Tess Ledeux Comes Out on Top with Stiff Competition in the Women’s Ski Slopestyle Qualifiers

Yesterday’s postponed women’s ski slopestyle qualifiers went off without a hitch this afternoon. After a stormy, windy Thursday, Friday broke calm and bluebird—perfect conditions for a slopestyle competition.
Photos by Jamie Walter

Tess Ledeux led the women with a solid run that showed a wide range of capability. On the rails, she hit a back 450 out, switch on lip, and front swap, and on the jumps—where she really shone—her two biggest hits were a switch left misty 900 mute and a left rodeo 720 safety. She consistently got her grabs and easily cleared jumps on which other skiers came up short.

Isabel Atkin took second, with a different on every one of her airs and solid rails—including a front 450 out of the second rail feature. Her jumps up top were some of the best of the day—a right rodeo 540 Japan and a switch right 540 mute. In third, Sarah Hoefflin—a name to watch—went huge on her jumps, including a right misty 720 mute and a massive switch right 720 mute.

Eight women of the 20 competitors will move on to finals. Devin Logan squeaked into finals in eighth place, ousting Yuki Tsubota—whose run featured a crowd-pleaser backflip just three directions of spin. Tsubota also struggled with her grabs. Logan’s run wasn’t perfect—she came up a bit short on the last hit and missed a grab as well—but she put down a more technical, clean run, spinning all four directions.

Women’s Ski Slopestyle Qualifier Results

1.) Tess Ledeux (FRA) 93.33
2.) Isabel Atkin (GBR) 87.33
3.) Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) 85.33
4.) Johanne Killi (NOR) 84.66
5.) Dara Howell (CAN) 83.66
6.) Maggie Voisin (USA) 81.33
7.) Darian Stevens (USA) 79.66
8.) Devin Logan (USA) 73.33