Maddie Bowman leads pack at U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix at Park City

Park City, UT (Feb. 3, 2016) – The U.S. qualified seven total skiers to the finals of the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix at Park City on Wednesday, with Maddie Bowman of South Lake Tahoe leading the way with the top spot for the women while Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, CO) was the top American for the men, qualifying in second.

"Qualifying went really well," said the South Tahoe High graduate. "Everyone’s pretty tired after X Games but everyone went out and did the best that they could do and laid down a good qualifier, so I’m excited for finals."

Bowman, who is fresh off a gold-medal performance at X Games Aspen, is getting better with each week of skiing after returning from injury in December. In her X Games run, Bowman landed a switch 900—the first time the trick had ever been landed by a woman in competition. She didn’t use the trick in her qualifying run on Thursday, but says she’s thinking about it. “I haven’t done a switch 900 here yet,” she said, “but I’m definitely thinking about it. We’ll see how this practice goes before finals.”

Annalisa Drew (Andover, MA) and Devin Logan (West Dover, VT) also qualified for the finals, finishing fifth and sixth respectively.

Blunck, who finished on the podium in third at the first stop of the U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, said he was feeling great after the qualification runs.

“I’m feeling excellent right now,” Blunk said. “I have not landed two runs in a row in qualies in probably two to three years, so I’m super stoked.”

Lyman Currier (Boulder, CO) qualified in fourth with a run that included a left double 1260 mute. Taylor Seaton (Avon, CO) and Alex Ferreira (Aspen, CO) also made the final, finishing seventh and ninth respectively.

Men’s and women’s halfpipe finals are scheduled to be contested Saturday, Feb. 5, at noon MT.

EVENT SCHEDULE (times MT)
Feb. 4, 8:30 a.m .- 2:30 p.m. – snowboarding halfpipe qualifiers
Feb. 5, 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix halfpipe finals
Feb. 6, 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. – U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipe finals

Live Streaming Schedule (times EST)
Feb. 5, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix halfpipe finals, Park City – LIVE – NBC Sports Live Extra
Feb. 6, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. – U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipe finals, Park City – LIVE – NBC Sports

Live Extra TV Schedule (times EST)
Feb. 13, 4:00 p.m. – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix halfpipe, Park City – NBC
Feb. 14, 1:30 p.m. – U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipe, Park City – NBC
Feb. 17, 12:30 a.m. – Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix halfpipe, Park City – NBCSN
Feb. 17, 1:30 a.m. – U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipe, Park City – NBCSN

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