Another brisk morning here at Copper Mountain, Colorado, for a packed day of Dew Tour. The day was kicked off with Women’s Superpipe finals, and the ladies put on quite the show. Women’s superpipe finals are based on a three-run format, with the best of the rider’s three scores being their final score. This allows one more run than in qualifiers, and conditions today were much more agreeable than they were for the ladies when qualifiers went down on Wednesday. The better visibility, less wind, and better speed allowed the athletes to do the runs they really wanted to do and allowed them to ski in a way that is more reflective of their abilities compared to when it is poor weather conditions.
Cassie Sharpe started things off with a straight air mute on her first hit that was reminiscent of early freeskiing and was cool to see for the style alone. She had some solid hits but unfortunately went down in her second two runs. Sharpe is no stranger to the pipe, but she is coming off of a knee injury currently, and the act of competing for the first time after being hurt is always a tough mental game.
“This was the first time back after my knee injury that I’ve felt proud of my run. I am really stoked to be here and stoked on the level of skiing out here,” Sharpe said.
We saw a left 9 safety by Hanna Faulhaber, who kept up massive amplitude all the way down, including what may have been the highest ladies switch hit we’ve seen, and solid grabs the whole time. The judges were very impressed by how big Hanna was going and definitely rewarded that. It was hard to tell if she was trying to land a spot on the podium or on the space program, but either way, it was so sick to see some air time in a women’s pipe contest. Hanna’s top height was 16’2 feet out of the pipe, which is pretty progressive for women’s skiing. Progression has been a consistent theme for the girls the last couple of years, from urban to big air, and everything in between.
“We’re seeing a lot of younger girls coming out of nowhere swinging,” Sharpe said, “it’s put a fire under everyone to change what we’ve been seeing for the last four years.”
Kelly Sildaru has been a key player in this progression, both in halfpipe and slopestyle. She had a pretty technical first run, with less amplitude than Faulhaber but with consistent grabs and spins that slid her into the top three.
Eileen Gu had a lot of amplitude and plenty of technicality, with back-to-back 9’s, one Buick and one Japan landing her an almost certain podium position just from her first run. Eileen rides the pipe with comfort and control and has been on one lately with wins. She improved by her second run and kept the top spot with a 96.
The final lineup was Eileen Gu, Kelly Sildaru, Hanna Faulhaber, Cassie Sharpe, Fangui Li, Kexin Zhang,Zoe Atkin, and Brita Sigourney.
Full Women’s Ski Superpipe Results
1.) Eileen Gu, 96.00
2.) Kelly Sildaru, 93.00
3.) Hanna Faulhaber, 90.75
4.) Cassie Sharpe, 81.75
5.) Fanghui Li, 81.50
6.) Kexin Zhang, 80.00
7.) Zoe Atkin, 77.50
8.) Brita Sigourney, 76.50
Sound off in the comments below!