As this morning’s fog lifted and the sun shined through, the women slopestyle competitors took to the skies this afternoon, in a three-run final. No elimination rounds, little practice and a tight course, the women battled it out, with the French Canadian coming out on top. A bronze medalist last year, Kaya took the lead in her first run and didn’t let it go.

All of her runs were in the 90s, yet it was her 3rd run that wowed the crowd and gave her an 11-point advantage over the 2nd place competitor, Keri Herman. Turski’s run consisted of a 270 disaster, 450-off the canon, switch 900, 540 and switch 720 on the money booter, blowing away the competition. Herman, who came in 2nd, utilized her first run score, which came after her blistering jump line: switch 540, 360 and 540. After her first, Herman was unable to safely clear the first jump, effectively ending each run due to casing. Eliassen, who was on last year’s podium as well, got it done today, as the only female competitor to spin over the hitching post, like the men have been displaying. Eliassen routinely put down a 900 on the money booter and 720 on the 2nd jump to secure her third place position.

Just off the podium was Ashley Battersby whose 540s and switch 720s were up there on the technical rating, but her overall composure was a bit shaky. Meg Olenick took 5th, with a couple solid runs. Solid 450s off in the top rail garden and smooth 540s were enough for 5th, but the judges were probably looking for a bit more technical difficulty. Sarah Burke, who came in 6th, couldn’t quite keep all her runs clean, but once again has pushed the sport, by dropping a 1260 on the money booter for all to take in. And rounding out the competitors was Kristi Leskinen who unfortunately couldn’t hold a run together, putting her in 7th.

Rosalind Groenewoud took a spill in practice and was unable to compete, hopefully she will be good to go for Superpipe finals tomorrow. Defending gold-medalist Anna Segal had to pull out of the event yesterday due to a nagging MCL injury. Better safe than sorry, it was still unfortunate to be missing the young Aussie.

With the end of the women’s event, this marked the first official medal ceremony for Winter X 14. The weekend will surely hold more ski action than you can shake a stick at.

Women’s Slopestyle Final Results
1) Kaya Turski
2) Keri Herman
3) Grete Eliassen
4) Ashley Battersby
5) Meg Olenick
6) Sarah Burke
7) Kristi Leskinen

Rosalind Groenewoud

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