Deer Valley Thrives Amid Challenging Weather: A Recap of the Successful World Cup Event

This past weekend, Deer Valley Resort hosted the 27th annual Freestyle World Cup, and the weather was quite a roller coaster. On Thursday, warm spring-like conditions melted the snow on the moguls course. But by Saturday, a cold front brought in tough whiteout conditions just in time for the Dual Moguls competition.

On Thursday, America’s Jaelin Kauf notched her first single Moguls win of the season, putting on an impressive performance. She was the only woman to score over 80 points, finishing with 80.75. France’s Perrine Laffont came in second with 79.63, while Canada’s Maia Schwinghammer secured third with 75.22. Tess Johnson from the U.S. narrowly missed the podium, placing fourth.

Despite the loss, Laffont remains at the top of the World Cup standings.

In the men’s competition, Japan’s Ikuma Horishima had a remarkable showing, landing a tough Double Full + 1440 to earn his first World Cup victory of the season. Kazakhstan’s Pavel Kolamakov finished second, and France’s Benjamin Cavet took third, moving Horishima up to second place in the overall standings.

Friday’s unpredictable weather led to the cancellation of the aerials qualifications, so all athletes went straight to the finals that night. The Australian women performed exceptionally well, sweeping the podium in aerials. Laura Peel won, maintaining her first place ranking overall, while her teammates Danielle Scott and Abbey Wilcox finished second and third, respectively.

For the men, Quinn Dehlinger from the U.S. returned from an injury to claim victory with a score of 122.57. Dmytro Kotovskyi from Ukraine came in second with 115.29, and Christopher Lillis, also from the U.S., took third with 104.43.

On Saturday, both Kauf and Horishima continued their winning streaks in the Dual Moguls competition. This event marked Kauf’s 100th World Cup start. She once again defeated Laffont, securing her third victory of the season. Olivia Giaccio finished third, and Tess Johnson placed fourth.

In the moguls on Thursday, Parkites Alli Macuga came in eighth, and in the Duals on Saturday, she took 28th. Nick Page had a solid performance, finishing sixth in Moguls and eighth in Dual Moguls.