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Results: Locals Ferreira, Feinberg advance as Aspen Grand Prix qualifying wraps up

Aspen's Tristan Feinberg competes in the men's halfpipe skiing qualifier for the Aspen World Cup and U.S. Grand Prix on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Buttermilk Ski Area.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

The Aspen World Cup and U.S. Grand Prix continued with a second day of qualifiers on Friday at Buttermilk Ski Area. This time it was the slopestyle snowboarders and the halfpipe skiers who took to the course, a list that included many local Roaring Fork Valley athletes.

Here’s a quick look at how the second and final day of qualifying went:

Men’s halfpipe skiing

Aspen’s Alex Ferreira continues to make it look easy as the three-time X Games champion won the first of two qualifying heats on Friday to advance to Sunday’s 1 p.m. final. He scored 91 on his first run and didn’t need the second.



With the top five per heat advancing to the 10-man final, joining Ferreira in moving on from Heat 1 are New Zealand’s Finley Melville-Ives (88.75), Oregon’s Hunter Hess (87.25), New Zealand’s Luke Harrold (85.5), and Korea’s Seung Hun Lee (84.25).

On the outside is Crested Butte’s Aaron Blunck, whose 82.75 only netted sixth place. Also competing in Heat 1 were Aspen locals Cassidy Jarrell and Kai Morris, but both finished at the bottom of the pack and will not compete in Sunday’s final.




In Heat 2, Indiana’s Nick Goepper put down two monster runs, scoring 91.50 and 92.25 to easily advance. Goepper edged Ferreira for X Games gold only last weekend and it’ll likely come down to those two again in the Grand Prix final on Sunday.

Taking second in Heat 2 was Winter Park’s Birk Irving (89.75), followed by Canada’s Brendan Mackay (87.75), Aspen’s Tristan Feinberg (87), and New York’s Matthew Labaugh (86).

The 21-year-old Feinberg looked strong in both of his qualifying runs, scoring 84.25 in the first, and could be a darkhorse podium candidate come Sunday. His best prior World Cup finish was fourth in Mammoth exactly two years ago.

Aspen’s Nick Geiser competes in the men’s halfpipe skiing qualifier for the Aspen World Cup and U.S. Grand Prix on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Buttermilk Ski Area.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Winter Park’s Birk Irving competes in the men’s halfpipe skiing qualifier for the Aspen World Cup and U.S. Grand Prix on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Buttermilk Ski Area.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

A few big names were left on the outside of qualifying in Heat 2, led by two-time Olympic champion David Wise, who was seventh with 85. The three-time Olympian from Nevada, who is 34, will have work remaining in order to qualify for his fourth Games. Canada’s Noah Bowman, another veteran name in the field, was ninth (78.25) and also did not advance.

Aspen’s Nick Geiser had a strong showing, scoring 83.25 on his first run, but it wasn’t enough to move on, finishing eighth. Aspen’s Hunter Maytin was 14th in Heat 2 qualifying, scoring 64.

Women’s halfpipe skiing

China’s Fanghui Li set the standard in the women’s halfpipe skiing qualifier, her 91.5 leading the single heat. In a close second was Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin (90), followed in third by Canada’s Amy Fraser (87.5). Continuing her comeback, Canada’s Cassie Sharpe, fresh off her win at X Games, was fourth (86.25), and Winter Park’s Svea Irving was fifth (81.75).

Canada’s Rachael Karker was sixth (79), China’s Zihan Chen was seventh (76.50), and California’s Kathryn Gray was eighth (74.50) to round out the finalists. Only the top eight women advanced.

Not competing were China’s Eileen Gu and Basalt’s Hanna Faulhaber, two of the top names in the discipline these days. Both suffered crashes at X Games last weekend and are still recovering. Neither skier is expected out long term.

Making her World Cup debut was local product Hanna Lamm. The 19-year-old finished 13th among the 19 starters, with runs of 53.25 and 49.25.

Men’s slopestyle snowboarding

Japan and Canada owned the day in the men’s slopestyle snowboard qualifier, which featured nearly 60 riders split between two heats. After two runs, the top eight per heat advanced to Sunday’s 16-man final.

In Heat 1, Japan’s Hiroto Ogiwara took top honors with his 92.5. In second was Canadian superstar Mark McMorris (89.25) and in third was Colorado’s Chris Corning (88.25), who once trained in Aspen. Also advancing to finals are China’s Yiming Su (81.75), Norway’s Mons Roisland (77.75), North Carolina’s Fynn Bullock-Womble (75), Canada’s Francis Jobin (72.75), and Norway’s Oyvind Kirkhus (71.75).

Notable names not to advance out of Heat 1 include California’s Judd Henkes, Japan’s Taiga Hasegawa, and Finland’s Rene Rinnekangas. Silverthorne’s Red Gerard did not start.

In Heat 2, Canadian’s Cameron Spalding (94.5) and Liam Brearley (91.75) finished first and second, respectively, while Colorado’s Jake Canter, who also has Aspen ties, was third with 89.75. Rounding out those who advanced are the Czech’s Jakub Hrones (87), Norway’s Marcus Kleveland (85.75), New Zealanders Dane Menzies (83.25) and Rocco Jamieson (81.75), and Oregon’s Sean Fitzsimons (80.5).

Notable names not advancing out of Heat 2 include Californians Dusty Henricksen (10th, 79.25) and Brock Crouch (11th, 79).

Women’s slopestyle snowboarding

The women’s slopestyle snowboard qualifier included 30 riders in one heat. After two runs, the top eight advanced to Sunday’s final.

That list was topped by the sport’s current superstar, New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who scored 80.88 to win the qualifier. Japanese riders Mari Fukada (79.45) and Kokomo Murase (71) were second and third, respectively.

Others to advance include California’s Hahna Norman (66.75), Great Britain’s Mia Brookes (65.83), Germany’s Annika Morgan (62.38), Frisco’s Lily Dhawornvej (60.35), and Switzerland’s Ariane Burri (56.81).

A few notable names did not make the cut, including Japan’s Miyabi Onitsuka (13th, 52.13), Canada’s Laurie Blouin (23rd, 31.21), and Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi (24th, 29.45). Among those not starting was Austria’s Anna Gasser, who, fresh off her big air win at X Games, announced on social media she had picked up the flu and decided to sit this one out. Connecticut standout Julia Marino was also an official DNS.

Looking ahead to Saturday

With qualifiers in the rear view, the first finals will take place on Saturday. The action begins at 9:30 a.m. with the men’s and women’s slopestyle ski final, followed at 1 p.m. by the men’s and women’s halfpipe snowboard final. Spectating is free from the base of Buttermilk, while Outside TV will livestream the contests for free.

The Aspen Grand Prix is the first official U.S. Olympic team qualifier ahead of the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, which are only a year out (next Feb. 6-22 in Italy).

acolbert@aspentimes.com