Alex Ferreira Wins Men's Ski Superpipe Final, Presented by Toyota

The final day of ski events at Dew Tour went down here at Copper Mountain, Colorado today, with bluebird skies and perfect conditions for a contest in the old stunt ditch. Visualizing is just as important as actually executing a trick, and we saw plenty of practice sets at the start deck. This is a small ritual for most pipe skiers and can translate well to other sports like bowling or badminton. It is a true display of athleticism and a staple to every pipe contest. Superpipe finals are based on three runs, with the best out of three being the skier’s final score. There were technical difficulties from the course to the judging booth during Birk Irving’s first run, giving him a re-run in the mix.

Hunter Hess has been fun to watch the last few years and had a really sick run. Although he had lots of amplitude and technicality, not grabbing his skis on some of his hits may have cost him a higher scoring run. Alex Ferriera also put down a solid run, lacing every trick and grab from a switch ten tail to a right dub 12 mute and proudly wrapping it off with his trademark swing of the pole. He managed to pull a 95.75 score on his third run that landed him in first. Blunck followed it up with a run that had a technicality factor that placed him in second, only a point away from the top spot, with a really sick left dub nine down the pipe. Brendan Mackay secured third with a perfect left dub 12 tail and a huge right dub 12 safety, with some major air time the whole time.

Following his win, Ferriera expressed his gratitude for the podium spot. He, like many athletes, was coming out of an injury and had to battle the mental challenge of getting back into the game. “You never know when you’re getting surgery if you’ll ever be the same,” Ferriera said.

“I had surgery on my neck, and they told me there was an 80% chance it’d work, but that other 20% is always in the back of your head. I’m a bit of a psycho and have to limit myself sometimes. Like even today, I woke up and my neck was hurting, but I had to push through.” It’s great to see athletes like Ferriera and Hess skiing at the level they are following injuries. “Hunter was also coming off a knee injury, and so when he puts down a run like he did it not only makes him happy but it makes the rest of us on his team super happy to see him going so hard.”