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Winter Park’s Svea Irving takes 4th place in freeski halfpipe final at Aspen’s Toyota US Grand Prix

Cody Jones
Summit Daily News
Winter Park's Svea Irving during the halfpipe qualifiers at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.
Brandon Enouf/U.S. Ski and Snowboard

It has been a busy last two weeks in Aspen. A week after hosting the Winter X Games, the popular ski-trip destination hosted professional freeski and snowboarders for a World Cup competition — the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix.

Unlike the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain Resort last December, the Aspen event featured freeski and snowboard halfpipe competitions as well as slopestyle contests. 

Men’s snowboard halfpipe

The four-day competition kicked off on Thursday, Jan. 30, and several Summit County riders competed in the men’s snowboard halfpipe competition. 



After taking fourth overall at the X Games last week, Telluride product and Summit County resident Lucas Foster managed to qualify for his first World Cup final of the 2024-25 season. Foster put together two clean runs in heat 2 of the men’s snowboard halfpipe qualifiers, earning a top score of 80.50.

Foster claimed the third overall qualifying spot in the heat while Hailey, Idaho’s Chase Josey finished a place behind him in fourth (80). Leadville’s Chase Blackwell and Jason Wolle also competed in the men’s snowboard halfpipe qualifiers on Thursday, but failed to score high enough to advance to the 10-man final.



Blackwell placed sixth overall in heat 2 (74.75) and Wolle took ninth in heat 1 with a score of (68.50).

In the final on Saturday, Feb. 1, Foster put together a solid third and final run. The impressive performance earned the 25-year-old rider a score of 80.25 which was enough for sixth place.

Japan swept the podium with Ruka Hirano taking first (93.25), Ayumu Hirano finishing in second (89.50) and Ryusei Yamada taking third (88.25).

Isami Kiyooka/U.S. Ski and Snowboard
Lucas Foster flies over the halfpipe walls at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
Isami Kiyooka/U.S. Ski and Snowboard

Women’s snowboard slopestyle

On Friday, Jan. 31, Frisco’s Lily Dhawornvej sealed a spot in her third World Cup final this season in the women’s snowboard slopestyle competition. Fresh off her first X Games medal, Dhawornvej put down a fairly clean first run to score 60.35. 

The run was enough for Dhawornvej to take seventh overall and advance to the eight-woman final on Sunday, Feb. 2. Silverthorne’s Kaitlyn Adams also competed in qualifiers on Friday afternoon, taking 26th overall with a top run score of 27.45.

Dhawornvej ended up placing sixth overall in the final on Sunday with a top run score of 36.73. New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott took first with a score of 87.80 while Truckee, California’s Hahna Norman finished in eighth (17).

Men’s snowboard slopestyle

The men’s snowboard slopestyle qualifiers saw two Summit County riders advance to the 16-man final on Friday. Silverthorne’s Jake Canter(89.75) and Chris Corning (88.25) both placed third overall in their respective heats in order to make their second World Cup final of the season. 

After winning his second-career X Games gold medal last week, Silverthorne’s Red Gerard was slated to compete in the competition, but did not take a run in qualifiers. Frisco’s Caleb Dhawornvej took 16th in heat 1 with a score of 56.25.

Canter took 10th overall (59.23) in Sunday’s final while Corning finished in 11th (54.85). Canada’s  Francis Jobin won the competition with a score of 79.30. Hood River, Oregon’s Sean FitzSimons was the top American in third (77.43).

Isami Kiyooka/U.S. Ski and Snowboard
Chris Corning performs a board slide while practicing for the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men’s snowboard slopestyle in competition in Aspen on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.
Isami Kiyooka/U.S. Ski and Snowboard

Men’s and women’s freeski halfpipe

In the freeski halfpipe competition, Summit High School senior Evan Wischmeyer took 15th overall (57) in heat 1 of qualifiers on Friday. Aspen’s Alex Ferreira topped the first heat with a score of 91 while Nick Goepper topped heat 2 with a score of 92.25.

In the women’s freeski halfpipe qualifiers, Winter Park’s Svea Irving successfully made it to the eight-woman final, taking fifth overall with a score of 81.75. 

After losing to Goepper on his home turf at the X Games, Ferreira reclaimed his spot at the top of the awards podium. Ferreira laced his final run to top the results with a score of 95.75, Goepper took home the silver medal (94) and Rye, New York’s Matt Labaugh took third (93).

Bend, Oregon’s Hunter Hess finished in fourth (92.50) while Winter Park’s Birk Irving finished in seventh (91). Aspen’s Tristan Feinberg rounded out the men’s freeski halfpipe results in 10th (59.75).

Svea Irving took fourth overall in the women’s freeski halfpipe final with a score of 84.50. With China’s Eileen Gu still sidelined with an injury she suffered at the X Games, Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin took first (90), China’s Fanghui Li took second (88.50) and Canada’s Amy Fraser finished in third (86.75).

This story is from SummitDaily.com


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