Industry News
Moguls events returned to the home of Freestyle, with the first-ever FIS Freestyle World Cup event held at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, on Friday and Saturday, January 26 and 27, 2024. More than 50 years ago, Waterville Valley was the birthplace of modern freestyle skiing, when Tom Corcoran, Olympic alpine skier and founder of Waterville Valley Resort, and Doug Pfeiffer, editor of Skiing magazine, created the first “Hot Dog Competition: National Championships of Exhibition Skiing” in 1971 in a bid to establish who of the two was the better skier. The Hot Dog Competition was a mix of aerials, moguls, and ski ballet in a single run.
The two-day event, consisting of a Moguls competition and a Dual Moguls competition, was held on Waterville Valley’s double-black diamond ‘Lower Bobby’ trail, named after Corcoran’s longtime friend, Robert F. Kennedy.
Friday’s Moguls event saw Australia’s Jakara Anthony take home the victory, while second place in the women’s event went to Team USA’s Jaelin Kauf and third place to her teammate Hannah Soar. Soar, who hails from New England said about the tricky conditions on the day: “Normally when I ski in the rain on the east coast — which is all the time — I’m wearing a rubber suit, I have my dish gloves on and I am prepared for it,” she laughed. “I’m a New Englander and I know how to prepare for it! But this is one of my first time competing in this kind of weather. In the super final when everyone was crashing in front of me, I just knew that there was one thing I know how to do and it’s skiing a top-to-bottom run in the rain.”
In total seven U.S. women qualified for the Final 16 and a staggering five for the six-person Super Final. Kasey Hogg, Olivia Giaccio, and Alli Macuga finished in fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively. Canada’s Maia Schwinghammer had qualified for the Final 16 in second place but some mistakes in the first final cost her the qualification to the Super Final.
“The conditions were so tough, but the women’s success today shows how good of skiers we are and how much fight we have. No matter the conditions, no matter how tough and icy and challenging they were, the girls were able to put runs together and really showcase the strength of our skiing. Maybe Hannah is used to this east coast weather, but most of us are spoiled out west!”
— Jaelin Kauf
The men’s moguls were won by Ikuma Horishima from Japan, who claimed his third victory of the season. Second place went to Cooper Woods from Australia. it is Woods’ first-ever career World Cup podium, and the smile on his face could have not been bigger. Mikael Kingsbury from Canada finished in third place. Kingsbury is still the top-ranked mogul skier of the season.
Five U.S. men qualified for the Final 16 with Cole McDonald as the only qualifier for the six-person Super Final. McDonald finished in overall fifth, while Landon Wendler came seventh, Asher Michel 11th, Nick Page 14th, and Dylan Marcellini 16th.
Saturday saw the Dual Moguls which sees skiers battling it out elimination style based on the previous day’s results.
In the women’s Dual Moguls, Jakara Anthony claimed her eighth consecutive and 10th total World Cup victory of the season. The Australian is having her best season ever and is now only one victory away from tying with U.S. mogul skier Hannah Kearney for the most Freestyle victories in a single season. Hannah Kearney, whose club is Waterville Valley BBTS, was commentating the event on NBC. Second place went to Jaelin Kauf who had managed to put significant pressure on Anthony in the Big Final and the matchup finished 18-17 in Anthony’s favor. In the Small Final Olivia Giaccio claimed third place, edging out teammate Tess Johnson 32:3 as Johnson lost control on the top section.
In the men’s Dual Moguls, Mikael ‘the King’ Kingsbury reclaimed his crown, winning the Super Final against Ikuma Horishima when the Japanese shot out of the course on the top section, winning 30:5. The Small Final was Sweden versus Sweden, with Walter Wallberg facing teammate Filip Gravenfors. 19-year-old Gravenfors put immense pressure on the more seasoned Wallberg, but the 23-year-old managed to beat him 18:17. Best U.S. skier in the fuals was Landon Wendler in eight place, who had advanced to the Quarter Finals.
The event at the cradle of Freestyle skiing was a huge success and drew an enthusiastic crowd. Several retired freestyle skiers, such as Wayne Wong, Donna Weinbrecht, Hannah Kearney, and Trace Worthington were at Waterville for the event. We can only hope that following this successful launch, Waterville Valley will become a staple on the Freestyle World Cup calendar.
The Freestyle World Cup continues this week at Deer Valley, UT, from February 1-3, 2024.
