Unlike the cloudy, snowy conditions that caused the Winter X Games Slopestyle to be cancelled at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, CO, the Aspen/Snowmass Slopestyle hosted on the same course as the X Games was held under blue, sunny skies. The inaugural Aspen/Snowmass Open presented by Nissan is billed as a Slopestyle/Superpipe event open to amateurs, and skiers are able to ski on the exact same courses built for the X Games two weeks earlier.

Led by X Gamers Sammy Carlson, Derek Spong, and Aspen native Peter Olenick, the Aspen/Snowmass Slopestyle Finals event got off to a fast start from the first skier, 15-year-old Alex Godbout, who ended up earning a 3 rd place finish.

"This is definitely my best finish of the year," said Godbout, a native from Quebec.

And then another youngster, 15-year-old Wanaka, New Zealand native Jossi Wells, threw an impressive switch truck driver 540 off the 55-ft. Channel Gap and a switch mute 900 off the 65-ft. Last Chance Kicker to earn 2 nd place.

"I'm so stoked right now," said the miniature-framed Wells in his Kiwi accent. "This is so sweet to finish 2nd."

But the day belonged to Olenick of nearby Carbondale, CO. Peter earned himself his first podium of the short season with an impressive display of Slopestyle skills ranging from his hard-charging rail attempts up top with the 21-ft. flat-to-down and 4-ft. high flat rail and then the XChange box down low. The XChange box is a unique feature to the course as it offers to different options: a 14-ft up to 15-ft. gap to 14-ft. down or a 14-ft. up to 14-ft. flat to 14-ft. down. Olenick, like nearly every skier of the event, elected to hit the up to gap to down and executed it perfectly with a clean exit heading into the Last Chance Kicker.

"We had way better weather than the X Games, so it was nice to actually be able ski the course," said Olenick. "It was a sick comp."

Unfortunately, the experienced youngsters, Carlson and Spong, both crashed on the Last Chance Kicker leaving them off the podium.

Congrats though goes out to the local Olenick and his aggressive, charging approach to the course, and the two foreign 15-year-olds, Godbout and Wells. -John Stifter

Podium:

Peter Olenick
Jossi Wells
Alex Godbout