Jake Sandstorm had a bit of an uh oh moment in the freestyle big air competition at Canyon Ski Resort.
The Alberta skier out of Calgary, during his second run of the big air final, watched his ski eject off his foot as he launched into the air. As Sandstrom watched his ski sail away, he managed to mitigate disaster and land semi-successfully on one ski, something he’s done a time or two before.
“I’ve done it a couple times, it sometimes happens if you go to early and your ski catches. You just try to land on one foot basically,” he said.
After that run, the 18-year-old had to watch several more competitors go, to see if his 87.60 score from run one would hold up for a medal. It did, as only Edouard Thérriault of Québec bested the Alberta product with a huge score of 92.00 on his second run. Thérriault won gold for his efforts. Ontario’s Jesse Gross finished in the bronze medal spot with an 86.20.
Sandstrom said when he put up the silver medal run early, it was more a precautionary jump than a medal winner. He was trying to both put pressure on the rest of the field but also have a good score heading into his final run.
“I was just trying to see what the rest of the field was doing and do my tricks accordingly. I was trying to go big and grab the best I can, because I know that’s what scores the best in big air,” Sandstrom said.
“There were surprises that came up. That’s how it is with skiing, anybody is there can win. It’s anybody’s competition, anyone can win.”
It was also the second silver of the games for Sandstrom, after winning silver in slopestyle on Wednesday.
“It’s been great, really cool experience, really different from most of the competitions that we do,” he added.
On the female side, Québec also finished in top spot, as Olivia Asselin blew past the field with an 89.40 score in her first run. On her second, she stomped out an 85.20 score, which was the second best of the female big air competition.
Aptly named Skye Clarke of B.C. finished just ahead of teammate Jo Howell for silver with an 83.40 on her first jump. She said everything lined up for her to put up a good score on Thursday.
“Felt pretty good. Really nice weather, a little cold. Felt good to land everything and end up in second,” she said.
Megan Cressey of Sylvan Lake fell on her first run but posted a 64.20 on her second and finished in fifth.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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