Words & photos by Rocky Maloney

The second day of the first stop of The North Face Park & Pipe Open at Northstar-at-Tahoe saw the ladies take their first crack at the Pinball slopestyle course under partially sunny skies and cold temperatures. Women’s semi-finals started promptly at 10:00am, where the field of 11 was quickly narrowed down to the top six for finals.

Holly Hind

Jessica Warll took the top qualifying spot with a great run that included a switch 270 onto the flat-down box, into a stylish 270 out of the up box. The newcomer has been turning heads with her stylish airs, and furthered her reputation by landing a big carving cork 360 tail into a big flatspin 540 mute, setting the tone for the ladies going into the finals.

Jessica Warll

Dania Assaly also had a big run, landing a stylish cork 720 to cork 540, while Devin Logan, Anna Segal, Meg Olenick and Maude Raymond all claimed spots in the finals as well.

Dania Assaly with her game face on. Photo: Josh Bishop

Devin Logan. Photo: Josh Bishop

As soon as the ladies were done it was time for the men’s semi-finals, where the guys were split into two different heats of 16 that included yesterday’s qualified athletes along with the pre-qualified ones.

Rob Walters

Pat Baskins

Tim McChesney

Much like in qualifiers, Nick Martini had an excellent first run with a 360 switch-up over the flat-down box, followed by a rodeo 450 off the elevated flat rail, into a switch right 720 and finished with a switch 1080 on the final jump and a nice air on the quarterpipe at the bottom.

Nick Martini laying down a rodeo 450 out of the flat rail as Evan Heath gets the shot in the background.

LJ Strenio showed up looking strong despite nursing a sore ankle, starting his day off with a switch left 1080 and a switch right 1080 to claim his spot in the finals. In the end Gus Kenworthy took the top qualifying spot in heat one by landing a flawless run that began with a 450 on, 270 off of the down-flat-down rail, into a 270 on 270 out of the elevated flat rail and continued to dominate the course with a switch left 1080 into a switch right 900.

Gus Kenworthy

Paul Bergeron landed another style-packed run today with an uphill 270 out of the down-flat-down rail into a 270 out of the flat rail, and didn’t let anyone down on the jumps with a right cork 900 into a big switch left 1080, which was god enough for third place in the heat.

Paul Bergeron

Just above B-Paul were Park City locals Joss Christensen and McRae Williams, who took the top two qualifying spots in heat two. McRae, who had the second highest score overall in qualifiers, was on a mission to do the same or better in semis and succeeded in his quest. Laying down a super technical run that started with a 450 onto the down-flat-down into a rodeo 450 out of the next one, McRae then proved he is no stranger to spinning both ways and put on a show for the judges with a big right rodeo 900 into a switch dub cork 1080, earning him an 89.60 and the top spot in his heat for the second day in a row.

Meg Olenick

As the clouds began to part and the skies turned blue it was time for women’s slopestyle finals, where the top six from semis had their last shot at glory. After having the best run in semis Jessica Warll kept it clean on the rails and then changed up her run by adding a 720 on the first jump, but couldn’t manage to ride into the second jump. Dew Tour halfpipe winner Dania Assaly also put on a great show and proved how versatile she is with a big cork 900 on one of the jumps, but unfortunately couldn’t get the landing gears working.

Maude Raymond

Maude Raymond had an impressive showing in finals, lacing the down-flat-down rail into the elevated rail to switch out. She then hit the first jump switch and threw a big switch 540 into a stylish 360 tail grab, which was good enough to score herself the final spot on the podium in 3rd. Competition veteran Anna Segal showed everyone why she deserved a podium spot as well with a nice switch-up on the flat-down box, into a 270 out of the up box, followed by a big flatspin 540 into a switch 360, earning her 2nd place with a 81.25.

Anna Segal

But in the end, today was Devin Logan's time to shine. Following a healthy offering in semis where she finished 4th, Devin then put down the run of the day for the women in finals with a nice 270 out of the up box, into a big switch 540 and capped it all off with a stylish cork 720. The judges took note, and awarded Logan an 88.00 and the top spot amongst the ladies.

Devin Logan

The men were then granted the best weather of the day to finish off the competition. The top 16 riders were given two runs each with the best one counting, and right off the bat the mood was set for an epic hour of skiing. With everything from 1260's to forward dubs to switch dubs, everyone was throwing down.

Aidan Sheahan

Max Peters

McRae Williams stepped up his game with a rodeo 630 out of the flat rail into his right rodeo 900 and switch double cork 1080, which as a testament to how high the level of skiing was in finals, was only good enough for 9th place. Gus Kenworthy landed another killer first run as well with a massive switch left 1080 into a switch right 900 and a big cork 900 on the quarterpipe, which saw him finish in 6th with an 85.80.

McRae Williams, mid-dub cork 10.

Ben Moxham started his run with a disaster 450 on 270 out of the flat-down box into a back 450 out of the launch box, and then spun his way into 5th place with a switch left 1080 into a switch right 1080. Young gun Joss Christensen also put on a hell of a show, with a lip 270 onto the down-flat-down into a 630 off of the flat rail, followed by a right 900 and a massive switch dub cork 1080, just missing the podium in fourth.

Joss Christensen

The up and coming Nick Goepper showcased his best to everyone today, landing one of the top three runs of the day with a disaster 270 onto the down-flat-down, into a 270 on 270 out of the elevated flat rail, followed by a massive left 900 tail and into a switch left dub cork 900 on the bottom jump. In the end Nick finished off his day in 3rd place and $1000 richer.

Nick Goepper

LJ Strenio continued to silence the rumors he wouldn’t compete due to a bad ankle, which showed no signs of bothering him. After backslapping a little bit on his first run LJ was out for redemption on his second, starting strong on the rails with a blind switch-up to 270 out of the down-flat-down and stepping it up with a huge switch 270 on rodeo 450 out of the flat rail. He then stomped both jumps with a big switch right 1080 into a switch left dub cork 1080, scoring a 93.40, which was good enough for 2nd place.

LJ Strenio

But once all the smoke had cleared and the dust had settled, it was truly a day to remember for the Logan's, as brother and sister Chris and Devin took the top spots in today's competition. Chris showed all weekend long that he was out for that number one spot, and proved it yet again by coming up big in finals after placing 6th in the semis.

Chris Logan

He started things off with a back swap on the down-flat-down rail, continued with a rock solid 450 on 450 off of the elevated flat rail, into a switch right 1080 and a switch left 1260 on the final jump. His trickery earned a 95.40, first place, and a spot in X Games Slopestyle. Congratulations to both Devin and Chris Logan for climbing to the top of the podium amidst an extremely deep and talented pool of skiers.

LJ Strenio (2nd), Chris Logan (1st), Nick Goepper (3rd)

Anna Segal (2nd), Devin Logan (1st), Maude Raymond (3rd)

Stay tuned to Newschoolers for more coverage on The North Face Park & Pipe Open coverage, as both the men and women take their turns in the superpipe today, and to see how this event affects the AFP rankings, be sure to head on over to http://www.afpworldtour.com.

Results

Men's Semi-Finals Heat 1

1. Gus Kenworthy - 90.20

2. Nick Goepper - 88.20

3. Chris Laker - 87.60

4. John Strenio - 84.60

5. Nick Martini - 84.20

6. Tim McChesney - 83.40

7. Clayton Vila - 82.60

8. Ben Moxham - 78.20

cut-off

9. Rob Walter - 73.40

10. Charlie Lasser - 72.60

11. Pat Baskins - 69.40

12. Maks Gorham - 67.20

13. Kolby Ward - 59.80

14. Lyman Currier - 45.00

15. Karl Fostvedt - 38.60

16. Jason Arens - 28.00

Men's Semi-Finals Heat 2

1. McRae Williams - 89.60

2. Joss Christensen - 88.60

3. Paul Bergeron - 86.50

4. Joe Schuster - 83.60

5. Aidan Sheahan - 83.40

6. Chris Logan - 78.40

7. Cody Ling - 78.40

8. Mike Mertion - 75.40

cut-off

9. Matt Margetts - 73.40

10. Max Peters - 70.60

11. Nicolas Keefer - 70.60

12. John Leonard - 70.20

13. Charlie Ingalls - 63.80

14. David Wise - 40.60

15. Matt Nelson - 36.40

16. Kyle Smaine - 30.40

Men's Finals

1. Chris Logan - 95.40

2. John Strenio - 93.40

3. Nick Goepper - 91.00

4. Joss Christensen - 88.00

5. Ben Moxham - 87.40

6. Gus Kenworthy - 85.80

7. Chris Laker - 85.80

8. Nick Martini - 85.60

9. McRae Wiliams - 85.60

10. Mike Mertion - 84.40

11. Adian Sheahan - 82.60

12. Cody Ling - 81.60

13. Clayton Vila - 78.40

14. Joe Schuster - 77.80

15. Tim McChesney - 74.20

16. Paul Bergeron - 50.00

Women's Semi-Finals

1. Jessica Warll - 92.40

2. Maude Raymond - 86.60

3. Dania Assaly - 85.40

4. Devin Logan - 83.80

5. Anna Segal - 82.20

6. Meg Olenick - 81.80

cut-off

7. Kim Lamarre - 79.60

8. Keltie Hansen - 72.20

9. Ali Agee - 79.60

10. Erica Durtschi - 64.60

11. Holly Hind - 42.00

Women's Finals

1. Devin Logan - 88.00

2. Anna Segal - 81.25

3. Maude Raymond - 78.20

4. Jessica Warll - 75.00

5. Dania Assaly - 73.20

6. Meg Olenick - 70.00