New Zealand’s Cardrona Alpine Resort played host to the first FIS Freestyle World Cup of the season yesterday, with Torin Yater-Wallace and Devin Logan taking home top honors. This is the first time in freeskiing history that athletes’ competition points count towards earning a spot at the Olympic Games.

Gus Kenworthy gettin’ after it. Photo by Camilla Stoddart/Getty Images.

36 men and 27 women battled through a qualifying round, competing for 12 available spots in the final—two runs per round, best run counts. Come time for finals it was Torin Yater-Wallace who bested the field, scoring 93 points with a run that consisted of a double cork 12, alley-oop flatspin 540, 900, 1080 and a switch right side 900. Head judge Spence Steele noted, “Judges were impressed with the execution and amplitude of the winning run.” Thomas Krief and Benoit Valentin, both from France, rounded out the podium scoring 90 points and 84.2 points respectively.

“Today was really fun. I was pretty nervous at first. It’s been my first competition in New Zealand so I didn’t know what to expect. It ended up being sick. The pipe was nice, I’m excited,” said Yater-Wallace. “My first run wasn’t as clean as I wanted it to be. I had a few low landings. But then I went bigger and scored higher. It feels amazing.”

(L-R) Krief, Yater-Wallace, Valentin. Photos by Camilla Stoddart/Getty Images.

On the women’s side, AFP Overall World Champion Devin Logan topped the podium with a score of 83. Devin crashed on her first run and stomped her winning run under pressure. Joining Devin on the podium were Japanese skiers Manami Mitsuboshi (80.0 points) and Ayana Onozuka (78.6 points).

Logan said of her performance, “The weather and conditions were amazing today. I had a great qualifying round and really felt the pressure for my second final’s run, the Japanese girls were really pushing me. I was lucky today, it’s a good start to the season.”

(L-R) Mitsuboshi, Logan, Onozuka. Photos by Camilla Stoddart/Getty Images.

Men Top 10

1. Torin Yater-Wallace (USA)

2. Thomas Krief (FRA)

3. Benoit Valentin (FRA)

4. Antti-Jussi Kemppainen (FIN)

5. Christian Allen (USA)

6. Walter Wood (USA)

7. Josiah Wells (NZL)

8. Kentaro Tsuda (JPN)

9. Yannic Lerjen (SUI)

10. Joffrey Pollet-Villard (FRA)

Women Top 10

1. Devin Logan (USA)

2. Manami Mitsuboshi (JPN)

3. Ayana Onozuka (JPN)

4. Janina Kuzma (NZL)

5. Mirjam Jaeger (SUI)

6. Katrien Aerts (BEL)

7. Nina Regettli (SUI)

8. Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen (NOR)

9. Jamie Crane-Mauzy (USA)

10. Annalisa Drew (USA)

To see the current AFP World Rankings, visit the AFP site. To see the full Freestyle Skiing World Cup schedule, follow this link.

For more on the New Zealand Winter Games, click here.