Words: Dan Abrams

Photos: Geoff Jansen

The World Ski Invitational in Whistler, BC continued yesterday with Ski Superpipe Qualifiers, giving 48 men and nine women the opportunity to fight it out for their chance to compete against the pre-qualified pros in semi-finals and finals. The women kicked things off and appreciated the sunny skies and soft pipe walls, with more competitors inverting than ever before. Brita Sigourney took the top spot with amplitude and style, stomping her flair and 540’s, with Devin Logan hot on her heels in second. In third place, Shannon Gunning was the only woman to throw a 9 in this round and will definitely be one to watch in the semis (along with pre-qualified athlete Megan Gunning, who was stomping 10’s in practice), while the always consistent Amy Sheehan scored the fourth and final spot on the right side of the bubble.

Women’s Results

1) Jackie Atkinson

2) Devin Logan

3) Shannon Gunning

4) Amy Sheehan

cut-off

5) Anna Segal

6) Cassandra Sharpe

7) Jackie Atkinson

8) Makoi Satoh

9) Keltie Hansen

Wing Tai of Hailey, Idaho, took round one of the men’s qualifier with a two-way tie for second between Peter Adam Crook and Sandy Boville. Boville breezed into semis with an impressively technical run, but will likely need to up his amplitude in order to make it to the big show.

Men’s Heat 1 Results

1) Wing Tai

2) Sandy Boville

3) Peter Adam Crook

4) Patrick Baskins

5) Simon D’Artois

6) Rob Heule

7) Sean Collin

8) Colin Campbell

cut-off

9) Lukas Bowman

10) Keaton Carlson

11) Stephen Jeffries

12) David Cote

13) Collin Jeffries

14) Scott Hibbert

15) Conner Koenen

16) Logan Dobson

17) Jin Kim Kwang

18) Mitch Gilman

Peter Adam Crook

Sean Collin

The continuously melting pipe posed a real challenge to the men in the second and final heat, with many of the riders struggling to land their runs and final scores that were much lower than those achieved in the first round. Staying on your feet was the name of the game, and Mike Mertion managed to do just that by landing a cork 9 in the flats on his second to last hit with just enough speed left over for a 540 at the bottom of the pipe. That save, combined with a switch 10 on his first hit, was enough to place Mertion in first. Right behind him was Colin ‘Chazz’ Vaykovich with a run that included a left 9 and a switch flatspin 7, and in third was Kyle Smaine, who finished off his run off with some solid back-to-back 7’s.

Men’s Heat 2 Results

1) Mike Mertion

2) Colin Vaykovich

3) Kyle Smaine

4) Nathan Wood

5) Sam Thackray

6) Billy Mann

7) John Leonard

cut-off

8) Alex Mochan

9) Kevin Labatte

10) Takumi Toyama

11) Aaron Mackay

12) Quinn Waddell

13) Mike Mochan

14) Ryan Waddell

15) Benjamin Ogilvie

16) Hunter Visser

17) Garrett Northey

David Cote

Scott Hibbert

Name that skier!

Stay tuned for coverage of Mens’s and Women’s Superpipe Semi-Finals and Finals on the last day of competition in the World Ski Invitational, when the qualifiers will get their shots against the following big guns...

Pre-Qualified Athletes

Women

Jen Hudak

Anais Caradeux

Rosalind Groenewoud

Sarah Burke

Megan Gunning

Virginie Faivre

Mirjam Jaeger

Dania Assaly

Grete Eliassen

Men's Semi-Finals

Matt Margetts

Noah Bowman

Tyler Peterson

Evan Schwartz

JP Solberg

Joss Christensen

Marshall Lacroix

Brian Kish

Kris Atkinson

Men's Finals

Mike Riddle

Tucker Perkins

Justin Dorey

AJ Kemppainen

Peter Olenick

Matt Duhamel

Walter Wood

Dan Marion

Colby James West

Taylor Seaton