David Wise, of Reno, Nev., will be a favorite for the gold medal when halfpipe skiing debuts in the Sochi Games. ap photo
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or a sport that’s just now making it onto the Olympic stage, halfpipe skiing has seen quite a progression in its short history. Over the last few seasons, the hours elapsed from one major competition to the next has been enough time for a new trick or two to be introduced. Double corks (two off axis flips) are now the name of the game, being thrown in every direction. If you don’t have a couple of them in your run, don’t expect to be on the podium. Ski halfpipe at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will be held to the west of the Rosa Khutor plateau, at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park.
cite each other as examples of who could come out on top on that day. “It’s an event where any guy can win on any day,” said Wise, who won the first U.S. qualifier of the season at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge. “ ... The competition’s been really tight this season.” On the women’s side, Americans Maddie Bowman, 20, and Brita Sigourney, 23, have kept competition tight in the qualifiers this season, each winning one in December, and Angeli VanLaanen, 28, proved she may have what it takes with a runner-up finish at the Dew Tour’s iON Mountain Championships.
International contenders The Americans Both the men’s and women’s podium at the first-ever Olympic halfpipe skiing event very well could be dominated by Americans. On the men’s side, Americans David Wise, 23, Aaron Blunck, 17, and Torin Yater-Wallace, 18, have all been repeat podium finishers at events that will have similar fields, and all
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Other countries to look out for when halfpipe skiing makes its Olympic debut in February are France, New Zealand, and our neighbors to the north. Canadians Mike Riddle, 27, and Justin Dorey, 25, have both competed in the Americans’ Olympic selection events this season, and both have just missed the podium with a pair of fourth-place finishes. The Wells
family out of New Zealand will always have an athlete or two to be wary of in any freeskiing competition, and this year it’s Beau-James Wells, 18, the younger brother to freeski legends Jossi and Byron, who’s been making a splash, finishing fifth at the Dew Tour’s iON Mountain Championships in December. But it’s Frenchman Kevin Rolland, 24, who probably has the best shot of the international field at attaining gold in Sochi. After winning the Grand Prix at Copper Mountain in December, Blunck said “Kevin Rolland threw the craziest run I’ve ever seen in my life.” Rolland failed to land his final trick, a double cork 1260 that begins “switch,” with the skier facing backwards, but if he had nailed it, Blunck likely would not have found himself on top that night. For the women’s international field, France’s Anais Caradeux, 23, and Marie Martinod, 29, will be contenders to keep an eye on, as well as Japan’s Ayana Onozuka, 25, who just missed the podium at the Dew Tour in December.
— John LaConte