Alex Ferreira flies across the sky during the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024.Joshua Duplechian/U.S. Ski and Snowboard After four days packed full of huge tricks and spirited action, the 2024 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain Resort came to a close on Saturday, Dec 21. With the American snowboard halfpipe riders being held off the podium on Friday, a strong group of U.S. freeskiers took to the 22-foot pipe in hopes of finishing within the top three in their respective final. Women’s freeski halfpipe As the sole American in the eight-woman final, Winter Park’s Svea Irving dropped into the pipe and looked to secure her second-consecutive podium finish on the season. On her first of three runs, Irving landed a flatspin 540, a left-side 540 and a left-side 900 with a mute grab. The first run was enough for Irving to shoot to the top of the results with a score of 85.75. Irving kept her spot at the top of the podium until two-time Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu of China took to the pipe for her first run. Gu most notably strung together a switch left-side 360, a left-side 900 with a Japan grab and a stylish alley-oop. The run was scored at a 90.5, putting Gu at the top of the results after the first round of runs. Pushed down to third by Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin’s second run, Irving tried to add a few points to her score on her second run. Irving landed an alley-oop flatspin 540 with a Japan grab, but landed too low on her second hit of the halfpipe to keep the run alive. With the fall, Irving’s score did not improve, resulting in the 22-year-old skier being pushed to fourth overall by Canada’s Cassie Sharpe’s second run score of 89. In need of at least five points in order to finish on the podium, Irving landed several tricks at the top of the pipe, but in the middle of the run. Irving finished in fourth place with a score of 85.75. On her victory lap, Gu remained aggressive, landing technical tricks at the top of the pipe, but then taking a harder fall at the end of her run. Despite the rare fall, Gu was crowned the back-to-back champ of the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper with a top run score of 90.50. Atkin took second (89.75) and Sharpe finished in third (89). Svea Irving competes in the women’s freeski final at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. Men’s freeski halfpipe Making up the majority of the 10-man field, seven Americans competed for a podium spot in the men’s freeski halfpipe final. Crested Butte’s Aaron Blunck was the first of the Americans to take a run in the final. Blunck landed a switch double 900 before falling hard on his last hit of the halfpipe. Following the Blunck fall, Winter Park’s Birk Irving had a solid first run. Irving, the older brother of Svea, spun wildly across the halfpipe while making grabs look easy. Irving earned a score of 84 on his first run in order to rank third after the first round of runs. Making up the other podium positions after the first round was Aspen’s Alex Ferreira and New Zealand’s Melville Ives Finley. Bringing around a massive final trick, Ferreira seemed to have shocked himself with his first run. Ferreira recorded a score of 86 to rank second after the first round of runs. Finley on the other hand, recorded a jaw-dropping 87.75 on his first run to rank first overall. Wanting to move up from fourth, Irving executed on switch double 1080, and a right-side double 1260. Irving upped his score to an 85, but did not move up in the rankings. It was Canada’s Brendan Mackay that truly shook up the standings Following an average first run, Mackay put a full run together, taking over first place with a score of 91.25. Not wanting to finish off the podium, Ferreira tried to match Mackay’s run by putting together a switch double 1080, right-side 1080 with a grab and a right-side double 1620 with a tail grab. It was the huge 1620 that successfully shot Ferreira into first place with a score of 94.75. After a fall on his first run, Lawerenceburg, Indiana’s Nick Goepper moved into a podium spot. Clad in his signature denim blue jeans, Goepper earned a score of 89.25 to rank third overall heading into the final round of runs. In the end it was Ferreira and Goepper who finished on the podium. After Ferreira failed to add points to his second-run score, Goepper had an opportunity to move up from third on his final attempt. Taking advantage of being the last athlete to drop in, Goepper stomped a switch double with a Japan grab, but fell shortly after. Goepper finished in third (89.25). “Gladly I didn’t arrive in a police escort today,” Goepper said. “My travel on the way here was perfect. It was a great day. I kind of whiffed one of my tricks, so not my best work, but got on the box anyways. I think it is a testament to how hard I have been working. I am just real focused on the next year.” Ferreira won his second-straight U.S. Grand Prix at Copper with a score of 94.75 and Mackay took second (91.25). With the win, Ferreira has now won 10 World Cup halfpipe competitions in his career — the first man in World Cup history to ever do so. “Today was huge,” Ferreira said. “I am so grateful to be on top of the podium when everyone is throwing such heater runs. It is really intense and I am finally going to sleep tonight, that’s for sure. I have not taken a week off in a couple of weeks, so I am taking next week off, fully. Enjoy time with family, friends, get the holidays in and then I will probably get bored and start training again.” Rounding out the top six, Finley finished in fourth (87.75), Reno, Nevada’s David Wise took fifth (87) and Irving finished in sixth (85). Brendan Mackay, left, Alex Ferreira and Nick Goepper pose for a photo after making the podium at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain Resort on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. X Games Street Style Pro On Friday night, Dec. 20, the X Games’ Street Style Pro event made its debut at the base of Copper’s Center Village. A new addition to the X Games event series, the course at Copper featured rails, stairs, a fire pit, a picnic table as well as plenty of other features for skiers and riders to perform their best tricks on. Prior to the Street Style Pro final on Saturday night, skiers and snowboarders competed in the Next X portion of the event in hopes of qualifying for the final. Each Next X Street Style event consisted of 10 athletes who completed as many runs as possible for 30 minutes. Each run was judged on overall impression, execution, progression and variety with the top athletes at the end of the competition earning a spot in the final. Leading the Next X women’s ski Street Style competition was Marion Balsamo. The three other final qualifying spots were filled by Eleanor Andrews, Finley Good and Rylie Warnick. Shortly following the women skiers, the men took to the course. Truckee, California’s Cody LaPlante won the men’s ski Next X competition while Siver Voll and Mikkel Brusletto Kaupang also advanced to the final. As portable lights started to brightly shine on the competition venue, the Next X women’s snowboard Street Style competition got underway. With the field primarily made up of Summit County locals, the crowd cheered the riders on as they lapped the course. In the end, two local riders advanced to the final — Silverthorne’s Kaitlyn Adams and Frisco’s Lily Dhawornvej. The Summit County duo were joined by Paula Benito, Jessica Perlmutter and Lauren Derminio. In the men’s snowboard Next X competition, Judd Henkes spearheaded the results. LJ Henriquez and Austin Visintainer also advanced to the final. The X Games Street Style Pro course at Copper Mountain Resort on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. The four days of competition at Copper came to end on Saturday night with the finals of the X Games Street Style Pro.With daytime skiers and riders huddled together around the competition venue, athletes performed jaw-dropping jibs and tricks in the urban-landscape venue. Fresh off her first-place finish in the women’s freeski halfpipe earlier in the day, Eileen Gu returned in the evening for the Street Style Pro women’s skiing final.Showing that she can ski in the pipe and in the streets, Gu won the Street Style Pro event. Olympic silver medalist Colby Stevenson of Park City, Utah, won the men’s ski Street Style Pro competition. On the snowboarding side, Bozeman, Montana’s Iris Pham won the women’s Street Style Pro final while Dhawornvej took third. In the final event of the night, Canada’s Frank Jobin won the men’s snowboard Street Style Pro final. All of the top three finishers in each final will get the opportunity to compete in the Street Style Pro event at the X Games in Aspen from Jan. 23-25. For a full list of results, visit XGames.com. This story is from SummitDaily.com

Winter Park siblings compete in final day of U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain Resort

Alex Ferreira flies across the sky during the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024.Joshua Duplechian/U.S. Ski and Snowboard After four days packed full of huge tricks and spirited action, the 2024 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain Resort came to a close on Saturday, Dec 21. With the American snowboard halfpipe […]

After four days packed full of huge tricks and spirited action, the 2024 Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain Resort came to a close on Saturday, Dec 21.

With the American snowboard halfpipe riders being held off the podium on Friday, a strong group of U.S. freeskiers took to the 22-foot pipe in hopes of finishing within the top three in their respective final.

Women’s freeski halfpipe

As the sole American in the eight-woman final, Winter Park’s Svea Irving dropped into the pipe and looked to secure her second-consecutive podium finish on the season. On her first of three runs, Irving landed a flatspin 540, a left-side 540 and a left-side 900 with a mute grab. The first run was enough for Irving to shoot to the top of the results with a score of 85.75.

Irving kept her spot at the top of the podium until two-time Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu of China took to the pipe for her first run. Gu most notably strung together a switch left-side 360, a left-side 900 with a Japan grab and a stylish alley-oop. The run was scored at a 90.5, putting Gu at the top of the results after the first round of runs.

Pushed down to third by Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin’s second run, Irving tried to add a few points to her score on her second run. Irving landed an alley-oop flatspin 540 with a Japan grab, but landed too low on her second hit of the halfpipe to keep the run alive.

With the fall, Irving’s score did not improve, resulting in the 22-year-old skier being pushed to fourth overall by Canada’s Cassie Sharpe’s second run score of 89.

In need of at least five points in order to finish on the podium, Irving landed several tricks at the top of the pipe, but in the middle of the run. Irving finished in fourth place with a score of 85.75.

On her victory lap, Gu remained aggressive, landing technical tricks at the top of the pipe, but then taking a harder fall at the end of her run.

Despite the rare fall, Gu was crowned the back-to-back champ of the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper with a top run score of 90.50. Atkin took second (89.75) and Sharpe finished in third (89).

Men’s freeski halfpipe

Making up the majority of the 10-man field, seven Americans competed for a podium spot in the men’s freeski halfpipe final.

Crested Butte’s Aaron Blunck was the first of the Americans to take a run in the final. Blunck landed a switch double 900 before falling hard on his last hit of the halfpipe. Following the Blunck fall, Winter Park’s Birk Irving had a solid first run. Irving, the older brother of Svea, spun wildly across the halfpipe while making grabs look easy.

Irving earned a score of 84 on his first run in order to rank third after the first round of runs.

Making up the other podium positions after the first round was Aspen’s Alex Ferreira and New Zealand’s Melville Ives Finley.

Bringing around a massive final trick, Ferreira seemed to have shocked himself with his first run. Ferreira recorded a score of 86 to rank second after the first round of runs. Finley on the other hand, recorded a jaw-dropping 87.75 on his first run to rank first overall.

Wanting to move up from fourth, Irving executed on switch double 1080, and a right-side double 1260. Irving upped his score to an 85, but did not move up in the rankings.

It was Canada’s Brendan Mackay that truly shook up the standings Following an average first run, Mackay put a full run together, taking over first place with a score of 91.25.

Not wanting to finish off the podium, Ferreira tried to match Mackay’s run by putting together a switch double 1080, right-side 1080 with a grab and a right-side double 1620 with a tail grab. It was the huge 1620 that successfully shot Ferreira into first place with a score of 94.75.

After a fall on his first run, Lawerenceburg, Indiana’s Nick Goepper moved into a podium spot. Clad in his signature denim blue jeans, Goepper earned a score of 89.25 to rank third overall heading into the final round of runs.

In the end it was Ferreira and Goepper who finished on the podium. After Ferreira failed to add points to his second-run score, Goepper had an opportunity to move up from third on his final attempt. Taking advantage of being the last athlete to drop in, Goepper stomped a switch double with a Japan grab, but fell shortly after. Goepper finished in third (89.25).

“Gladly I didn’t arrive in a police escort today,” Goepper said. “My travel on the way here was perfect. It was a great day. I kind of whiffed one of my tricks, so not my best work, but got on the box anyways. I think it is a testament to how hard I have been working. I am just real focused on the next year.”

Ferreira won his second-straight U.S. Grand Prix at Copper with a score of 94.75 and Mackay took second (91.25). With the win, Ferreira has now won 10 World Cup halfpipe competitions in his career — the first man in World Cup history to ever do so.

“Today was huge,” Ferreira said. “I am so grateful to be on top of the podium when everyone is throwing such heater runs. It is really intense and I am finally going to sleep tonight, that’s for sure. I have not taken a week off in a couple of weeks, so I am taking next week off, fully. Enjoy time with family, friends, get the holidays in and then I will probably get bored and start training again.”

Rounding out the top six, Finley finished in fourth (87.75), Reno, Nevada’s David Wise took fifth (87) and Irving finished in sixth (85).

X Games Street Style Pro

On Friday night, Dec. 20, the X Games’ Street Style Pro event made its debut at the base of Copper’s Center Village. A new addition to the X Games event series, the course at Copper featured rails, stairs, a fire pit, a picnic table as well as plenty of other features for skiers and riders to perform their best tricks on.

Prior to the Street Style Pro final on Saturday night, skiers and snowboarders competed in the Next X portion of the event in hopes of qualifying for the final.

Each Next X Street Style event consisted of 10 athletes who completed as many runs as possible for 30 minutes. Each run was judged on overall impression, execution, progression and variety with the top athletes at the end of the competition earning a spot in the final.

Leading the Next X women’s ski Street Style competition was Marion Balsamo. The three other final qualifying spots were filled by Eleanor Andrews, Finley Good and Rylie Warnick.

Shortly following the women skiers, the men took to the course. Truckee, California’s Cody LaPlante won the men’s ski Next X competition while Siver Voll and Mikkel Brusletto Kaupang also advanced to the final.

As portable lights started to brightly shine on the competition venue, the Next X women’s snowboard Street Style competition got underway. With the field primarily made up of Summit County locals, the crowd cheered the riders on as they lapped the course.

In the end, two local riders advanced to the final — Silverthorne’s Kaitlyn Adams and Frisco’s Lily Dhawornvej. The Summit County duo were joined by Paula Benito, Jessica Perlmutter and Lauren Derminio.

In the men’s snowboard Next X competition, Judd Henkes spearheaded the results. LJ Henriquez and Austin Visintainer also advanced to the final.

The four days of competition at Copper came to end on Saturday night with the finals of the X Games Street Style Pro.With daytime skiers and riders huddled together around the competition venue, athletes performed jaw-dropping jibs and tricks in the urban-landscape venue.

Fresh off her first-place finish in the women’s freeski halfpipe earlier in the day, Eileen Gu returned in the evening for the Street Style Pro women’s skiing final.Showing that she can ski in the pipe and in the streets, Gu won the Street Style Pro event.

Olympic silver medalist Colby Stevenson of Park City, Utah, won the men’s ski Street Style Pro competition. On the snowboarding side, Bozeman, Montana’s Iris Pham won the women’s Street Style Pro final while Dhawornvej took third.

In the final event of the night, Canada’s Frank Jobin won the men’s snowboard Street Style Pro final.

All of the top three finishers in each final will get the opportunity to compete in the Street Style Pro event at the X Games in Aspen from Jan. 23-25. For a full list of results, visit XGames.com.