Things were so close between some competitors at the Yukon Freestyle Ski Championships, one trophy ceremony was delayed so judges could compare notes.
That’s what happens when there’s so much talent on the slopes.
“They made the judges’ job extremely difficult, to say the least,” said Graham Pollock, head coach of the Yukon Freestyle Ski Team.
With the results finalized, titles were awarded at the championships, which included slopstyle on April 14 and big air on April 15 at Mount Sima.
Not surprisingly, one of the trophy winners was Whitehorse’s Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon.
The 19-year-old defended his title in slopestyle and placed second in big air for the open masters division.
Why is that not surprising? Geoffroy-Gagnon won silver in slopestyle at a Canadian Open Tour event in January and went on to take four top-20 finishes in FIS NorAm events. He finished the circuit 13th in the national rankings.
“They take about 12 to the national team, so I was pretty close — almost there,” said Geoffroy-Gagnon. “I’ll go at it again next season, try to train hard this summer, and try to go back a little stronger.”
Despite his full season, Geoffroy-Gagnon put a new addition into his bag of tricks. Geoffroy-Gagnon completed a switch 1080 with a bow-and-arrow grab off the 55-foot jump in the big air competition.
“That’ll be good for comp season next season,” said Geoffroy-Gagnon.
“I’m excited to start training again for next season,” he added. “I’ll be working up on the glacier (at Whistler) all summer, so that’ll give me an advantage for next season.
“I’m a full-time digger, so I’ll be building the park up there and skiing it for the two months.”
As impressive as his trick was, it wasn’t enough to beat Miguel Rodden. The 23-year-old won the masters big air — among his tricks was a double-corked 1260.
Rodden also placed second behind Geoffroy-Gagnon in the slopestyle. The previous weekend at Sima’s season-ending celebration, Simapalooza, Geoffroy-Gagnon won the big air and Rodden the slopestyle.
“I’m stoked. It was a lot of fun,” said Rodden. “Etienne and I have been battling it out both weekends for the top spot. Either way, I’m happy. It’s just a fun event.”
Rodden is hot off a win down south. He took first place in slopestyle at the annual Showdown Throwdown Hoedown at Silver Star Mountain Resort near Vernon, B.C., at the start of the month.
“I think next year I’m going to do more (competitions),” said Rodden. “It was a good year for me.”
This year’s Yukon championship had different winners both days with one exception. Anwyn Tillett was the only skier to win both days with first place finishes in the under-12 girls division.
“She just learned her 360 and was able to put it down in slopestyle and in big air, which was really awesome,” said Pollock.
“I’m really impressed with how everyone did this weekend, especially the guys in the younger categories,” he added. “There were some new tricks thrown that were just learned last weekend and were put in competition right away. That’s really awesome to see. Great enthusiasm from all the kids and the coaches and the volunteers.”
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com
Slopestyle results
U10 boys
1st Kieran Ritchie
2nd Jacob Robertson
U12 boys
1st Baylain Oettli
2nd Jacob Tipton
3rd Brendan Nash
4th Logan Collon
U12 girls
1st Anwyn Tillett
2nd Sapphira Oettli
U14 boys
1st Max Logan
2nd Emmett Ross
U16 boys
1st Austin Shaw
2nd Evyn Dinn
3rd Keegan Hopkins
4th Neil Mikkelsen
Masters men
1st Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon
2nd Miguel Rodden
3rd Dylan Reed
Big air results
U12 boys
1st Lous Mouchet
2nd Kieran Ritchie
2nd Baylian Oettli
4th Logan Collon
U12 girls
1st Anwyn Tillett
2nd Sapphria Oettli
U16 boys
1st Neil Mikkelsen
2nd Nathan Scully
3rd Max Logan
U18 boys
1st Evyn Dinn
2nd Austin Shaw
Masters men
1st Miguel Rodden
2nd Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon
3rd Dylan Reed