Halfpipe Skiers Hanna Faulhaber, Alex Ferreira Each Grab Two Podiums In Calgary
by Chrös McDougall
Alex Ferreira takes a practice run before competing at the Dew Tour at Copper Mountain on Dec. 18, 2021 in Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Halfpipe skiers Hanna Faulhaber and Alex Ferreira each collected a pair of world cup podium finishes over the weekend in Calgary, Alberta, in the process earning valuable points in qualifying for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
Ferreira, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist from Aspen Colorado, continued his current hot streak with second-place finishes in the men’s competitions Thursday and Saturday at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. Up-and-comer Faulhaber was second on Thursday and third on Saturday in the women’s events. Snowboarder Luke Winkelmann, meanwhile, finished third in the afternoon’s men’s slopestyle context.
The 27-year-old Ferreira has enjoyed a strong season so far, having won the U.S. Grand Prix and then the Dew Tour last month, both in Copper Mountain, Colorado.
In Calgary, he came out with a strong performance on Thursday to record a top score of 94.80 points, trailing only Canada’s Brendan Mackay with 97. On a windy Saturday night in Alberta, the two again finished 1-2, with Mackay scoring 93.40 and Ferreira 90.40.
Six Americans reached the men’s final on Saturday: Dylan Ladd (86.60) was fourth, world championships bronze medalist Birk Irving (85.00) fifth, Samson Schuiling (83.00) sixth and two-time Olympic gold medalist David Wise (76.40) eighth. Cassidy Jarrell rounded out the American contingent, finishing ninth with 75.60 points.
Faulhaber notched her first world cup podium on Thursday when the high-flying 17-year-old scored 92.80, trailing only defending world champion Eileen Gu of China, who recorded 96.80 points.
Gu was again tops on Saturday with 92.80. Canada’s Rachael Karker, last year’s world championships silver medalist, was second with 89.40, followed by Faulhaber with 88.60.
Faulhaber, who is also from Aspen, placed fifth at the U.S. Grand Prix and then third at the Dew Tour last month.
With most of the top U.S. snowboarders opting out of the Calgary event to focus on the final Olympic qualifying event, next week’s U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, California, Winkelmann took advantage of the opportunity to score his first world cup podium.
The 21-year-old from Blowing Rock, North Carolina, took on an accomplished field of international riders and scored 83.20 points. Canada’s Sebastien Toutant, the defending world championships silver medalist, won with 86.86 points, followed by Norway’s Norways Mons Roisland with 84.50.
Another Canadian, two-time Olympic medalist Mark McMorris, was just behind Winkelmann with 81.96 points.
Winkelmann, who also competes in big air, improved upon his previous high finish in the world cup, which was sixth at a January 2020 slopestyle event in Laax, Switzerland. He’s also a former junior world championships silver medalist in big air.