RESULTS: World Pro Ski Tour Men's & Women's Super Slaloms - Aspen Pro Open,
The Aspen Pro Open, presented by Celsius, offered featured the same list of qualified athletes as Saturday, but delivered new matchups based on seeding created from Colorado Pro Open results.
No major surprises in the Round of 16 and the quarterfinal round of 8 looked to deliver the same final four athletes as Saturday, until rookie Tea Kiesel (USA) gave Kaitlyn Harsch (USA) a run for her money, edging by Harsch a mere hundredth of a second across the finish line. Harsch regained her momentum in the second run and advanced.
With the semi-finals round featuring the same four ladies as the day before, it was anyone's guess as to whether we'd see a repeat podium. Tuva Norbye of Norway skied with noticeably more aggression against her SportsInsurance.com teammate, Erin Mielzynski (CAN) and finished the first run with a .25 lead. In the second run, Mielzynski overcame a .25 second differential to earn a spot in the finals, while Norbye progressed to the small final once again. Sara Rask of Sweden again met Kaitlyn Harsh, but changed up Saturday's result by out skiing Harsch to advance to the finals.
In the small final, Norbye took Harsch by the maximum differential (.75) in the first run, and it proved too much of a deficit for Harsch to overcome.
In the big final, a small mistake by Mielzynski led to a crash, allowing Rask to earn the max differential and have a significant advantage going into the second run. However, Mielzynsk, uninjured, had consistently skied .75 and more against her challengers all weekend, and she confidently went up the hill for her second run. However, the .75 proved just slightly too much to overcome, and Rask went home with the big check instead of allowing a weekend sweep for Mielzynski.
The men's Aspen Pro Open, presented by Tuff Shed offered more adjustments in the start ladder; David Ketterer (GER) returned to ski after scratching from yesterday's lineup from a back strain, while yesterday's fourth place finisher, Florian Szwebel, withdrew for injury. With the bracket noticeably changed up for the second race day, results were as expected in the Round of 16.
Simon Breitfuss-Kammerlander of Austria, who did not progress past Saturday's quarterfinals, regained his 2023 Tour Champion momentum and defeated Kieffer Christianson (USA) after Kieffer's speed got the best of him and he took a gate hard in the lower section of the course. However, while Kammerlander was skiing with more aggression than he had on Saturday, the young Christian Soevik (NOR) again showed his mastery of the Aspen course and narrowly outskiied Kammerlander in the semifinals.
Michael Ankeny (USA) saw Filip Forejtek (CZE) in the semifinals and veteran Ankeny used his experience in Pro Tour gates to nail the start in each run and find speed in the flats to move past Forejtek and into the finals.
The small final between Kammerlander and Forejtek delivered a tight first run with a narrow lead by Forejtek and Kammerlander was unable to make up the difference, landing him in the fourth spot, with Forejtek third.
The matchup between Ankeny and Saturday's winner, Christian Soevik (NOR)was truly veteran vs rookie, with Soevik's debut race Saturday (and he won). Ankeny proved that he still has what it takes to defeat young up and comers on the WPST stage by defeating Soevik by .36 of a second.