VanLaanen Takes Park City Pipe

Tom Kelly/USSA January 31, 2009

PARK CITY, UT (Jan. 31) - Breckenridge, CO skier Angeli VanLaanen earned a big win Friday in her first World Cup, winning the Visa Freestyle International skier halfpipe competition by nearly two points over Canadian Megan Gunning. French skiers Kevin Rolland and Xavier Bertoni dominated the men's pipe, with teenager Walter Wood (Evergreen, CO) third.

A huge crowd was on hand for the inaugural World Cup halfpipe in North America. The event was a test for the upcoming 2011 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships to be hosted at Deer Valley Resort with the pipe at Park City Mountain Resort.

Bertoni, who won the season opener in Les Contamines, retained the men's World Cup lead while Swiss Virginia Faivre, who finished fourth, continued to lead the women's.

VanLaanen, who grew up in Washington state but now skis out of Breckenridge, had to come from behind after crashing on her first run.

"It's a big feat for me," said VanLaanen. "I just got back from injury. I broke my collar bone about two months ago and had surgery and just came back before X Games. I played it safe at X Games and came here and really put my tricks down, so it's definitely a confidence booster. I'm stoked."

VanLaanen's winning run kicked off with a 540 mute into a right 540, another corked out 540 into a big straight air with a grab, wrapping up with a 720.

"Each competition is another chance to step it up so I'm going to bring out my 900 next time and start doing all my tricks," said VanLaanen. "It was so much fun to compete here. All of my friends are here. A lot of my close friends are competing as well, so it was nice to be here with each other."

Wood, whose ski patrol parents got him into skiing, took on X Games champion Bertoni and didn't bat an eyelash, putting down the leading score on his first run with a 46.1 with a massive 1440 to close. But both Bertoni and Rolland came back in the best of two second run to overtake the Colorado teen.

"This is huge for me to be able to win at Park City," said Wood. "I did a trick I haven't done before in competition [1440] at the bottom. I just went for it and it worked out. I couldn't really think about the other competitors. I had goals for myself I wanted to reach and I definitely did that today."

Wood's first run kicked off with a 1260 to a 540 to 900, then ending with a 900 to the 1440, which got the crowd excited.

"The crowd makes the difference with the score," said Wood. "They really push us and it just makes us go that much bigger."

The next halfpipe will come during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships in Inawashiro, Japan in early March. The three-event World Cup season will wrapup later in March in La Plagne, France.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 FIS WORLD CUP
Visa Freestyle International
Park City, UT - Jan. 31, 2009
Halfpipe

Men
1. Kevin Rolland, France, 48.1
2. Xavier Bertoni, France, 47.2
3. Walter Wood, Evergreen, CO, 46.1
4. Michael Riddle, Canada, 45.5
5. Colby West, Dillon, CO, 43.8
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6. Taylor Seaton, Avon, CO, 42.8
8. Evan Schwartz, Weston, CT, 42.5
10. Tyler Peterson, Sandy, UT, 36.1
11. Kyle Smaine, S. Lake Tahoe, CA, 33.7
12. David Wise, Reno, NV, 31.9
14. Clayton Vila, Block Island, RI, 39.2
19. Jack Sullan, Snowmass, CO, 38.3
21. Stefan Thomas, Park City, UT, 38.2
25. Matthew Duhamel, Corte Madera, CA, 36.8
39. Tyler Thistle, Bridgewater, NH, 26.1

Women
1. Angeli VanLaanen, Evergreen, CO, 36.5
2. Megan Gunning, Canada, 34.8
3. Anais Caradeux, France, 33.9
4. Virginia Faivre, Switzerland, 33.0
5. Jessica Cumming, Wilton, CT, 31.6
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6. Siena Palmacci, Park City, UT, 31,0
7. Kim Sharp, Park City, UT, 30.6
10. Brita Sigourney, Carmel, CA, 28.4
13. Jen Hudak, Park City, UT, 27.0
16. Gina Gmeiner, Steamboat Springs, CO, 24.0
17. Chloe Lee, Park City, UT, 19.8
18. Hannah Doan, Park City, UT, 18.1
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