- Jake Canter won the men’s slopestyle at the U.S. Grand Prix, securing his spot on the Olympic team.
- Canter landed a rare 1980 backside twist to earn the top score in the competition.
- Hunter Hess also qualified for the Olympic team with a second-place finish in the men’s freeski halfpipe.
- New Zealander Finley Melville Ives won the freeski halfpipe, preventing an all-American podium.
ASPEN, CO – The screen showing the slopestyle competition cut to black for the biggest trick of the day.Jake Canter made sure it would live on replays for a long time.
The 22-year-old landed a 1980 backside twist — although spectators were momentarily left in the dark — and finished his second run clean Saturday in the men’s finals at the 2026 U.S. Grand Prix. The judges rewarded him with the top score of 85.16 to take home first and lock up his spot (one of four) on the men’s slopestyle/big air Olympic team.
Canter, of course, had no idea everybody near the finish line was left feeling like they relived the finale of “The Sopranos.”
“I remember landing it so clearly,” said Canter, who hadn’t tried the 1980 in two months. “It felt crazy.”He spent a lot of autumn trying to figure out the 1980 – an extra half-revolution (180 degrees) from the more common 1800, which he hit during his first run. Stepping it up in the second run landed him atop the podium.
Like many of his teammates, Canter has his own comeback story. A trampoline accident when he was 16 resulted in a traumatic brain injury. He spent weeks in a hospital, and after he awoke from a coma, he passed the time watching snowboarding videos.
A Colorado kid, Canter spent a lot of time at Aspen’s four mountains while growing up.
“I know these jumps and this mountain pretty well,” he said.
Canter received a call from U.S. ski and snowboard director of high performance Gillian Bower, who informed him he made the Olympic team.
“Just can’t believe this is happening … to be in this position I’m in, I’m so grateful, so thankful,” he said. “It really means the world. It’s everything I wanted.”
His first call will go to his mother, who now has to book some flights to Italy, Canter said.
Red Gerard, the 2018 slopestyle gold medalist, finished sixth. The final two spots will be determined after the final World Cup of the season in Laax, Switzerland.
On the women’s side, Jamie Anderson took a terrible fall seconds into her first run of finals. She did not take a second run, but organizers said she was OK.
Hunter Hess makes men’s freeski team
A teenager spoiled an all-American podium in the men’s freeski halfpipe finals.
Finley Melville Ives, 19, wowed the crowd – and the judges – with a first-run 95.0. Nobody could touch that in the second run, and the New Zealander took home first place.
Americans placed second through seventh, with Hunter Hess locking up his spot on the highly-competitive Olympic roster thanks to a second-place finish. Nick Goepper, already clinched to the team thanks to his win in Calgary last month, took third.
The competition unfortunately started on a scary note after American Aaron Blunck had a ski hit the top of the halfpipe. The resulting crash left Blunck injured in the middle of the halfpipe.
“It was tense. You can feel it,” Hess told USA TODAY Sports. “It was a bad vibe up there.”
The last few weeks have been more than stressful, Hess said, with opportunities to make the team dwindling.
“You’re trying to enjoy it, and you’re trying to enjoy it, but it’s a scary ordeal,” he said. “I’m happy I was able to do it and that all of the hard work paid off.”
And he certainly appreciates making this team. Being one of the four American men’s freeski entrants is an accomplishment in itself.
“Everyone crushes it, which makes you want to push it a little harder,” he said.
An outsider on the team bus might not think anybody takes it too seriously with the way everyone jokes with one another, Goepper said.
“When I witness these guys put their life on it, like days like today, it’s pretty cool,” he said. “A lot of respect is earned for sure.
“More than anything, I’m really proud of these guys.”
Goepper, 31, is trying to medal in a fourth consecutive Olympics. He has a bronze from Sochi 2014 and back-to-back silvers to his name.
“I think it’d be unprecedented to go four-for-four,” Goepper said. “I try not to think about it that much though.”
Goepper prefers focusing on things such as making his bed and completing his stretching program. His entire family is attending the Olympics and rented a house near the halfpipe in Livigno, Italy more than six months ago, well before he qualified for the Games.
“Now they can finally talk about it in front of me,” he said, “and it’s no big deal.”
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