BRECKENRIDGE, CO (Dec. 15) – Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, IN) sealed the top spot and took home the Dew Cup at the first-ever slopestyle skiing Olympic qualifier final at Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships on Sunday. Canadian Alex Beaulieau-Marchand and Australian Russ Henshaw rounded out the podium, mastering the massive features and unpredictable winds on the giant kickers. Local favorite Bobby Brown (Breckenridge, CO), Tom Wallisch (Pittsburg, PA) and Alex Schlopy (Park City, UT) were the next best U.S. finishers in fourth, fifth and seventh, which puts them in prime position going into the next qualifier at the Visa U.S. Grand Prix Presented by The North Face on Dec. 20-21 at Copper Mountain.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, IN) sealed the top spot and took home the Dew Cup at the first-ever slopestyle skiing Olympic qualifier final at Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships on Sunday.
- Canadian Alex Beaulieau-Marchand and Australian Russ Henshaw rounded out the podium in second and third, mastering the massive features and unpredictable winds on Breck’s giant kickers.
- Local favorite Bobby Brown (Breckenridge, CO), Tom Wallisch (Pittsburg, PA) and Alex Schlopy (Park City, UT) were the next best U.S. finishers in fourth, fifth and seventh.
- Goepper’s winning run: 270 on pretzel 270 out of down-rail, lipslide on backside 450 out of the wall, switch leftside double cork 1080 Japan, switch double cork 900 double Japan, 180 on switch 540 out of chicken coop, K-Fed on rainbow rail, double cork 1080 mute-double Japan and leftside double cork 1260.
- Goepper, Brown and Wallisch are on top of the Olympic qualification standings, but with four more high-profile qualifiers left, the race for Sochi is far from over.
- Selection to the Olympic freeskiing team will be made from athletes who have two top three finishes against the entire field in the selection events. Those athletes will be ranked with their best two of five qualifying events using World Cup scoring (100 point scale) comparing only USA athletes.
- The second qualification event is the Visa U.S. Grand Prix Presented by The North Face, slated for Dec. 20-21 at Copper Mountain.
QUOTES
Nick Goepper
I’m just so excited to be on the podium today with two of my good mates, Russ and A.B.M. It feels pretty amazing. I did what I set out to do, so I’m pretty stoked for the rest of the year.
I’m not focused on Sochi yet. I’m focused on the next event. Honestly, it’s hectic but I try not to think about it. I just take it one day at a time. I’m just trying to relax, trying to stay cool and calm and confident for the rest of the year.
I kind of squeaked by today. There’s a lot of talent out here. There were 11 Americans in the 16-man final today so it’s definitely going to be a tight race for the U.S. Team.
I think the wind wasn’t much of a factor if you just pointed it into every jump. So as long as you were confident with your speed and just kept rolling, I think you were pretty safe.
RESULTS
Men’s Final Results
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