Wanaka teenager and rising ski star Jossi Wells proved

he is up there with the world’s best after taking first place in the

slopestyle event at the NZ Free Ski Open today at Snow Park NZ.

Canadian Kaya Turski, who is also a pro rollerblader,

picked up the winning title for the women’s slopestyle event.

Wells (16), who is now New Zealand’s top

freestyle skier, displayed an outstanding performance at today’s event with a run

including a switch 720 double nose grab, a switch 630 gap to rail, and a switch 1080.

“Everything he did was so smooth and so easy.

Jossi’s improved so much this year. Last year, he was good, but he

didn’t quite have the tricks to take out the big guns. But now,

he’s proved he’s one of the world’s best,” Open head

judge Jake McCleary said.&lt;!--

D([&quot;mb&quot;,&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt&quot;&gt;Wells said his winning run was one of the best

he’d ever had. “I’m aiming for the world scene, and this

definitely a great competition with lots of international riders. Every little

step counts.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;4&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:14.0pt;font-weight:bold&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

year-and-a-half. Her winning run included a cork 540 mute grab (spinning

one-and-a-half times off axis, grabbing the front of one ski with the opposite

hand). She also successfully pulled off a switch 900 (rotating two-and-a-half

times) and attempted a switch 1080 - a world-first in women’s free

skiing, but unfortunately her ski came off on landing. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

– we were blown away with today’s event. Competitors were all

throwing down as hard as they could,” McCleary said.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p styleu003d&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt&quot;&gt;The slopestyle

course, designed by Snow Park NZ slopes manager Frank Wells, began with a

quarterpipe-style drop-in, down to a custom Snow Park NZ stair feature. Skiers

then approached a gap-to-snow box, before moving to a 14m jump, followed by an

18m jump. They completed the course by hitting a flat-down rail and a

jump-to-down box, which is the latest craze in free skiing slopestyle and makes

for spectacular tricks, such as 900 and 1080 rotations.&quot;,1]

);

//--&gt; Wells said his winning run was one of the best

he’d ever had. “I’m aiming for the world scene, and this

definitely a great competition with lots of international riders. Every little

step counts.”

Turski (18), has been freestyle skiing for a

year-and-a-half. Her winning run included a cork 540 mute grab. She also successfully pulled off a switch 900 and attempted a switch 1080 - a world-first in women’s

skiing, but unfortunately her ski came off on landing.

“The standard of competition was unbelievable

– we were blown away with today’s event. Competitors were all

throwing down as hard as they could,” McCleary said.   The slopestyle

course, designed by Snow Park NZ slopes manager Frank Wells, began with a

quarterpipe-style drop-in, down to a custom Snow Park NZ stair feature. Skiers

then approached a gap-to-snow box, before moving to a 14m jump, followed by an

18m jump. They completed the course by hitting a flat-down rail and a

jump-to-down box, which is the latest craze in free skiing slopestyle and makes

for spectacular tricks, such as 900 and 1080 rotations.&lt;!--

D([&quot;mb&quot;,&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt&quot;&gt;The NZ Free Ski Open is the southern

hemisphere’s largest event of its kind. With park and pipe events now

completed, the next stage of the competition the Volkl Big Mountain prelims, which take place at

Treble Cone on Friday August 18. The finals will be held at Treble Cone on the

first following fine weather day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p styleu003d&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold&quot;&gt;Results:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p styleu003d&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold&quot;&gt;Womens&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol styleu003d&quot;margin-top:0cm&quot; startu003d&quot;1&quot; typeu003d&quot;1&quot;&gt;

&lt;li styleu003d&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span langu003d&quot;EN-GB&quot; styleu003d&quot;font-size:12.0pt&quot;&gt;Kaya

Turski (CAN)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

Beattie (AUST)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

Segal (AUST)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p styleu003d&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;font sizeu003d&quot;3&quot; faceu003d&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&quot;,1]

);

//--&gt;

The NZ Free Ski Open is the southern

hemisphere’s largest event of its kind. With park and pipe events now

completed, the next stage of the competition the Volkl Big Mountain prelims, which take place at

Treble Cone on Friday August 18. The finals will be held at Treble Cone on the

first following fine weather day.

Results: Womens

Kaya

Turski (CAN)Tori

Beattie (AUST)Anna

Segal (AUST) Mens Jossi

Wells (NZ)Russ

Henshaw (AUST)Alexis

Godbout (CAN) (all photos by Camilla Stoddart/NZ Freeski Open)

Wells, Turski on top in NZ Open Slopestyle

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