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Wallisch wins X Games ski slopestyle

ASPEN -For the first time, the men’s ski slopestlye final was held under the lights at Buttermilk Mountain.-That along with the falling snow provided the ideal backdrop for Tom Wallisch’s gold medal record score of 96.00, his first Winter X Games medal.

“This is amazing,” Wallisch said with a smile beaming across his face.- “Under the lights in primetime and this crowd, it is amazing. I think it’s going to open the sport up to a bigger-audience and make it just that much sicker to watch.”

His winning run was highlighted by a wallride on the first feature, deemed Wall Street that left his fellow competitors wowed. With the competition level at an all-time high, Wallisch knew he had to amaze.



“It is getting crazy and crazier,” added the native of Pittsburgh, Pa. “Everyone was doing perfect runs it was just a matter of trying to stand out some how.”

17-year old Winter X Games rookie Nick Goepper, who surprised many by being the top qualifier in the elimination round, finished just behind Wallisch with a score of 94.66 and the silver medal

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“I’ve worked hard to get here,” Goepper said. “I’m just real stoked to be on the podium with Tom and Andreas (Håtveit).- All these people, all the media, the biggest stage for us, it’s awesome.”

For the third-consecutive year, Norway’s Håtveit grabbed the bronze.-

“Everything just fell together,” Håtveit said. “The first run a couple things to clean up, second run one thing to clean up, and last run was just as I wanted it. I skied better than ever.”

The slopestyle course is approximately 1,600-feet long with six features and a vertical drop of 280 feet.-Skiers attempt multiple tricks throughout their run on specially designed jumps, rails, boxes and other obstacles.-Judging is based on creativity, trick competitions and style. The competitors are ranked based on the best score of their three runs.


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