Zoe Atkin wins first Halfpipe World Cup in over five years and Alex Ferreira comes out on top in Aspen

Run Two

The wind really picked up for run two and none of the field was able to improve their run, bar Amy Fraser. She put herself into second place – shaking off any nerves from the previous crash – greasing three back-to-back switch hits for an 86.75.

Run Three

The final run had a similar story as the women battled with the conditions. Cassie improved her run but could not jump above Svea in the ranking. Amy pulled out of her run after landing low on the first hit and Zoe, who was still in the lead, tried to cement her place by adding a switch 900 on the final hit. She could not hang onto it though and would have to wait for Fanghui Li to drop last to see if she could take her first World Cup win in over five years.

Fanghui started with a big air-to-fakie mute into a switch right 900 safety. The run had four take-off directions, both ways switch 720s with good grabs but it was not quite enough to overtake Zoe and scored an 88.50 giving Zoe the win.

Having disappointingly dropped both of her X Games finals runs Zoe was stoked to have won her first World Cup since she was just 16 years old. 

“I was really excited to come back here and get redemption and to win today, I’m so excited.”

The Men

The weather certainly affected the men but did not stop them throwing down, as the world’s most historied stunt ditch produced another exhilarating contest. If you need any more proof that Nick Goepper and Alex Ferreira have entered into a Hall versus Dumont style rivalry, you need to look no further than the shade thrown in the post-competition interviews.

Run One

The first run saw the men warming up to the pipe, with some errors, crashes and throwaways. Young Aspen local, Tristan Feinberg impressed by taking influence from some of the most creative pipe riders in the modern era – dropping into the pipe with a switch 360 giving shades of Nico Porteous and putting down two Noah Bowman inspired tricks.

Finley Melville-Ives put down the first fully clean run which included right double cork 1620 safety to left double cork 1260 and finishing with his left alley-oop double flatspin 900 mute. He scored an 89.50 to go into first place.

Alex Ferreira crashed, leaving Nick Goepper to reproduce the exact run that he won the X Games with less than a week ago, in this exact pipe – switch left double 1080 japan, right double cork 1620 safety, left double cork 1260 ripped mute, right 1080 lead blunt finishing with the switch alley-oop bone roll blunt – a 94.00 and a line drawn in the sand.

Run Two

Again, the wind and the level the riders were pushing to, meant that a lot of runs were thrown away in run two. Hunter Hess butt checked more than once and Luke Harrold again had to squat out the landing of his 1620.

Birk Irving landed his unique run to score 91.00 and put himself into second – the left double cork 1440 is a beautiful rotation and the way he kicks out the high safety on the down-the-pipe double flatspin 720 oozes style.

Alex’s first double 1620 was flippier and even uglier than normal – he also wristed the lead blunt on the bottom 1620, meaning his run was only good enough for an 87.50 and fourth place for the time being. 

Nick downgraded his 1080 to a 720, either because he himself did not believe he could improve his run, or maybe because something went wrong but he still was sitting on the top spot after run two.

Run Three

Either the wind dropped or some pipe-loving deity was looking down kindly on Aspen because the third run was nothing short of extraordinary. 

Luke Harrold lit the touchpaper by landing the run of his short life going back-to-back switch double 900 criticals and finishing with a double cork 1260 to 1620 combo – scoring a whopping 92.25.

From this point on, the contest exploded. Matthew Labaugh put down a flawless run, with switch left cork 1260 blunt to switch right cork 1080 blunt at the top, ending with a left double flatspin japan, skiing into huge celebrations from the USA slopestyle team in the crowd. He couldn’t believe it when the judges hooked him up with a 93.00 and second place.

Hunter then went bigger than he has ever gone on his run – he had to spin the misty 540 slower than a rotisserie chicken – and was clearly pumped. The judges however had to carve apart this incredibly tasty run and sighted a slightly shorter reverse mute on Hunter’s 1080 compared to Matthew’s ripped mute on the double 12. Hunter still went into third with another score in the 90s.

Fin was not going to ruin the streak and sent the crowd wild, landing back-to-back double cork 1620s! The two young Kiwi talents have finally delivered on their promise, doing what they have threatened to do for the last year – and what we predicted they might – by competing for the podium. Despite the 16s, Fin “only” scored a 91.50 which incredibly was only good enough for 5th. He was visibly bewildered and disappointed but some general looseness and lower amplitude than the top of the pack held him back in the eyes of the judges.

With the pressure on and his home crowd cheering on, Alex remembered the antigravity cheatcode from Tony Hawk Pro Skater, sending his final double cork 1620 stratospheric. Having whiffed the grab on the run previously, he ripped the guts out of the lead blunt this time, making it one of the most technical pipe tricks landed to this day. With almost no scores left to use in the low nineties, the judges might have breathed a sigh of relief when he put it to his feet and rightfully put him out in front with a 95.75.

Nick had just been pushing into second – a situation that has galvanized him in the past – and he knew he would have to throw everything at his final run. He dropped in with intense focus and tried to upgrade his run by doing back-to-back double cork 1620s – something he has never done before in competition. Unfortunately he could not put it down and would have to settle for second place this week in Aspen.

The men’s contest ended with seven runs with scores in the nineties – one of the judges remarked it was the highest level halfpipe contest he had ever seen, let alone judged. A rising tide lifts all boats and Nick Goepper’s rise has dragged his colleagues with him, closing the gap and pushing Alex Ferreira ever further – as Alex himself admitted. He also added more fuel to the rivalry fire when clearly responding to Nick’s claim at X Games that there “was a new champ in Aspen!”. In the post-contest interview Alex said, “I cannot believe I was able to overcome the fear, and the stress, and the craziness, and lay it down. That’s what a true champion is all about.”
Rivalry drives progression so hopefully Nick and Alex can push each other to the limits in the stunt ditch – I just hope Alex is not too precious about the paint job on his car if he keeps winning.