Copper Mountain received a visit from Ullr today for the Men’s and Women’s Superpipe qualifiers, leaving a fresh layer of snow and making conditions a little extra spicy.
The weather remained inconsistent throughout the day but gradually opened up for a little better light for the women, though still not the bluebird and sunshine one hopes for.
“It was still skiing pretty fast, definitely a little scary with the wind but it was all good in the end. The speed also allowed some of us to go bigger, which is good,” Hanna Faulhaber said, following her two runs. Hanna is a newbie to Dew Tour and couldn’t be more stoked to be here. “None of the US girls have a confirmed spot on the Olympic team yet, so that adds a bit of competitive stress.” She said the best way to handle that pressure is to get the music going and focus on the skiing, and said “Doses and Mimosas” is the move on song choice.
Unlike most years, this year’s superpipe is not modified, in part due to aligning with what the Olympic pipe will look like. Judges in turn, are not necessarily looking at style and creativity in the same way they have the last few years, but rather scoring on amplitude, technicality, and grabs.
Eileen Gu put down a predictably technical run on her first drop, that included a left cork 9 japan and both way alley-oop flat 5’s, landing her top spot with a 93.50 score. Gu has been having some major wins lately and is fresh off the top spot in the World Cup that went down last week. However, she opted out of her second run, likely due to the less-than-ideal conditions and her high score, making finals a certainty.
Cassie Sharpe is always one to watch with plenty of podiums below her belt, including an Olympic gold medal. She struggled with grabs and amplitude on her first run but managed to bring it around on her second and make it on the list for finals. We also saw a few pencil 7’s that were pretty hyphy, and Zoe Atkins did a really big left 5 mute on her first hit that was fire.
The top eight scores that will make it to finals are Eileen Gu, Kelly Sildaru, Zoe Atkin, Fanghui Li, Hanna Faulhaber, Cassie Sharpe, Brita Sigourney, and Kexin Zhang.
Full Women’s Ski Superpipe Qualifying Results:
- Eileen Gu (CHN), 93.50
- Kelly Sildaru (EST), 88.75
- Zoe Atkin (GBR), 87.00
- Fanghu Li (CHN), 85.75
- Hannah Faulhaber (USA), 84.75
- Cassie Sharpe (CAN), 83.25
- Brita Sigourney (USA), 81.00
- Kexin Zhang (CHN), 77.50
- Devin Logan (USA), 76.00
- Svea Irving (USA), 74.50
- Yujin Jang (KOR), 71.50
- Abigale Hansen (USA), 65.50
- Riley Jacobs (USA), 64.75
- Annalisa Drew (USA), 61.00
- Sabrina Cakmakli (GER), 60.00
- Jeanne Crane-Mauzy (USA), 54.00
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