{jumi[slopestyle-sweep.txt]}

Joss Christensen, Gus Kenworthy and Nick Goepper rocked the crowd and won over the judges with artistry on the rails and smooth flying off the jumps to win gold, silver and bronze for Team USA in the Olympic debut of slopestyle skiing.

The introduction of slopestyle into the Olympics generated some controversy after veteran NBC Olympics host Bob Costas compared the sport to an episode of the TV show Jackass. The world’s top freeskiers showed just how ridiculous that observation was with a bewildering variety of jibs, jumps and tricks down a course that would look awfully intimidating to most mortal skiers.

Christensen, a 22-year-old who goes by the nickname J-Funk, barely squeaked onto the U.S. Olympic team due to the incredible depth of American slopestyle talent. His World Cup ranking was just 37th. But in the end he beat out better known skiers such as Tom Wallisch and Sammy Carlson to earn the chance to go for the gold in Sochi.

Christensen scored a 95.80 on his rousing first run in the finals to take gold. Kenworthy crashed attempting a triple cork on his first run but bounced back with a 93.60 on his second run for the silver. Gold medal favorite and Mount Hood local Nick Goepper’s first run score of 92.40 was good enough for the bronze.

The 19-year-old Goepper grew up in Indiana but moved to Oregon as a teenager to train on Mount Hood and attend the Windells Academy. He rose to the rank of number one slopestyle skier in the world with a succession of victories leading up to the Olympics nd has basked in the spotlight in Russia, even getting a little celebrity buzz by confessing to his crush on country pop singer Taylor Swift.

Nick’s Twitter feed has been a must-follow link in the weeks leading up to the Sochi Games, with a steady flow of humor and lively images.

{jumi[goepper-prep-sochi.txt]}

Christensen and Kenworthy also have spent time on Mount Hood taking advantage of the longest ski season in in North America. Kenworthy, the first freeskier to land a double backflip off a rail, was part of the Nike Skiing crew that put together this insane video last spring, where they caught huge air and used chairlift poles as freestyle features:

{jumi[nike-vid-skibowl.txt]}

Last modified: February 13, 2014