Taking advantage of the last bit of sunlight Thursday offered at the Winter Dew Tour, the women's challengers took to the Superpipe, for their preliminary rounds (aka semi-finals). 19 women entered, but only six would leave… and return Saturday for finals. Yes, the snow had given us a respite, yet the wind was gusting a bit and the light was fleeting. But in the end, it was Alberta's Dania Assaly that took the top qualifying spot, grabbing that coveted last drop in spot.
Dania's first run was a doozy, putting the hurt on the rest of the field. Lofty airs, 900s, back-to-back 540s and a stomped 720 to cap it off made it easy for the judges. So easy, that Assaly had a nine point margin over the next challenger. Even Dania's throwaway run scored in the 80s, where all other competitors failed to even crack into it. European X Games bronze medalist Anais Caradeux knew she had to qualify, so she brought out her 900 to play, along with a couple 540s and wrapped it all up with a 720 at the end. Last week's Grand Prix winner Rosalind Groenewoud went down on her first run 900, so she played things safely, ending up comfortably in third. back-to-back 540s, the biggest straight airs of the prelims and switch hits put Roz G into the finals, a place she has become familiar with.
Fourth place was gobbled up by Jess Cumming whose rocksteady 540s and 720 put her squarely into finals. Mirjam Jaeger's ability to spin both ways allows her to come back for more Superpipe action on Saturday. And youngster Devin Logan grabbed the bubble spot with her 540s, rightside flare and fluid riding. Just missing the cut here would be Brita Sigourney, Jen Hudak and Keltie Hansen. Sigourney just didn't have enough on her first run, then cut her second run short with a fall. Hudak, who fell on her first run, went for her safety run, that might have been a little too safe. A couple 540s, alley-oop spins and a 720 that was decked, has Hudak sitting this one out. Hansen just couldn't quite stay on her feet after her 900, dropping her out of contention as well.
While only six moved on, there were plenty of other highlights. Jamie Crane-Mauzy aimed to bring her back-to-back flairs from the Grand Prix to Dew, unfortunately she couldn't keep them under control. Keri Herman, normally seen shredding the slopestyle course, was spinning left and right, putting her mark on the pipe. Miyuki Hatanaka executed some sort of alley-oop handplant maneuver that was quite the crowd pleaser. Hannah Haupt couldn't quite wrestle that 900 to her feet, or surely the top six would look differently. And Angeli VanLaanen was back to her lofty self, but couldn't put a clean run down today. The six qualifier women move on to Saturday morning's final, where surely some more big tricks will be used. Will Roz G. take her first win at a Winter Dew Tour stop? Will Devin Logan continue to take names? Can Assaly channel this momentum into Saturday? All questions will be answered Saturday. We'll see you back here at Freeskier.com on Saturday for the recap.
Women's Superpipe Prelims: 1. Dania Assaly — 85.00 2. Anais Caradeux — 76.00 3. Rosalind Groenewoud — 74.50 4. Jessica Cumming — 71.75 5. Mirjam Jaeger — 71.00 6. Devin Logan — 69.75 — Cut off— 7. Brita Sigourney — 68.75 8. Jen Hudak — 67.50 9. Keltie Hansen — 66.75 10. Keri Herman — 56.75 11. Blake Petersen — 54.00 12. Miyuki Hatanaka — 52.50 13. Kendall Deighan — 50.25 14. Chloe Lee — 47.00 15. Shuri Terada — 41.75 16. Eden Neteikos — 40.50 17. Angeli VanLaanen — 30.25 18. Hannah Haupt — 18.25 19. Jamie Crane-Mauzy — 18.00
The full Winter Dew Tour Breckenridge TV schedule as follows:
