Words & photos by Nadia SamerVideo by Zac Moxley

The AFP World Championships at the World Skiing Invitational during the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival kicked off today in Whistler with Men's Skis Slopestyle Qualifiers in the High Level Terrain Park on Blackcomb Mountain. It might be late April but it would appear nobody gave Mother Nature the heads up, as temperatures were cold, the snow was hard and the light was flat. Two men's heats of 30 were scheduled to run, but due to suspected incoming weather and flurries Heats 1 & 2 were run consecutive so that all competitors would be guaranteed to finish at least one run, as opposed to running both runs for Heat 1 in the morning and vice versa for Heat 2 in the afternoon. Luckily the snow held off and by the end of the day all competitors had completed both of their runs.

The top rail section

Keaton Carlson on the "Cannons".

The bottom booter

Cannon section to the channel gap.

Michael Brush

Lyman Currier took the lead position today after being the only competitor to throw and stomp a massive double on the final booter the first round.

Men's Ski Slopestyle Qualifiers Results

1) Lyman Currier - 85.0

2)Tim McChesney - 84.2

3) Antti Ollila - 84.0

4) Henrik Harlaut - 82.0

5) Joe Shuster - 81.8

6) Noah Morrison - 80.8

7) Carson Leouillier - 78.8

8) Aaron Blunk - 77.2

9) Max Heard - 76.0

10) Erik Hughes - 74.8

cut-off

11) Jaeden Schneider Clarke - 74.4

11) Kolby Ward - 74.4

13) Walter Wood - 72.4

13) Reid Mceachran - 72.4

15) Colby West - 71.8

16) Bryce Baker - 68.8

17) Matt Crawford - 68.0

18) Jon Anders Lindstad - 66.8

18) Keaton Carlson - 66.6

20) Taylor Wilson - 65.8

21) Michael Brush - 65.6

22) Kieran Nikula - 64.0

23) Colby Stevenson - 63.0

24) Corbin Lefebvre - 62.0

25) Frederick Ilaiano - 61.8

26) Simon D'artois 61.2

27) Zhach Pham - 61.0

28) Beau-James Wells - 60.8

29) Jonas Hjohlnman - 60.0

30) Matthew Wilcox - 58.4

31) Kirby Sutherland - 57.2

32) Ben Maxwell - 56.8

32) Sam Ruttiman - 56.8

34) Michael Granger - 56.4

35) Chris Verrue - 55.8

36) Mitchell Wilson - 55.4

37) Alex Ferreira - 55.2

38) Cody Alexander Cirillo - 53.2

39) Yukon De Leeuw - 53.0

39) Charlie Stevens - 53.0

41) Justin Jackson - 52.6

42) Thomas Pool - 51.6

43) Austin Karker - 51.2

44) Patrick Baskin - 50.2

45) Dustin Sittier - 46.6

46) AJ Kemppainen - 43.4

47) Terry Butt - 41.8

48) Quinn Waddell - 40.4

49) Tyson Oland - 25.2

50) Zak Mousseau - 22.8

51) Evan Mceachran - 9.2

The 10 men who made the cut today will now the join 20 pre-qualified athletes for Men's Ski Slopestyle Semi-Finals and Finals, which takes place tomorrow. Also running tomorrow is the Women's Slopestyle Finals, featuring a field of 11 competitors.

AFP World Championships - Top 5 Slopestyle Qualifiers