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Wanaka teenager and rising ski star Jossi Wells proved he is up there with the world’s best after taking first place in the slopestyle event at the NZ Free Ski Open today at Snow Park NZ. Canadian Kaya Turski, who is also a pro rollerblader, picked up the winning title for the women’s slopestyle event.

Wells (16), who is now New Zealand’s top freestyle skier, displayed an outstanding performance at today’s event, including a switch 720 double nose grab (rotating twice and holding onto the front tips of his skis before landing), a switch 630 (rotating one-and-three-quarter times) before landing successfully on the rail, as well as a switch 1080 (three rotations).

“Everything he did was so smooth and so easy. Jossi’s improved so much this year. Last year, he was good, but he didn’t quite have the tricks to take out the big guns. But now, he’s proved he’s one of the world’s best,” Open head judge Jake McCleary said.

Wells said his winning run was one of the best he’d ever had. “I’m aiming for the world scene, and this definitely a great competition with lots of international riders. Every little step counts.”

Turski (18), has been freestyle skiing for a year-and-a-half. Her winning run included a cork 540 mute grab (spinning one-and-a-half times off axis, grabbing the front of one ski with the opposite hand). She also successfully pulled off a switch 900 (rotating two-and-a-half times) and attempted a switch 1080 - a world-first in women’s free skiing, but unfortunately her ski came off on landing.

“The standard of competition was unbelievable – we were blown away with today’s event. Competitors were all throwing down as hard as they could,” McCleary said.

The slopestyle course, designed by Snow Park NZ slopes manager Frank Wells, began with a quarterpipe-style drop-in, down to a custom Snow Park NZ stair feature. Skiers then approached a gap-to-snow box, before moving to a 14m jump, followed by an 18m jump. They completed the course by hitting a flat-down rail and a jump-to-down box, which is the latest craze in free skiing slopestyle and makes for spectacular tricks, such as 900 and 1080 rotations.

The NZ Free Ski Open is the southern hemisphere’s largest event of its kind. With park and pipe events now completed, the next stage of the competition the Volkl Big Mountain prelims, which take place at Treble Cone on Friday August 18. The finals will be held at Treble Cone on the first following fine weather day.

Results:

Womens
Kaya Turski (CAN)
Tori Beattie (AUST)
Anna Segal (AUST)

Mens
Jossi Wells (NZ)
Russ Henshaw (AUST)
Alexis Godbout (CAN)



Loic Collomb-Patton wins back-to-back NZ Free Ski Open halfpipe title

Frenchman Loic Collomb-Patton yesterday won the NZ Free Ski Open’s K2 Superpipe event for the second consecutive year, while New Zealand halfpipe champion Pip Simmonds took the title for the women.
The southern hemisphere’s largest event of its kind kicked off today at Snow Park NZ with 45 men and women pushing their limits on the massive 150m long halfpipe, impressing judges and wowing audiences throughout the day.

Collomb-Patton (19), who placed second at the 2005 FIS Halfpipe World Championships, performed a clean switch 1080 (coming in backwards, rotating three times, and landing forwards) – an innovative new trick for free skiers to perform in a halfpipe competition. Rising Kiwi star Jossi Wells (16), of Wanaka, proved once again how good he is by taking second place against a world-class field, including X-Games gold medalist Simon Dumont (USA), and a host of other international riders.

Simmonds (29), who placed 10th at the prestigious US Open this year, spends her time divided in Mammoth, California, as well New Zealand. She dominated the women’s field with performing a clean switch 540 (coming in backwards, rotating one-and-a-half times, and landing backwards). “I didn’t think I was going to win, so I’m stoked,” she said.

NZ Free Ski Open head judge Jake McCleary said the standard of competition was extremely high: “There were so many free skiers that were so good, it made it really hard to judge. If the standard of the competition stays this high, then we have got one of the best competitions in the world.” NZ Free Ski Open event director Gerald Davies said the first day of the competition had gone extremely well, with competitors happy. “The conditions were perfect, the halfpipe was in great shape and the riders were performing some great tricks. The facilities at Snow Park NZ are world-class. It certainly kicked off what will be an exciting competition over the next few days.”

Results:

Womens: 1. Pip Simmonds (NZ) 2. Janina Kuzma (AUST) 3. Manami Mitsuboshi

Mens: 1. Loic Collomb-Patton (FR) 2. Jossi Wells (NZ) 3. Simon Dumont (USA)