The Glorious Trophies Photo: Shay Williams

This year’s game changer, Gus Kenworthy, was crowd Big Air World Champion. Gus had an incredible season, winning Jon Olsson Invitational with switch triple 1440s and taking gold at WSI/AFP World Championships Big Air with a switch double 1620. His efforts put him at the top of the World Rankings with 3666.17 points.

Gus wins Big Air Photo: Shay Williams

“I really liked the jump and the landing was super soft so I knew I wanted to throw that 16,” said Kenworthy, reflecting on his last victory. “The energy at tonight’s event was incredible. I was able to feed off that energy, do the best that I could and come up on top.”

Going into the AFP World Championships Kai Mahler was in the lead of the World Rankings. Unfortunately, Kai was bumped to 3rd as a result of his 8th place finish in Whistler. Bobby was able to jump from 7th to 2nd based on his 4th place. We also have seen some impressive late scores out of Vincent Gagnier, who received the silver medal last week in Whistler.

To no surprise, Kaya Turski was awarded 2011/2012 Women’s Slopestyle World Champion. Kaya earned 5,700 points throughout the winter, winning five Platinum level events in a row. This is Kaya’s fourth straight season being named Women’s Slopestyle World Champion.

“So excited and proud to be honored the top spot in the AFP Women’s Slopestyle ranking,” said Kaya. “It’s amazing to be part of the sport at such a progressive time and so proud of all the girls who have come so far.”

Kaya was undefeated in competition this season. Her first place titles included Winter X Games, X Games Europe, Mammoth Grand Prix, and both stops at the Winter Dew Tour. She was also the proud winner of the Dew Cup.

After the WSI/ AFP World Championships slopestyle, Anna Segal jumped from 5th to 2nd in the World Rankings, bumping Devin Logan into 3rd. Dara Howell drops down to 5th and Emilia Wint holds on to her 4th place position. All the women skied incredibly well and should be very proud of their season finishes.

Anna Segal takes 2nd in Slope Photo Shay Williams

Tom Wallisch absolutely slayed his was into the Men’s Slopestyle World Champion title. Tom received 5273.04 points this season, with podium results at Winter X Games, X Games Europe, Grand Prix Mammoth and all three Dew Tours.

“I am so stoked on my season,” said Wallisch. “I skied the best I have ever skied and now I have the title to prove it. Men’s Slopestyle World Champion is the highest achievement that I can get in one winter and I am so excited. I am glad the judges liked the way I skied”.

Tom FTW in slopetsyle Photo: Shay Williams

Wallisch is known for his flawless style, incredible rail skills and perfect landings. The combination has helped him earn some of the highest scores ever seen in competition.

Bobby Brown and Nick Goepper had an extremely close battle for the 2nd place World Ranking. Bobby could have overthrown Nick if he beat him in the WSI/AFP World Championships slopestyle and scored above 5th place. Bobby beat Nick but finished in 6th, allowing Goepper to maintain his number 2 position. Gus Kenworthy advanced to 4th, bumping Andreas Håtveit into 6th. Russ Henshaw also advanced, moving from 6th to 5th.

Nick Goepper fights for his 2nd place Photo: Shay Williams

“It is dream come true,” said Goepper. “Last year I had no idea I would be in this position this year and it is so crazy. I am super stoked to be in the top three in slopestyle.”

The award of Halfpipe World Champion went to the talent Roz Groenewoud and Torin Yater-Wallace. Groenewoud had an incredible season, winning major events such as X Games and X Games Europe. The 16-year-old, Yater-Wallace had podium finishes at platinum events throughout the year, including gold medals at Killington Dew Tour and X Games Europe.

Proud Halfpipe Winners, Torin and Roz G Photo: Shay Williams

“I am super happy to be part of the female freeskiing industry this year,” said Groenewoud. “Sarah’s legacy has definitely been felt. I have seen so many girls pushing themselves, doing their personal bests.”

“I’m so stoked to receive this award,” said Yater-Wallace. “This is unbelievable and a dream come true”

Maddie Bowman made a solid jump into 2nd in the Halfpipe World Rankings. If Groenewoud had not finished received the bronze medal at AFP World Championships she would have been pumped out of her winning title. Anais Caradeux also made a solid comp in the rankings, from 5th to 3rd.

Maddie Bowman has a great season Photo: Shay Williams

Heading into the AFP World Championships David Wise and Torin Yater-Wallace were 28 points apart. Wise hurt his leg during the big air and was unable to compete in pipe. As a result, Yater-Wallace was able to secure the lead. Thomas Krief jumped from 4th to 3rd in the World Rankings.

David Wise earns a noble 2nd in pipe Photo: Shay Williams

The AFP was truly honored to announce Gus Kenworthy and Devin Logan as the first recipients of the Sarah Burke Trophy. The Sarah Burke Trophy is the most prestigious award in skiing, awarded to the male and female with the highest Overall World Ranking. Competing in all disciplines of freeskiing is an incredible talent that Burke always possessed.

Devin Logan and Gus Kenworthy win Sarah Burke Trophy Photo: Shay Williams

“I am honored to accept this award,” said Kenworthy. “Sarah’s legacy will never be forgotten. She did so much for the sport and she was so inspiring. I just feel really honored that this is named after her and that I can accept this award.”

Rory, Gus, Devin, Trennon holding Sarah Burke Trophies Photo: Shay Williams

Gus Kenworthy had 23 top five finishes this season. He competed more than anyone and was rewarded in doing so. This is Kenworthy’s second year in a row winning the title of Overall World Champion.

That's right, we sabered champagne Photo: Shay Williams

Devin Logan also had an outstanding season, scoring in the top 5 in nearly every event she competed in. Unfortunately, Devin hurt her ankle during the Women’s Slopestyle at the AFP World Championships and was unable to compete in superpipe.

The AFP Photo: Shay Williams

This past week at the AFP World Championships in Whistler, BC, the AFP hosted an open meeting to discuss and answer questions about the Olympic judging article that was recently published on ESPN.com. The purpose of the meeting was to open a discussion, as well as inform the group of what steps they could take as individuals to voice their opinion and desire to have sport-specific judges for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

The meeting was attended by a great cross section of our sport: athletes, coaches, team managers, agents, parents of athletes, national ski team representatives, media, event and sport organizers and the CEO of a National Ski Association/NGB. As the discussion progressed and questions were raised, it became clear that many in the room were unfamiliar with how they could voice their opinion on this Olympic judging matter. It also became evident that many in the room did not understand how the FIS Qualifying System works – or where to go to find this information. As an organization that represents the athletes, culture, growth and progression of the sport of free skiing, the AFP informed the group of what we are doing to address this situation, in addition to informing them what they could do as individuals to voice their opinion. At the conclusion, the AFP told the group that we would gather, organize and post as much of this information as we could to our site, so everyone could easily find and have access to it. Here is that information – we will update as needed:

What you can do: Before May 9, 2012

The information below contains the names and contact information for many National Ski Associations/National Governing Body’s (NGB’s). If you are in favor of having sport specific judges for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi (meaning you want freeskiing judges to judge freeskiing and snowboard judges to judge snowboarding) then please contact the NGB from your country and let them know how you feel and why. You must to this before May 9, 2012 – the deadline for NGB’s to submit their judge nominations to FIS.

In addition, the AFP has created a list of judges that we recommend each NGB nominate to specifically judge freeskiing. The judges on this list are A-Level FIS certified judges as well as AFP Platinum Level certified. They are the most highly trained and skilled judges within free skiing and would represent our sport well in the Olympics. It is the AFP’s suggestion that you pass along the name(s) of these judges to your NGB so they understand who the top free skiing judge is within their country. Please contact the AFP for the recommend judge(s) in your country if you don’t already know who that is.

NGB Contacts:

USA:
Jeremy Forster
jforster@ussa.org

Canada:
Peter Judge
peterjudge@freestyleski.com

France:
Fabien Bertrand
fbertrand@ffs.fr

New Zealand:
Marty Toomey, CEO
marty@snowsports.co.nz

Australia:
Ramone Cooper
rcooper@skiandsnowboard.org.au

Switzerland:
Christoph Perreten
Christoph.Perreten@swiss-ski.ch

Finland:
Education and Development Manager
Jussi-Pekka Kinnunen
jussi.kinnunen@skisport.fi

Freestyle Sports Director
Sami Mustonen
sami.mustonen@skisport.fi

Freestyle Department Director:
Marko Mustonen
marko.mustonen@skisport.fi

Austria:
info@oesv.at

Norway:
Morten Skarpaas
morten.skarpaas@skiforbundet.no

Spain:
rfedi@rfedi.es

Sweden:
Anders Norin
anders.norin@skidor.com

Great Britain:
Iain Mackay
iain@ruffianhearts.co.uk

What the AFP is doing:

• Taking a cooperative, communicative and transparent approach
• Encouraging NGB’s to support and nominate sport-specific judges
• Organizing and distributing list of recommended judges to NGB’s
• Encouraging judge nominees to apply only for a specific sport (not crossover)
• Communicating with FIS, and as many countries as possible to secure AFP representation at the FIS Spring Congress in Korea
• Making ourselves, and as much information as possible, available to you

Additional Information, resources, links:

FIS Qualification System Document, Click Here to Download. Freeskiing Section begins on Page 15

2012 FIS Judges Upgrade Request Form: Please contact us if you need this form and we will send it to you.

Article about possible crossover judging panel: Click Here

AFP Contacts: Click Here

The AFP is truly honored to announce Gus Kenworthy and Devin Logan as the first recipients of the Sarah Burke Trophy. The Sarah Burke Trophy is the most prestigious award in skiing, awarded to the male and female with the highest Overall World Ranking. Competing in all disciplines of freeskiing is an incredible talent that Burke always possessed.

“I am honored to accept this award,” said Kenworthy. “Sarah’s legacy will never be forgotten. She did so much for the sport and she was so inspiring. I just feel really honored that this is named after her and that I can accept this award.”

Gus Kenworthy had 23 top five finishes this season. He competed more than anyone and was rewarded in doing so. This is Kenworthy’s second year in a row winning the title of Overall World Champion.

Devin Logan also had an outstanding season, scoring in the top 5 in nearly every event she competed in. Unfortunately, Devin hurt her ankle during the Women’s Slopestyle at the AFP World Championships and was unable to compete in superpipe.

“I am super happy to be part of the female freeskiing industry this year,” said Groenewoud. “Sarah’s legacy has definitely been felt. I have seen so many girls pushing themselves, doing their personal bests.”

“I’m so stoked to receive this award,” said Yater-Wallace. “This is unbelievable and a dream come true”

Maddie Bowman made a solid jump into 2nd in the Halfpipe World Rankings. If Groenewoud had not finished received the bronze medal at AFP World Championships she would have been pumped out of her winning title. Anais Caradeux also made a solid comp in the rankings, from 5th to 3rd.

Heading into the AFP World Championships David Wise and Torin Yater-Wallace were 28 points apart. Wise hurt his leg during the big air and was unable to compete in pipe. As a result, Yater-Wallace was able to secure the lead. Thomas Krief jumped from 4th to 3rd in the World Rankings.

The AFP World Championships has come to an end with an exciting competition in the superpipe. This was the last event on the AFP World Tour Calendar, concluding the 2011/2012 competitive season. It was a great contest to finish out the year, with David Wise and Torin Yater-Wallace fighting to be 1st in the World Rankings. The girls also had a close race between Roz G, Maddie Bowman, and Devin Logan.

The women’s final started off the afternoon with Maddie Bowman taking home the gold medal. Maddie was crushing the pipe in her practice runs and continued to dominate in competition. She impressed the judges with big spins and some of the highest amplitude, earning a 93.2. As a result, Bowman increased her World Ranking from 3rd to 2nd. Anais Caradeux ended her season with another silver medal. She also received 2nd at Euro X in front of her hometown crowd. With the two big results, Anais was able to jump her way into 3rd in the World Rankings. However the 3rd place finisher, Roz Groenewoud took home the greatest trophy of all, Women’s Halfpipe World Champion. If she had finished below 3rd place Maddie Bowman would have passed her in the rankings.

The top three was shaken up during the men’s final. Local boy, Mike Riddle, took home his first gold of the season in front of all his friends and family. He scored a 92.6 with a run that featured a double 12, right 9, left 9, alley-oop flatspin 3 and a switch 9. Thomas Krief snatched another silver medal and scored an 87.00. He was able to jump from 4th to 3rd in the World Rankings. The young Joss Christensen finished off the podium with his second bronze medal of the weekend. This helped Joss with his overall ranking.

David Wise and Torin Yater-Wallace had been neck and neck all season for the title of Men’s Halfpipe World Champion. However, Wise took a tumble at the big air competition and was unable to compete in halfpipe. Torin locked down the title with his 4th place finish yesterday.

Congratulations to all the athletes on another terrific season.

“I really liked the jump and the landing was super soft so I knew I wanted to throw that 16,” said Kenworthy. “The energy at tonight’s event was incredible. I was able to feed off that energy, do the best that I could and come up on top.”

Going into the AFP World Championships Kai Mahler was in the lead of the World Rankings. Unfortunately, Kai was bumped to 3rd as a result of his 8th place finish in Whistler. Bobby was able to jump from 7th to 2nd based on his 4th place result last night. We also have seen some impressive late scores out of Vincent Gagnier, who received the silver medal.

The girls started out the night with nice corks and big spins. However, the first competitors to drop landed on the knuckle, which caused a lot of concern. The girls quickly figured out their speed and put on a great show for the audience. The three to end up on top were Rose Battersby in 3rd, Eveline Bhend in 2nd and Emma Dahlstrom in 1st. Emma was corking it out with so much style all night. We can surely expect to see her on the podium a lot more next season.

It was an all out battle for the men’s big air. Pipe skiers and park riders were both invited to the event, just to step up the level of competition. However, only 8 competitors advanced to the finals. Those competitors were Kai Mahler,Vinny Gagnier, Alexis Godbout, Torin Yater-Wallace, Russ Henshaw, Gus Kenworthy, James Wood and Bobby Brown.

Kenworthy has been on a mission to win in every discipline at the AFP World Championships. He made that clear after stomping a perfect switch double 1620, grabbing blunt the whole way through. Gus earned a 95.7 on his run, making it his second victory in the last two days. Tomorrow Gus will attempt to win in superpipe as well. 2nd place was awarded to Vincent Gagnier. Vinny threw a bio 1260 with an octograb, a trick he learned a few weeks ago. The bronze medal was presented to Russ Henshaw. Russ stomped a double 10 with a mute grab to Japan. The competition was a complete success, with so much positive energy amongst the fans and the athletes. We look forward to announcing the AFP World Champion in Big Air tommorrow.

The morning started with Men’s semifinals, where only ten talented athletes would advance to the finals. Those ten were James Woods, Gus Kenworthy, Joss Christensen, PK Hunder, Russ Henshaw, Noah Morrison, Henrik Harlaut, Tom Wallisch, Torin Yater-Wallace and Bobby Brown. Nick Goepper did not make finals, giving athletes like Bobby Brown the opportunity to take his number 2 position in the World Rankings.

The women made their way onto the hill in the afternoon. The 11 girls with the most AFP points in slopestyle were given the opportunity to compete in the finals. Devin Logan, who was ranked 2, took a nasty tumble on her bottom jump. Unfortunately, she suffered a hairline fracture in her foot and was unable to take her second run. The World Champion, Kaya Turski, was also unable to compete in the slopestyle due to a conflict in her schedule.

Australian ripper, Anna Segal, was able to take the win with two 720s, a flatspin 360 and very difficult rail tricks. We have seen Segal on the podium several times this season, but this was her first gold medal. With this result, Anna was able to bump Devin Logan into 3rd and take the 2nd place World Ranking. Emilia Wint took home a silver medal, solidifying her 4th place ranking. The final step on the podium was awarded to Yuki Tsubuta, who has been crushing it all season in local competitions. Yuki was able to earn points in Bronze and Silver events, which bumped her into Platinum level by the end of the season.

In the men’s final, Gus Kenworthy laid down an unbeatable score on his first run which included a lip-slide to back 270 out, a switch right double cork 1080 japan, a left dub cork 1260 across the channel gap, a switch left dub 9 and a left 9 on the quarter pipe. Gus was able to solidify his title as AFP Overall World Champion after the big result.

James Woods and Joss Christensen took home a highly respectable 2nd and 3rd. These young men have progressed exponentially throughout the year, becoming two of the biggest threats to the leader board. Joss’s 3rd place result will help him out with his Overall World Ranking.

Going into the AFP World Championships, Tom Wallisch had already solidified the title of AFP Slopestyle World Champion. However, there was an extremely close battle between Nick Goepper and Bobby Brown. If Bobby beat Nick in slopestyle and earned a position higher than 5th, he would take 2nd in the World Rankings. Bobby got 6th in the competition and was unable to steal Nick’s spot as runner-up.

“I am so stoked on my season,” said Wallisch. “I skied the best I have ever skied and now I have the title to prove it. Men’s Slopestyle World Champion is the highest achievement that I can get in one winter and I am so excited. I am glad the judges liked the way I skied”.

Wallisch is known for his flawless style, incredible rail skills and perfect landings. The combination has helped him earn some of the highest scores ever seen in competition.

Bobby Brown and Nick Goepper had an extremely close battle for the 2nd place World Ranking. Bobby could have overthrown Nick if he beat him in today’s competition and scored above 5th place. Bobby beat Nick but finished in 6th, allowing Goepper to maintain his number 2 position. Gus Kenworthy advanced to 4th, bumping Andreas Håtveit into 6th. Russ Henshaw also advanced, moving from 6th to 5th.

“It is dream come true,” said Goepper. “Last year I had no idea I would be in this position this year and it is so crazy. I am super stoked to be in the top three in slopestyle.”

“So excited and proud to be honored the top spot in the AFP Women’s Slopestyle ranking,” said Kaya. “It’s amazing to be part of the sport at such a progressive time and so proud of all the girls who have come so far.”

Kaya was undefeated in competition this season. Her first place titles included Winter X Games, X Games Europe, Mammoth Grand Prix, and both stops at the Winter Dew Tour. She was also the proud winner of the Dew Cup. Kaya had secured her World Ranking before the AFP World Championships. Unfortunately she was unable to attend this year’s event.

After today’s slopestyle, Anna Segal jumped from 5th to 2nd in the World Rankings, bumping Devin Logan into 3rd. Dara Howell drops down to 5th and Emilia Wint holds on to her 4th place position. All the women skied incredibly well and should be very proud of their season finishes.