Taylor Seaton brought his signature switch 720, carbon copy left and rightside spins and ended his run with a smooth alley oop 720 to grab that first place spot. Local boy Byron Wells fought through the inclement weather to boost as only he does, yet missing his 5th hit cost him the podium as he ended up in 2nd place. Canadian am Noah Bowman continues to make waves through the halfpipe community, taking the 3rd spot on the podium. Bowman dropped a huge double flip and a bevy of both ways spins to take that bronze.

Megan Gunning, who stunned the world with her cork 900s and 1080s last year, brought them down under with her as she handily took first over the other females. Janina Kuzma, another kiwi, who won this event last year, took 2nd place by spinning 540s both ways. US rider Jamie Crane-Mauzy snagged her first podium this weekend by taking the 3rd spot.

While the weather put a damper on the day, props must be given to the riders and event staff for running such a smooth event. There will now be a sizable break before the next halfpipe event, the Triple Crown at Copper Mountain, CO in December. More than likely we’ll see some new tricks and bigger amplitude, as many of the big name contenders were not in attendance at the NZ Freeski Open Halfpipe.

Men’s Halfpipe Top 10:

1) Taylor Seaton

2) Byron Wells

3) Noah Bowman

4) AJ Kemppainen

5) Patrick Baskins

6) Bobby Brown

7) Gus Kenworthy

8) Kris Atkinson

9) Henrik Harlaut

10) Wing Tai Barrymore

Women’s Halfpipe Top 7:

1) Megan Gunning

2) Janina Kuzma

3) Jamie Crane-Mauzy

4) Anna Segal

5) Mikey Austin

6) Daniela Bauer

7) Hannah James

Henshaw used a rightside double cork 1260 into a switch double cork 1080 as the heavy artillery in his run. Augmented up top with his lip 270 on, 270 off to switch 270, 450 off, Henshaw nudged out Brown. For 2nd place, the reigning AFP Slopestyle Champ started things off with a 270 disaster to 450 on, 270 off to a cork 900 into a switch double misty 1260 into a rightside double 1260. Gus Kenworthy, who is hot off a spectacular 2009-10 season, took third place with his switch right 900, double cork 1260 to switch double cork 1080 combo.

On the women’s side, Kim Lamarre dropped a 360 to 540 to zero spin on the triple line to take the win. Second place belonged to local-ish Anna Segal who hails from Australia. Segal’s switch 180 to flatspin 360 to 720 was enough to garner her the silver. And the girl who made all the waves in the halfpipe last year, Megan Gunning, managed a 3rd place in slope, taking her skills over to the slope course.

As the larger slopestyle community was absent from the field, the ams made quite the showing, grabbing some much needed points and getting their names out there. Guys like Chris Laker, Alex Schlopy and Nick Goepper all had strong showings.

On the men’s side, the NZ Open slopestyle answered the debate on whether or not unnatural doubles would make an appearance. The result: an astounding yes. With Henshaw and Brown both utilizing them, it won’t be long until the rest of the pack follows their lead. The next slopestyle, at the Winter Dew Tour in Breckenridge should prove to be quite the show. As this is the first event of the year, the results are the current standings:

Men’s Slopesyle Top 10:

1) Russ Henshaw

2) Bobby Brown

3) Gus Kenworthy

4) Chris Laker

5) Vincent Gagnier

6) Alex Schlopy

7) Antti-Jussi Kemppainen

8) Nick Goepper

9) Henrik Harlaut

10) Patrick Baskins

Women’s Slopestyle Top 7:

1) Kim Lamarre

2) Anna Segal

3) Megan Gunning

4) Jamie Crane-Mauzy

5) Mikey Austin

6) Kate Hartley

7) Nina Ragettli

On the men’s side of things, Josiah James Wells (NZD) dominated the overall arena, taking home the award for the best combined performance throughout Superpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air, with 285 points. Wells can attribute his X Games medals in both Slopestyle and Halfpipe, his Winter Dew Tour Superpipe superiority and consistency in the fall Big Airs to his success. Falling 42 points behind Wells was Simon Dumont (USA) in second place and 11 points behind Dumont finished Antti-Jussi Kemppainen (FIN) in third place on the Men’s Overall list. “I have a huge respect for the other athletes that compete in all disciplines,” said Wells. “It’s definitely not easy so, it’s cool to see the guys killing it.”

The women’s overall title race was a bit tighter, with Rosalind Groenewoud (CAN) taking home her second straight AFP Overall award, having accumulated 192 points. Groenewoud’s podium consistency in the Superpipe all year coupled with a sprinkling of top 10 Slopestyle finishes pushed the young Canadian over the top of her fellow countrywomen. Dania Assaly (CAN) finished with 190 points and Sarah Burke (CAN) amassed 188 points, both narrowly missing the title. “I am so stoked,” elated Rosalind. “This year, more than ever, I felt so proud to be part of a community of such amazing skiers so it is an honor.”

Superpipe competition saw two champions, well ahead of their respective packs. Josiah Wells took home the title for the men and Jen Hudak (USA) won the title for the women. Again, Wells’ dominance throughout the Winter Dew Tour that included two podiums and the Dew Cup for Superpipe Performer of the Year, and a silver medal at Winter X Games Aspen pushed him almost 400 points over Kevin Rolland (FRA) and nearly 500 points over Simon Dumont, who took second and third respectively. Hudak — who held nearly a 1,000 point lead over Rosalind Groenewoud and 1,350 point lead over Sarah Burke — dominated the Superpipe scene, with an almost perfect season. Wins at both Winter X Games and WSI with added support from a second place at the Winter Dew Tour Breckenridge gave her an impossibly large margin. “I’ve worked really hard for a long time on both the physical and mental components of this sport and I was finally able to put it all to use this year,” explained Hudak.

To determine the men’s Slopestyle Champion, the AFP saw a tight race that came down to the wire. The men’s side was hotly contested, with Bobby Brown (USA) coming out on top with 2,620 points. Bobby’s wins at the Winter X Games Aspen and Winter Dew Tour Mt. Snow, coupled with his second place at Winter X Games Tignes gave him the push over Tom Wallisch (USA), winner of Winter X Games Tignes, by 100 points. Following hot on Wallisch’s heels is Andreas Håtveit (NOR), who won the first stop of the Winter Dew Tour, only off the lead by 200 points. “I couldn’t have asked for a better year,” said Brown.” I had tons of fun and did pretty well.”

Compared to the men, the women’s Slopestyle race was much more one-sided, with Kaya Turski (CAN) commanding the lead with 2,350 points. Kaya went three-for-three, winning both Winter X Games events and the Kristi Leskinen Invitational in Seven Springs, PA. “I’ve been working really hard these past few years to be up there and it feels great to have it pay off,” stated Turski. Behind the French-Canadian was Keri Herman (USA) with 1,790 points and Anna Segal (AUS) with 1,510 points.

And on the Big Air side of things, Andreas Håtveit squeezed out Russ Henshaw (AUS) for the win with 2,000 points. His win at the Jon Olsson Invitational, King Of Style and third place at Freestyle.ch placed him just 50 points ahead of Henshaw who won the Barcelona Snow Show, Frostgun Invitational and took second behind Håtveit at the Jon Olsson Invitational. Following Henshaw in third place was Sammy Carlson (USA) with 1,870 points, who won the Freestyle.ch Big Air in Zurich, Switzerland.

The AFP ranking system was developed to track men’s and women’s competition results held on three continents in slopestyle, halfpipe and big air in order to name true global world champions. The AFP has developed an event ranking system that creates balance between the different formats and levels of events held throughout the world, separating them into four categories, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Events are ranked based on course construction, prize money, media exposure and level of athlete participation and receive maximum point values based on this criteria. The top four individual results for halfpipe and top three results for slopestyle and big air are used to determine athlete rankings and discipline champions. Visit the AFP web site for more event and rider rankings.

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The Association of Freeskiing Professionals is a non-profit organization responsible for implementing a balanced global rider ranking system and to serve as a unified voice for athletes and for freeskiing to the world. Made up of top athletes and key influencers within the sport of freeskiing, the AFP is proactive in the future direction for events, judging, growth and evolution of the sport as well as fostering opportunities for emerging riders to climb a clear ladder to higher levels of competition. Additionally, the AFP will assist domestic and international promoters and governing bodies to ensure consistent on hill competition organization and judging.

In the Superpipe arena, Groenewoud’s stronger suit, she finished 2nd in the AFP rankings with her strong, consistent season. Kicking things off with a 2nd place at the Pure NZ Games last fall, Roz continued to put it down with a 3rd place finish at the Winter Dew Tour in Breckenridge, CO. Continuing her podium streak at both Winter X Games, Roz took home the bronze in Aspen, CO and the silver in Tignes, France. It was those four finishes that placed Roz high in the AFP Superpipe standings. “I had more success in halfpipe because it is my focus but I wish I had more time for slopestyle as jumping was my first love,” explains Groenewoud.

In slopestyle, Roz kicked off the season at the Pure NZ Games with a 2nd place behind Anna Segal (AUS). Despite having no more slope podiums (but two finals finishes at the Kristi Leskinen Homecoming Invitational at Seven Springs, PA and Winter X Games in Tignes, France) Roz accumulated enough points to finish strongly in 8th place by the end of the season. As seen on the men’s side, competing in multiple disciplines is increasingly more difficult to train and compete on a high level at. “It is difficult to compete at both events,” says Roz. “The training for slopestyle and pipe is often scheduled at the same time. I hope to continue to figure out how to juggle both of them!”

Where skiers are increasingly specializing in their competition disciplines, Roz has managed to find success in both arenas of women’s competition. “Most female skiers have competed in both events during their careers but have a preference and have focused on that choice,” says Roz.

Whether or not skiers are specializing, it’s skiers like Roz who excel in multiple aspects that take hom overall prizes. Hard work, dedication and consistency are all keys to Roz’s success. “I’m still working on the perfect strategy to achieve all my goals,” explains Groenewoud. ”Figuring out the physical and mental aspects and then putting it all together is my challenge. The invaluable coaching from Trennon Paynter has helped me start to figure it out. Also, skiing with awesome people like my teammates is a good strategy —Sarah Burke, Justin Dorey, Mike Riddle, Matt Margetts and Dania Assaly inspire me every day.”

Behind Roz, the top five on the 2009-2010 AFP Women’s Overall rankings were as follows: Dania Assaly (CAN) in 2nd, Sarah Burke (CAN) in 3rd, Kaya Turski (CAN) in 4th and Grete Eliassen (USA) in 5th. For full rankings, visit the AFP Current Rankings page here.

]]> http://afpworldtour.com/afp10/?feed=rss2&p=1031 0 http://afpworldtour.com/afp10/?p=1029 http://afpworldtour.com/afp10/?p=1029#comments Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:28:40 +0000 afpworldtour http://afpworldtour.com/afp10/?p=1029 Jen Hudak (USA) has been crowned the AFP Women’s 2010 Superpipe Champion, for the second year in a row. Jen’s excellence throughout the season in the Superpipe discipline, from her X Games gold medals to WSI victory to 2nd at the Winter Dew Tour has proven enough to topple the rest of the female field. “It feels amazing to be named the overall Superpipe Champ,” says Hudak. ”It is always nice to be recognized by your sport.”

Hudak, who has been a competition skier for seasons, gives credit consistency and her hard working nature for the win. “I’ve worked really hard for a long time on both the physical and mental components of this sport and I was finally able to put it all to use this year,” cites Hudak. “Consistency was certainly what made it all happen for me.”

Although modest, for Hudak’s to overcome fellow competitors like three-time X Games gold medalist Sarah Burke and two-time AFP Overall Women’s Champ Roz Groenewoud, hard work and consistency was only half the story. Her monster 900 and 720 and explosive amplitude was the other half.

After foregoing the New Zealand Open and Pure NZ Games, Hudak started her season off with the only female Winter Dew Tour stop in Breckenridge, CO. There Hudak took second to Sarah Burke and Rosalind Groenewoud took third. A month later at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Hudak overcame all and took home the gold. A gold medal performance that Hudak would repeat at the Winter X Games Europe in Tignes Val Claret, France. And as an icing on the season, Hudak took home the win again in Whistler, Canada at the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.

“I’ve worked really hard for a long time on both the physical and mental components of this sport and I was finally able to put it all to use this year,” explains Hudak.

Needing four events to take the win, the women’s superpipe field was only four events deep, due to the Winter Dew Tour holding one event and the European Freeski Open’s cancellation. However, Hudak rolled the schedule into her strategy. “I was slightly relieved when I saw the competition line-up for this year because I was unsure of how my knee would hold up for a long season,” clarifies Jen. “Though there were fewer events all together, there were still a number of high level events with the addition of European X-Games.”

The current generation of female superpipe riders was augmented with the addition of new blood, the charge being led by Megan Gunning and Dania Assaly. “There are certainly more girls skiing pipe now than when I started,” says Hudak. “And certainly at a higher level.” But in the end, it was Jen who dominated the new and the old, the seasoned and the green, leveling the field by almost a margin of 1000 points. “It was an amazing season and a bit surreal.”

Behind Jen Hudak, the top five on the 2009-2010 AFP Women’s Superpipe rankings were as follows: Rosalind Groenewoud (CAN) in 2nd, Sarah Burke (CAN) in 3rd, Anais Caradeux (FRA) in 4th and Megan Gunning (CAN) in 5th. For full rankings, visit the AFP Current Rankings page here.

However, in the Superpipe points race, it came down to the last event of the year. Jossi held a sizable, but not impenetrable lead over France’s Kevin Rolland. Rolland, who gold medaled at both X Games events was just 358 points shy of Wells, who dominated Winter Dew Tour. “For sure I was aware that Kevin could knock me off the top spot,” tells Jossi “He won both the X Games this year which are our biggest comps, so he got some good points for those.”

It seemed that the showdown would be held at the revamped WSI Superpipe in Whistler, BC. However, as fate would have it, neither Wells or Rolland competed at WSI (possibly due to the Icelandic Volcano keeping a number of athletes in Europe) thus giving Wells the Superpipe crown. In fact, at the time, none of the top nine on the AFP Superpipe list started at WSI.

Despite the WSI fizzle, the 2009-2010 Superpipe year was littered with Suerpipe events and an ever-growing list of talented riders. The AFP takes the top 4 results from pipe athletes (as opposed to 3 for slopestyle and big air) meaning to be the best pipe rider, you have to be consistent on a very high level. “My whole program this year was just to land my runs,” says Wells. “I knew some of the athletes had the potential to have really good runs, so I didn’t worry about what they were going to do and just did my own thing. It worked out really well for me and it also makes for a far less stressful comp.”

Wells pipe run started out early in the fall of 2009, where he won the New Zealand Open Superpipe at Cardrona, giving him a first place lead to kick things off. Opting out of the Pure NZ Games, Jossi’s next performance was at the Winter Dew Tour Breckenridge, CO stop where he grabbed 2nd place, behind Mike Riddle of Canada. Weeks after the 2nd place in Breckenridge, Wells took home the win at the Snowbasin, UT stop of the Winter Dew Tour, over Empire teammates Simon Dumont and Peter Olenick. The following week Wells chose perfection and style in his run over technicality and double flip-mania to grab silver at Winter X Games Aspen. “To tell you the truth I really didn’t do anything special,” says Jossi. “I just had as much fun as I could and aimed for perfection over technicality  in my runs.”

Immediately after Aspen, Jossi flew to Mt. Snow, VT for the final stop of the Winter Dew Tour where he grabbed the 5th, which wasn’t good enough to give Jossi anymore AFP points, but enough for him to grab the Winter Dew Cup for Pipe Performer of the Year. But Kevin’s failure to make finals in Vermont gave Jossi some breathing room. At Winter X Games Europe, Jossi took 6th place, but Rolland took home another X Gold, moving him within striking distance. And then the past week at Whistler is history, as neither competitor started, handily giving Wells the win.

But beyond the Wells-Rolland theater, the 2009-2010 season saw a distinct and marked jump in Superpipe riding, both technically and stylishly. More competitors wit more double flips, more competitors with more consistent amplitude and more down-to-the-wire events than ever before. “Huge shout outs to those boys, on the real,” bursts Jossi. “The level is crazy now days. I think it’s epic, it makes for an amazing show.”

And with more talent and more exposure, the big spotlight is on whether or not Superpipe skiing will be showcased in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. “I really hope it does,” says Wells. “I think it will be such a cool opertunity for us all. I mean look what it has done for snowboarding. I think it’s going to be really positive for freeskiing.”

Behind Jossi the top five on the 2009-2010 AFP Superpipe rankings were as follows: Kevin Rolland (FRA) in 2nd, Simon Dumont (USA) in 3rd. Xavier Bertoni (FRA) in 4th and Mike Riddle (CAN) in 5th. For full rankings, visit the <a href=”http://afpworldtour.com/afp10/?page_id=849″>Current Rankings page here</a>.

What does that mean for point standings? Well, if you’re Walter Wood, it means you crap the top 10, currently in 8th place on the AFP list. If you’re Joss Christensen it pushes you up to 23rd and Taylor Seaton, who sat out much of the year, cracks the top 10… at 10th place, bumping Peter Olenick and AJ Kemppainen down to 11th and 12th respectively. Most big names were either stuck in Europe from the Icelandic Volcano or opted not to compete. The biggest other name would be Colby James West, who improves his AFP ranking to 15th for the year.

On the women’s side of things, Jen Hudak increases her lead over Roz G. by a large margin, and she will handily take the women’s 2010 pipe crown. Megan Gunning who has had a rollercoaster year bumps up to 5th place on the AFP list and Mirjam Jaeger improves to 6th. Roz G still sits in 2nd place and Sarah Burke has grabbed the 3rd place on the AFP list for the year.

More information to come about overall winners and finalized point standings.

Andreas Håtveit of Norway has been named the 2010 AFP Big Air Champion, after a tightly contested race this fall and  a nail biter conclusion at the Jon Olsson Invitational in Åre, Sweden last week. “Its pretty cool,” says Håtveit of the title. “I don’t really consider myself a big air skier, so to win the overall was somewhat surprising and to beat Russ and TJ, was mostly luck, but ill take it!” Håtveit was followed closely in 2nd by Russ Henshaw (AUS) and Sammy Carlson (USA) in 3rd.

Håtveit competed in six big air events this year, but only his top three scores were needed to take the title. At his first big air of the year, Andreas took 3rd place at Freestyle.ch in Zurich. After a couple top 10 performances at Freestyle.Berlin and London Freeze, Andreas came back swinging, using his bombproof double cork 1080s to take the win at King of Style in Stockholm in November. Håtveit then opted out of the Barcelona Snow Show, failed to make finals at the Winter X Games Big Air and skipped the Frostgun Invitational. Then last week at the Jon Olsson Invitational, Håtveit beat out an international field of top riders, including Russ Henshaw in the one-jump finals to take the win and thus boosting himself 50 points higher than Henshaw in the standings.

“The overall is the coolest thing for me to win,” explains Håtveit. “It’s not too hard to win once in a while, but to stay consistent is really hard.”

This season’s big air competitions were littered with double cork/flip variations, with almost every competitor having at least one double in their arsenal. But at the Winter X Games in Aspen, CO the level was markedly raised by Bobby Brown, TJ Schiller, Jossi Wells and Elias Ambuhl. “In the preseason it was pretty much the same as last year, dub 10s and 12s,” says Håtveit. “But at X Games Bobby did his switch double misty 12 and 14 and Jossi did the switch double 14 and everyone was going crazy.”

Outside of the AFP, Håtveit also won himself the Winter Dew Cup for Slopestyle performer of the Year, a nod to Andreas’ skills outside of a one-jump format. In addition, he was named Ballpark Rookie of the Year by Alli Sports, as it was his first year on the Winter Dew Tour (an injury the year before kept him out of the events). And as the big air competitions are done until a new season starts next fall, Andreas muses on what next year’s big airs will be like.

“I think we will see switch double 12s and maybe double rodeo 10s/12s. But as always if you dont have style you wont get anywhere,” explains Andreas. “So you might have a chance for another year with double 10s/12s but I think someone is going to learn how to do the switch 12 with style and take the wins. So for next year I think the level is going to be off the hezzalzzz.”

2009-2010 AFP Big Air Top 15:

1: Andreas Håtveit – 2000 pts.

2: Russ Henshaw – 1950 pts.

3: Sammy Carlson – 1870 pts.

4: Elias Ambuhl – 1840 pts.

5: Bobby Brown – 1728 pts.

6: TJ Schiller – 1680 pts.

7: Henrik Harlaut – 1293 pts.

8: Tom Wallisch – 1218 pts.

9: Jon Olsson – 1148 pts.

10: Jacob Wester – 968 pts.

11: Pekka Hyysalo – 770 pts.

12: Jossi Wells – 700 pts.

13: Phil Casabon – 640 pts.

14: Fridtjof Fredricsson – 532 pts.

15: Beni Mayr – 522 pts.

For all results, visit the Rankings page.

]]> http://afpworldtour.com/afp10/?feed=rss2&p=1003 0 http://afpworldtour.com/afp10/?p=995 http://afpworldtour.com/afp10/?p=995#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:45:44 +0000 afpworldtour http://afpworldtour.com/afp10/?p=995 With next week’s Jon Olsson Invitational Big Air looming large, the AFP focus shifts to the Big Air riders who are in the hunt for that coveted title. Currently, Russ Henshaw is in first with 1900 points, Sammy Carlson in 2nd with 1870, Elias Ambuhl in 3rd with 1840, Bobby Brown in 4th with 1728 and TJ Schiller in 5th with 1680. Here are some scenarios that could play out:

-If Russ Henshaw wins JOI, which is rated as a Gold event, he’d take 800 points, replacing his 3rd lowest score (currently a 550 from both London Freeze and Frostgun), giving him an another 250, bringing his total to 2150. Even if Elias Ambuhl grabs 2nd his point total would only move to 1180.

-If Elias Ambuhl wins, his point total would jump to 2040. If Russ Henshaw gets 2nd in this scenario, he wouldn’t have enough points to take the lead and Ambuhl would win the title.

-Longshots would include TJ Schiller and Andreas Håtveit. If TJ Schiller wins and both Henshaw and Ambuhl get lower than 2nd place, Schiller could take the title. Alternatively, if Håtveit wins JOI, Håtveit would win the AFP Big Air crown.

The odds are looking good for both Henshaw and Ambuhl. Bets would go to Henshaw, who has won 3 events this year, but Ambuhl has an impressive resume, with a 3rd and couple 2nd places to his credit. Schiller took 2nd at Winter X Big Air and Håtveit also won King of Style, so the game could really go any way.

X Games Big Air Gold Medalist Bobby Brown will not be competing due to an injury sustained a few weeks ago, and 2nd place holder Sammy Carlson will not be competing either. Eight of the top 10 on the AFP list, will be competing in JOI, besides the aforementioned, Jacob Wester, Jon Olsson, Henrik Harlaut and Tom Wallisch. Other contenders are Simon Dumont and Jossi Wells. Also, the winner of the Swedish Open Slopestyle next week will be invited to compete in JOI. The past two year’s winners were Fridtchof Fredriksson and Kim Boberg.

To recap, If Henshaw or Ambuhl win, they win the title outright. If Håtveit or Schiller win and the other three do less, they would win the crown. So all eyes will be on the massive JOI step-down, on April 15th. The race is on.