devin Logan: straight air japan, straight air mute, right 5 japan, left 5 tail, alley oop critical, left 7 tail, switch left alley oop 5 safety 

RESULTS
Men’s Halfpipe Skiing
Women’s Halfpipe Skiing

 

The U.S. aerials squad put on a good show for a hometown crowd Friday on the first night of the Putnam Investments Freestyle Cup. Morgan Northrop (Haymarket, Va.), Ashley Caldwell (Ashburn, Va.), Mac Bohonnon (Madison, Conn.), Jon Lillis (Rochester, N.Y.) and Alex Bowen (Springville, N.Y.) advanced to finals, but all failed to make the super finals. Northrop was the top finisher, posted her best result of the season in seventh place.

Australia’s Lydia Lassila took the win for the women, performing a double full, full and scoring a 99.75. Lassila’s teammate Laura Peel joined her on the podium in third place, with Belarusian Hanna Huskova in second. Caldwell performed a full, full, full in finals and was clean in her execution, but missed her landing, finishing in ninth place.

On the men’s side, China’s Zongyang Jia stomped his full, double full, full to score a 126.99 and the win. Ukraine’s Oleksandr Abramenko was second and Canada’s Oliver Rochon third. U.S. jumpers Bowen, Lillis, Bohonnon and Nick Novak (Prince William, Va.) finishes tenth, 11th, 12th and 13th respectively.

Aerials action continues Saturday night with the second World Cup competition of the weekend. Finals will begin at 8 p.m. EST.

RESULTS
Men’s Aerials
Women’s Aerials

The Visa freeski halfpipe finals presented by The North Face are scheduled to go off Friday evening—the last Olympic halfpipe qualifiers of the season.

The U.S. men and women dominated the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix freeski halfpipe qualifiers on Wednesday, with the men sweeping all finals spots, led by Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, Colo), and the women grabbing five of the eight spots, led by Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.).

David Wise (Reno, Nev.) and Bowman have already clinched their spots to defend their respective 2014 Olympic gold medals, but two more objective spots are on the line for both men and women. 

Both Alex Ferreira (Aspen, Colo.) and Torin Yater-Wallace (Basalt, Colo.) would confirm their spots with a win, while on the women’s side, Brita Sigourney (Carmel, Calif.) and Devin Logan (West Dover, Vt.) would confirm with a first or second place.

Live stream the halfpipe finals at 9:20 p.m. ET, or watch the broadcast at 1:00 a.m. ET on NBCSN.

The U.S. Freeski Team halfpipe Olympic team nominations presented by Visa will occur Saturday night.

START LISTS
Women's halfpipe start list
Men's halfpipe start list