Hanna Faulhaber airs out of the halfpipe during the women’s freeski qualifications during the FIS World Championships at Buttermilk in Aspen on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Faulhaber finished fifth and will compete in the finals on Friday. (Tamara Susa/Aspen Snowmass)
Fresh snowfall overnight made for a sticky superpipe in the morning, but it wasn’t enough to slow down Basalt’s Hanna Faulhaber in her world championship debut on Wednesday at Buttermilk Ski Area.
The 16-year-old was fifth in the women’s halfpipe skiing qualifier and will compete for the world title in Friday’s final.
“I feel amazing. It was pretty slow in the beginning, but that last run was super fast and I got to ski how I like to ski, going big. So it really felt good,” Faulhaber said. “It’s so nice to be able to compete at home, just sleeping in my own bed, being around all the people I love, having my family be able to be out here.”
With both the Utah 2019 World Championships gold
and silver medallists out of this week’s Aspen 2021 world champs due to injury, and with no other women’s champions from years past slated to drop in on competition, we’re ensured of seeing a brand-new World Champion by the end of the day on Friday.
Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru will not be competing this week after injuring her knee in training for the X games big air at the end of January, while Cassie Sharpe of Canada suffered an injury mid-competition at X Games - though she still did enough before she went down to earn silver there.
The Island, known as a retirement haven, continues to play against type when it comes to the hipster-type sports making their Olympic debuts this summer in Tokyo. Canada Skateboard announced its . . .
Island skateboarder named to national team ahead of Tokyo Olympics timescolonist.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timescolonist.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Australia’s Scotty James celebrates after one of his runs during the men’s snowboard superpipe contest at X Games Aspen on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, at Buttermilk Ski Area. Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times.
Predicting who will win at X Games can be easy at times, like when Jamie Anderson or Chloe Kim are competing. Otherwise, it’s just about impossible to guess, especially in a year like this one.
X Games Aspen 2021 wrapped up Sunday night after three days of intense competition, albeit without the crowds and usual excitement that comes when we’re not mired in a pandemic. Prior to the comps at Buttermilk, I made my predictions for who would win each of the 14 skiing and snowboarding events and below I’ll again own up to my attempt at being Nostradamus.