VALMALENCO, Italy (March 30, 2015) – Birk Irving (Winter Park, CO – U.S. Freeskiing Rookie Team), Caroline Claire (Wilmington, VT – Stratton Mountain School) Jake Mageau (Bend, OR – Mount Bachelor Sports Education Foundation) and Anna Gorham (Bend, OR) all took home medals at the 2015 FIS Junior World Ski Championships slopestyle and halfpipe in Valmalenco, Italy.
15-year-old Claire claimed bronze is slopestyle with a solid run, complete with a switch 540 stale fish-to-720 mute combination. Japanese skier Nanaho Kiriyama won gold, while Norway’s Sandra Moestue Eie took silver.
“The course was really fun. I wasn’t expecting to have that much fun on that course!” laughed Claire. “It’s such a good experience. I didn’t expect to end up third, so I’m stoked.”
Behind Claire, U.S. Junior Worlds team members Emilee Cox (Pocatello, ID) was ninth and Nikita Rubocki (Boise, ID – Bogus Basin Ski Education Foundation) 11th.
In men’s slope, Birk Irving took eighth place. Carson Kerr (Pittsburgh, PA – PNSA) was 45th and Bobby Sullivan (Chelmsford, MA – Nashoba Valley Ski Area) 52nd. Aaron Milligan (Avon, CO – Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) did not start.
In the men’s halfpipe skiing competition, Mageu threw a corked 900 on the first hit in the snowy and slow halfpipe to secure silver behind New Zealand’s Beau-James Wells. U.S. Revolution Tour winner Irving came through on his last run, putting together a hefty bag of tricks including back-to-back 900s for bronze.
Rounding out the men’s halfpipe, Jaxin Hoerter (Breckenridge, CO) was eighth and Lennon Vaughan (Steamboat Springs, CO – Team Park City United) was ninth.
In the women’s halfpipe, Gorham linked back-to-back 540s for a bronze medal—just one point shy of second place finisher Valeria Demidova of Russia and seven points shy of gold medalist Molly Summerhayes of Great Britain.
“I thought the pipe was fun—slow in the beginning, but it got better throughout the competition,” said Gorham after her bronze medal-winning run. “It was a great experience to compete here at Junior Worlds.”
Sierra Bowman (Mammoth Lakes, CA – Mammoth Mountain Ski & Snowboard Club) was just short of the podium in fifth place. Paula Cooper (Steamboat Springs, CO – Ski & Snowboard Club Vail) was eighth and Carson Campisi (Basalt, CO – Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club) ninth.
The Junior World Championships have one medal event left, with skicross closing the championships on April 1.
HIGHLIGHTS
- U.S. Freeskiing team member Birk Irving brought home a bronze medal in halfpipe skiing at the 2015 FIS Junior World Ski Championships.
- U.S. Junior Worlds team members Caroline Claire, Jack Mageau and Anna Gorham also brought home medals, with Mageau securing silver in men’s halfpipe, Claire a bronze in women’s slopestyle and Gorham a bronze in women’s halfpipe.
- Jake Mageau’s second place run halfpipe: cork 900, rightside 540, left 720, switch right 720, nose butter cork 720
- Birk Irving’s third place run halfpipe: flat 720, switch right 720, left 900, right 900, down the pipe flat spin 540
QUOTES
Caroline Claire, women’s slopestyle bronze
The course was really fun. I wasn’t expecting to have that much fun on that course. It’s such a good experience. I didn’t expect to end up third, so I’m stoked.
Birk Irving, men’s halfpipe bronze
It’s cool to be here with people from around the country. The level of riding is the same, if not better all around the world.
Anna Gorham, women’s halfpipe bronze
I thought the pipe was fun—slow in the beginning but it got better throughout the competition. It was a great experience to compete here at Junior Worlds.
RESULTS
Men’s Result Slopestyle
Women’s Results Slopestyle
Men’s Results Halfpipe
Women’s Results Halfpipe
