FREESTYLE SKIING: Nothing can stop Australia’s freestyle aerial skiers from throwing their biggest tricks at PyeongChang 2018. Not weather, not pressure, and not fear.

After landing in South Korea on Tuesday, the team – made up of veteran Lydia Lassila, David Morris, Laura Peel, Samantha Wells and Danielle Scott – are excited about the week of competition ahead.

An intensive training camp in Ruka, Finland, over the past several weeks has put the squad in a strong position to compete for places in the Super 6 final, and even an Olympic medal.

David Morris, who will make his third Olympic appearance in PyeongChang, completed one of the most difficult tricks in freestyle aerial skiing just last week and he won’t be holding back from throwing it again in PyeongChang.

“It’s a medal winning jump, obviously landing is crucial but if I get into the top 6 there’s no way I’m not doing that skill,” Morris said.

The trick, a double full/double full/full – best described as three flips and five twists – has only ever been performed by three other athletes with Morris eager to be the fourth.

It’s with a sense of relief and accomplishment that Morris wants everyone to know he’s ‘peaking at the right time’, he’s ready to land the hardest skill he’s ever done and in reality, it was pretty easy.

“I’ve been ready for quite a while, I just had to man up and do it and it was easier than I thought it would be, but very very scary,” he said.

“I haven’t come all (that) way to just back down at the last minute. I think even if the weather’s not perfect, I’m still throwing that down.

“My coach is like ‘if there’s an opportunity to change it to an easier one maybe we’ll go easier’, I’m like ‘no’.

“I don’t feel like it’s dangerous to do anymore… if I’m in the super final obviously you’ve been landing and you’re on fire and there isn’t any reason why we wouldn’t do it after that so I wouldn’t have any hesitation.”

Morris’ courage and commitment is shared by the team, who come into PyeongChang with varied experience.

Peel made her Olympic debut at Sochi 2014 where she finished seventh, and since then has consolidated her performance.

“I still have the same basic self, same foundation (and) still the same beliefs but I feel a lot more prepared, a lot more confident, I’m more consistent with my tricks and there are a lot of similarities of course but now I feel more prepared and more myself and ready to go after it, “she said.

Teammate Scott is primed to perform a quadruple-twisting double somersault; she is the first Australian woman to complete the trick on snow.

“If I get to the round where I need it (I’ll do it) for sure,” she said.

“I think I was the first Aussie to do it on snow, but both Lydia and I have done it recently so it’s pretty exciting… I’ll definitely take advantage of being able to do that if I get the opportunity to.”

For Lassila, her tactics are a little different. She has four Winter Olympic Games on her CV already and after Sochi 2014 she even took a break from the sport.

However her passion and motivation for aerials didn’t weaken, nor did her body. And so she decided to line up again, putting herself in contention for a place on the Australian Olympic Team.

The dual Olympic medallist (gold Vancouver 2010, bronze Sochi 2014) recently claimed a first and a second place at Lake Placid World Cups in the United States, but she’s approaching things a little differently in her final Olympic campaign.

“Some athletes will go big which is really exciting, but it won’t be me. I’m kind of weening out so I’m on the double, which is a lot less stressful on my body and mind,” she said.

“(I’m) still competitive on the double… I’ve got some consistency there, I’ve got some experience there obviously.

“Anyone can make a mistake so my aim is to just keep consistent and not make any big mistakes.”

Second timer Wells said the secret to Australian freestyle skiers keeping their calm under pressure was nothing more than good old fashioned banter.

“It helps to keep it a bit lighter when things get a bit more stressful,” she said.

And in the end, it could come down to the conditions on the day. Morris has said he won’t be swayed by the weather, but for the majority of the field PyeongChang could prove to be one of the toughest challenges yet.

“Weather and wind is obviously a factor that this place is known for, and that does effect us so fingers crossed mother nature cooperates with us and I think it will be really good,” Scott said.

Freestyle skiing aerials starts with women’s qualifications on Day 6 (Thursday 15 February) with women’s finals on Day 7 (Friday 16 February) and men’s finals on Day 9 (Sunday 18 February).

Candice Keller

AERIALS: Australia’s aerial skiers will look to build on their rich tradition of Winter Olympic success when a team of five high flyers hit the jumps at the PyeongChang 2018 Games.


The team features a full contingent of Aussie women with dual Olympic medallist Lydia Lassila lining up at her fifth Winter Olympic Games alongside 2017 World Championship silver medallist Danielle Scott, 2015 World Champion Laura Peel and Sochi 2014 Olympian Samantha Wells.

Sochi 2014 silver medallist and 2017 World Championship bronze medallist David Morris will fly the flag in the men’s competition.

While the accolades for each member of this team are exceptional there is none more astounding than those of 2010 Olympic Champion and 2014 Olympic bronze medallist Lassila.

With so much adversity throughout her career it is astonishing to think she has made it to the start line of her fifth straight Olympic Games, let alone be well in contention to win an Australian record third Winter Olympic medal at PyeongChang.

“I never dreamed of going to 5 Olympics or having a career this long,” said Lassila who claimed a gold and silver medal at back-to-back World Cup events in Lake Placid last weekend.

“I’ve learned so much about myself, endured set backs and celebrated the victories.

“I love my sport, I love my country and that’s what has kept me coming back.”

The team has been in strong form throughout the season with Peel also claiming dual bronze medals in Lake Placid and Scott winning World Cup gold in China. The trio of Scott, Wells and Morris then linked up to win silver in the non-Olympic team event in Secret Garden.

“I competed all the jumps that I will be competing in PyeongChang in Lake Placid so doing that and finishing on the podium definitely gives me a confidence boost,” Peel said.

“However I know every day is a new day and everyone will be bringing their A game to the Olympics so right now it’s about getting back to work and building consistency.

“It’s just as exciting to be selected the second time around. I know more what to expect this time amd I think that experience will help me to really focus on the task at hand.

“I’m also looking forward to cheering on all the other Aussies.”

The team trains and lives with each other throughout the year and puts a lot of their success down to the combination of strong team camaraderie and the ability to push one another to new heights.

“We're all pretty chilled here in Finland at the moment in a last training camp before heading to PyeongChang,” Morris said.

“Everyone is up to standard and really jumping quite well. We were all lucky enough to basically qualify our spots last year so it hasn't been a stressful season for us, just making sure we stay healthy and have enough energy to peak at the big event.”

Having secured a medal at his second Games, Morris is now looking to pull out all the stops and perform a jump he has never tried on snow to climb one step higher on the Olympic podium.

“So far we haven't had enough time to practice my quintuple-twisting triple-flip,” he said.

“It's on my bucket list as something I need to do in the sport so the plan will be to perform it in this training camp, and then hopefully get the opportunity to show it off at the Games.

“If I make the super final (last round) that'll mean I'm having a pretty epic day and landing so by that point I'll be confident to perform it in competition for the first time and compete for a medal.”

Just like Morris, Scott too has the jumps she needs to lift her too Olympic glory. The 27-year-old claimed her best result to date at the 2017 World Championships and will be hoping that the experience from her first Games will help her lift at PyeongChang.

“It feels pretty cool knowing that this will be round two of flying the green and gold in the Olympic arena,” Scott said.

“Winning a medal at the World Champs has given confidence as it is the same format as the Olympics.

“Confidence is everything but so is being prepared and being able to handle the different conditions at each site so I hope to go out and put all my preparations to work.”

Wells will also be looking to take her Games experience, as well as some solid form that includes two top six World Cup results this season, onto the Korean slopes as she aims to better her 18th place finish in Sochi.

“Leading into my second Games, I’m feeling much better prepared and I am bringing with me an arsenal of competitive jumps,” she said.

“I’m excited to share this Olympic experience with my coach, and support staff, as well as some of my family, who will be coming to watch.”

Aerials skiing will kick off on with the women's qualification on Day 6 (February 15) followed by the finals on Day 7 (February 16). The men's competition then runs across Day 8 and 9 (February 17-18). 

The discipline of Freestyle Skiing is Australia’s most successful Winter Olympic event with Alisa Camplin’s two medals (2002 – gold, 2006 – bronze), Lassila’s two (2010 – gold, 2014 – bronze) and Morris’ Sochi 2014 silver accounting for half of the nation’s Winter medal haul.   
​

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

Four-time Olympian Lydia Lassila has won gold and fellow Flying Kangaroo Laura Peel has taken bronze at the Aerial Skiing World Cup in Lake Placid, New York.

Following what were disappointing results in Deer Valley last week, Australia’s aerial skiers bounced back in the first of their final two competitions before PyeongChang.

Lassila, who celebrated her 36th birthday during the week, finished in first place with a score of 99.75, said that it had been important “to step up the intensity this week” after she missed out on last week’s finals by 0.63 points.

“Long day, you know it’s hard for me to make it through a day I’m one year older this year!” she joked.

“You always want to be in the final especially in the Super Final so it’s important for me to do that and go through that process and have these long days so that I know in PyeongChang I’ve got that.

“But it was good, I really took it one jump at a time which is how I’ve kind of always tried to and I just felt really on, especially tonight I just felt really calm, confident, aggressive, assertive – all the right things that I needed to feel.

“I didn’t do too many training jumps because I just needed to conserve my body for tomorrow and, you know, just in general!”

Lydia shared the podium on Friday evening with Sochi Olympian and 2015 World Champion Laura Peel taking bronze with a score of 90.59.

With the Winter Games kicking off in 20 days, Peel said that it was “exciting to know that I did the jumps well today that I’m going to need to do”.

“So often in the top 12 I just do a full full and then one of my triple twisting doubles but today I decided to do two triple twisting doubles because we’ll have to do three jumps in PyeongChang,” she said.

With the last World Cup “not great for Australia”, Peel said that it had been “awesome” to get to stand on the podium with Lassila.

“I mean, Lyd’s like a superwoman so it’s always cool to be on the podium with her and Hanna [Huskova] from Belarus doing triples, it’s awesome seeing triples out there from the ladies,” she said.

“I think after Deer Valley I just had a little time to reflect and sort of refocus and I felt in a good place today, I felt calmer and more confident,” she said.

Fellow VIS skier Danielle Scott, who recently won gold in Secret Garden, finished the day in 12th place with a score of 52.52 after missing out on the six-woman Super Final after leading all Aussies earlier in the day qualifying in 3rd and teammate Sam Wells was 24th while two-time Olympian and Sochi silver medallist David Morris also finished 24th in the men’s event.

Speaking prior to Friday’s World Cup, coach Jeff Bean said that the focus for Lake Placid had been “just to take care of the little things” after the team “were all just a little bit off” at Deer Valley.

“We had a disappointment there,” Lassila said.

“The whole team did, so it was really important for us to step up the intensity this week and we did.”

With PyeongChang following a similar back-to-back consecutive day schedule, the tight turnaround in Lake Placid will be a great trial run for the Flying Kangaroos.

“It is great practice,” Lassila said.

“It will be about really conserving energy tonight, not getting too excited, going to sleep, getting physio – doing all the right things for my body which seems to be my biggest challenge and hopefully feeling fresh tomorrow.”

David Barden
OWIA

Australia’s Flying Kangaroos are jumping straight back in the saddle for this week’s Aerial Skiing World Cups in Lake Placid, New York following disappointing results in Deer Valley, Utah.
 
Coach Jeff Bean described the team’s last World Cup as being his “worst event in four years coaching with the team” but added that the Aussies are ready to “step up our game”.
 
“It just felt like everybody and everything was a little bit off across the board,” he said.
 
“We had some rough weather, but I don’t look at anything as an excuse, ever. We were just a little bit off, everybody was close but it was actually a good reminder for this week to just take care of the little things, take care of the details – the extra percentages here and there.”
 
Four-time Olympian Lydia Lassila missed out on progressing through to the first final by 0.63 points, finishing in 13th place in what was her first World Cup since March 2017.
 
Sam Wells finished 15th while Danielle Scott, who won gold in Secret Garden, China last December, came in at 17th and 2015 World Champion Laura Peel in 20th.
 
Two-time Olympian and Sochi silver medallist David Morris also narrowly missed out on making the men’s finals in Deer Valley, finishing just outside the top 12 in 14th place with a score of 104.98.
 
“The competition was actually really good, a lot of good jumps doing down which means you had to perform very well to get in [the finals],” he said.
 
“I unfortunately did a nice jump but not a fantastic landing, I got docked on my landing scores and was unable to make the finals.
 
“I’m not overly disappointed because really we’re just training for the Olympics so we can peak at the right moment – which is the whole team because we’ve all qualified so, at the moment, it’s just training and building up the skills and confidence leading into the Olympics.”

Bean said that “as painful as it was” for the Aussies, “it was a good reminder that it’s the details that help us win and have helped this program win in the past”, especially in the lead up to PyeongChang.
 
“That’s what we really need to get back to so luckily this wasn’t mid-February and we take it as a learning [opportunity] and we move on,” he said.
 
“Luckily we have two World Cups this week so we really get to get back on the horse right away which is a huge opportunity for us after a bad week.”
 
Fresh from the jump site, Bean said that Tuesday’s training “was probably the best we’ve had at a World Cup in probably a year”.
 
“The site was good, the weather was good – all of our girls did triple twists and double flips, Dave got up to triple flips so it really set us up for the week which is nice,” he said.
 
“And then we have a really good solid day of training tomorrow, we’ve already gone up two degrees of difficulties so we can work on our degree of difficulty. Quite often on World Cup you’re just scrambling to even do your jumps, here we can actually work on them.
 
With back-to-back competition days, the Flying Kangaroos will train again on Wednesday before taking Thursday off ahead of Friday and Saturday’s World Cups.
 
“I think the team’s actually feeling pretty good, [Deer Valley] was a good wake-up call for the staff as well as the athletes and everyone jumped well, just not well enough,” Bean said.
 
“We’ve just got to, for lack of a better term, step up our game and that’s what we’re doing this week, we’re just taking care of the details.
 
“Just raising the level of intensity a little bit for everyone because that’s what you need to do at this time of year in preparation for the Olympics because it’s going to be more stressful and more intense there so we have to be prepared for that.”
 
The final Aerials World Cups before PyeongChang will be held in Lake Placid, New York this week on Friday and Saturday. For live updates from the site, follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.
 
David Barden
OWIA

Australia’s aerials contingent have missed out on qualification for the finals of the penultimate World Cup event prior to PyeongChang 2018.

Needing to place in the top 12 in Deer Valley to progress to Final 1, Lydia Lassila came agonisingly close just 0.63 points off qualifiying in 13th place in what was her first event back since the 2017 World Championships.

Sam Wells finished 15th a further three points back with World Championships silver medallist Danielle Scott claiming 17th and 2015 World Champion Laura Peel in 20th.

In the men’s competition Sochi 2014 silver medallist David Morris also came close scoring 104.98 to finish 14th, just over five points outside of the top 12.

"It was a very tough day here for the team," coach Jeff Bean said.

"In my four years of coaching we've not had at least one athlete qualify for the final. It was all small little mistakes and in this sport when it's only three seconds it's those small little mistakes that count.

"Lydia finished in 13th only just missing the final but this is a day that we can all learn from.

"This wasn't the Olympics, we know the team is jumping well and we have two events in Lake Placid next week that we are going to move forward and focus on and make sure we are ready for the Games in February."

The Chinese and USA teams dominated the women’s event progressing four athletes each through to Final 1 while Belarus’ Sochi 2014 gold medallist Anton Kushnir topped the qualification charts for the men.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

Danielle Scott won the day two Aerial Skiing, redeeming herself in the best way possible after placing 22nd on her first day on the hill at China’s Secret Garden, aerials location for the 2022 Olympic Games.
 
Indeed, there was nothing that could wipe the smile off the faces of the Flying Kangaroos on Sunday who were not only thrilled at their teammate’s excellent result but also overjoyed after claiming silver in the team aerials event.
 
“Yesterday was a bit of a sad day for me, I got blown off the hill so didn’t really have much of a chance,” Scott said.
 
“Good to come out and have a bit of a redemption today, it was still really tricky conditions. I did exactly what I needed to do and broke the 100 points which is what I’ve been aiming for this season, just trying to get those little goals.”
 
The Flying Kangaroos and VIS skiers went into the nail-biting final round of the team event against China and Russia with the pressure on once again for the team who earned bronze last year to pull out their biggest tricks.
 
As Scott pointed out, with the Aussies having just two women on the double “it makes it a little bit more difficult for us to produce higher scores”.
 
“Last year we came third which was pretty exciting because we have a big disadvantage having two girls and one guy compared to two guys and one girl,” Morris added.
 
“These two ladies really to have to pull their biggest skills and we can’t really can’t make any mistakes if we want to make it through the rounds and we did that today which is very exciting.
 
“[We] ended up one spot higher than last year so we’ve progressed a little bit which is excellent and it was pretty fun. Thought we had it there for a minute, we saw China go down and I got a little too excited too early and then they beat us by a very small margin but a fantastic result for the day and everyone jumped like champs.”
 
“We’ll one up it next year,” Scott laughed, “pressure is on!”

Morris, a two-time Olympian, finished ninth on Day Two and said that the team competition had been “a good little confidence boost that we’ll take into the next competition”.
 
“Ninth today, a bit better than yesterday,” he joked.
 
“Nearly the same score, I think I beat it by one whole point which was a little sad because it was a way straighter jump but very happy with ninth.”
 
Samantha Wells also improved on the second day of the World Cup, placing fifth despite far from ideal conditions.
 
“Maybe a bit warmer [today] if anything and I put three full double fulls down one after the other in all different ranges and I was really, really pleased with myself,” she said.
 
“We were really happy to come to this event and jump in some difficult conditions and bring out our higher degree of difficulty in the opening event. We’re really pleased to be walking away from this event with a silver medal as a team and it’s a great way to open the season for us.
 
“We’ve got a big training camp coming up before [the next competition] so I think we’ll be probably be a bit more prepared with a few more jumps under our belts and a few more landings under our belts and it’ll be a good chance to knock them out of the park.”
 
Sochi Olympian Laura Peel finished 13th on the second day of the World Cup and currently sits 12th on the World Cup Standings while teammates Scott and Wells now sit 3rd and 5th respectively.

Watching from the judges stand, five-time Olympian and World Champion Jacqui Cooper described the “quite special moment” she had watching the three girls she recruited into aerial skiing as teenagers compete at a World Cup.
 
“My career ended as theirs started,” she said.
 
“To come back and see them all, that was fantastic. I was even getting pins and needles in my hands and in my feet. Obviously yesterday was a bit of a tough day but I was happy, Sam and I had some bonding time before the competition. To see Danni come out today and win it’s really nice to have moments with these athletes that I’ll always have a strong connection with.
 
“The win is the bonus; the medals are the bonuses but at the moment our team wouldn’t be focused on trying to win every event. It’s about getting competition experience for the rest of the season … We are heading in the right direction.”
 
The next World Cup for the aerial skiers will be from the 10-12 January at Deer Valley, USA. 


David Barden
OWIA​​

OWIA/VIS athletes Laura Peel and Danielle Scott have started the season in great form, both recording victories in a warm up Europa Cup competition in Ruka, Finland.
 
With many of the world’s top athletes currently in Ruka preparing for the World Cup season, a strong field competed in two events.
 
On day one, Laura Peel jumped two well executed double back somersaults to take first place. Samantha Wells and Danielle Scott struggled with their landings finishing in 16th and 26th.
 
On day two, Danielle Scott rebounded strongly, competing two triple twisting double back somersaults to finish over 10 points clear in first place. Laura Peel claimed her second medal, finishing in third place, with Sam Wells also improving from day one to finish in tenth.
 
David Morris improved on his day one finish of 18th to place 12th on day two.
 
VIS development athletes also competed in the event, with Brittany George recording the highest place finish, with a 12th place day two performance. Abbey Willcox had her best result on day two finishing in 20th. The event was the first Aerial Skiing career starts for Gabi Ash and Alice Neill, with Gabi 15th on day one and Alice 19th on day two.
 
The first World Cup for the OWIA/VIS athletes will take place in Secret Garden, China, on December 16-17.

IMAGE: Daniel Scott (left) and Laure Peel (right), Europa Cup winners in Ruka, Finland.

Andrew Pattison
OWIA

With just over 100 days remaining until the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, Aerials skier Samantha Wells is primed to perform.

Between May and October this year, the 28-year-old Novocastrian spent an intense four months training at the Utah Olympic Park Aerials training facility, churning out the repetitions needed to ensure a smooth transition to the snow in the winter season.


Wells, who claimed second place at the 2016 Lake Placid World Cup make up event held in Deer Valley, says the gruelling training regime at Park City has left her confident ahead of the upcoming World Cup season and Pyeongchang 2018.


“My goals were to become confident in all the different ranges that I need to perform each of my highest and hardest tricks at, ready for competition, and I felt like I achieved that,” said Wells who finished 18th on Olympic debut at the Sochi 2014 Games.


“I am feeling confident and comfortable with the skills I am going to be transferring to snow this year, and will be heading into the winter confidently knowing that I can handle anything that is thrown at me.”


Wells’ aerial training at Park City was certainly no walk in the park.


Mornings began with pilates, injury specific strength and maintenance, a 20-minute high-intensity warm up, balance work, and visualisation in preparation for water ramp training.


Wells would then hit the water ramp for an hour and a half, honing her skills and jumps through repetition.


“In that time I would do about 10 jumps on a double, or 15 or so jumps on a single - depending what I was working on. But I spend most of my time on the double kicker working on my double somersault tricks.


“The water jump is a really good way of getting in the repetitions we need during the summer months to perform new tricks and skills in a safer environment before we transfer them onto the snow.”


After a quick lunch, Wells would spend another hour and a half session at the water ramp, then straight to the gym for a workout - either upper body, lower body, cardio, or another strength specific pilates session.


After a gruelling day of physical exertion, Wells would finally return home for physio treatment, relaxation, visualisation – and of course, dinner.


“It is pretty intense - but it is a great regime for feeling ready to compete,” Wells continued.


Despite returning to Australia in October, Wells’ schedule has only been getting more intense.


“I had two short days at home, and then I flew down to Melbourne for a fitness camp.


However brief, the time with family and friends was a welcome reprieve.


“Friends and family are the one thing that we really miss on the road - that social contact with all the people that we have in our lives. The internet is great, but in person can’t be beaten.”


Wells spent much of her time in the gym at the Victorian Institute of Sport, and refining her aerial skills in the bungee system at the Ski and Snowboard Australia water ramp facility near Lilydale.


“The main goal for the fitness camp was to keep my aerial awareness active while I was in the bungee, and to really consolidate the strength and conditioning training while I was at home."


As if the mental, physical, and emotional strain of preparing for the World Cup and the Winter Olympics wasn’t enough, Wells is also working to complete the final year of her Bachelor of Health Science.


Although the combined pressure of training for the Olympics and undertaking a degree seems daunting, Wells says she enjoys the challenge.


“I like to keep busy. Whether it is studying, working on some kind of handcraft, reading a good book, I always like to have something on the go - I’m not good at just sitting around and doing nothing.


In early November the Australian team will be heading over to Finland for preseason training, where Wells will be transferring everything she has learned on the water ramps to the snow in preparation for the first World Cup event in China


From there it’s straight onto the World Cup circuit and then, if all goes to plan, to South Korea for her second Winter Olympics Games.


Wells is determined to bring home some gold this year and will definitely be one to watch throughout the season.
“I’ve stood on every other block but the biggest one at the end of the day, and I’d like to stand on the biggest one."


Beth Green
olympics.com.au

There’s much, much more to three-time World Cup Aerial Skiing medalist Sam Wells than the dedicated athlete she undoubtedly is.

Sam Wells, dubbed the quiet achiever, is in a very good place personally and in her sport.

A self-acknowledged ‘busy’ person, Wells combines training with a final year of her Bachelor of Health Science degree, holds a Level 4 Certificate in fitness and is an accomplished cook who raises funds for the Cancer Council through her Biggest Morning Teas.

With one Olympics and three World Cup medals under her Flying Kangaroo belt, Wells wants more.

“Medals are a tick, but the gold one is on the to do list. I’ve got a silver and two bronzes. I want to stand on the top,” she said from Park City in Utah.

“I’ve been doing a lot of things in my training, which started at Lilydale in April (in Victoria) and we’ve been working on both of my triple twisting doubles.”

“As sub-par as Lilydale may seem, it was a bonus for me. We worked on the single and spent a ton of time on doubles on the bungy. In twenty-minutes I can punch out 40 or 50 doubles and then transfer that to the ramps.”

“Being able to get the reps on the bungy has been a real secret weapon for me.”

“In Park City, I have been able to transfer all the things I worked on from Lilydale and it’s been a much smoother transition,” she said.

By the end of July Wells was up to her full degree of difficulty (DD) and improving her form in the air.  

“Our competition is based on consistency. For me to jump DD consistently is important. On my double in last year I was having difficulty keep my feet together so I’ve been working on that. The water ramps are helping me find the correct prompts and cues.”
 
Water ramping for Aerial skiers is a complicated business and not for the faint-hearted. The Flying Kangaroos complete approximately nine jumps per session into the pool at Park City, which requires the ability to swim with skis on.
   
 “With a life jacket and boots that float it’s not that hard. You tuck your heels up so the skis are on the top of the water and get good at breaststroke,” Wells explained.  

“I weigh a lot more with my gear on. About 10 to 15kgs more than when I’m dry. I always think at training that walking up the stairs is the hardest part of the day but it’s good for our fitness too. Especially at altitude.”

Far from study taking a back seat, the 28-year-old has continued her Bachelor of Health Science majoring in health promotion.

“I chose to study it because it’s in the field I’m interested in. There are three subjects to go. Two this semester and one after the Olympics.”

Athletes who compartmentalise their training often have other interests.  Study and utilising time productively is key for the Newcastle native.

“You have to give your brain a rest sometimes,” she says when asked about training only. “I’d go mad otherwise.”

“Pursuing other goals gives me a sense of satisfaction, which helps me to be diligent and focused about my sport and more and not get burnt out thinking about Aerials all the time.”

 Wells also achieved a Certificate 4 in Fitness last year, which she added to her Certificate for Hospitality, “just to add to the repertoire”. 

Bringing together her skill in the kitchen to help others is a natural fit, which benefit her fellow athletes - who acknowledge Sam as ’definitely the best in the team kitchen’ and allows her to raise funds for the Cancer Council.  

For the third year Sam has hosted a Biggest Morning Tea after her interest in the project was sparked when she volunteered at the Cancer Council as part of her university course.   

“This year’s spread was pretty good and I raised over $600.  I plan on doing it forever. It’s amazing the difference the funds can do to make someone’s life a little better.

“I love making stuff. It doesn’t matter what it is. I like the challenge of seeing something from start to finish.”
Team dinners on Sam’s watch always means something different.

“We have to submit our meals for team camps but usually it’s, ‘Yay – Sam’s cooking’. There may be old favourites but I like to experiment every time.”

Recent meals for the team have included lemon, balsamic and ginger chicken burgers with charred corn capsicum and tomato and a mouth-watering rice noodle salad with pork sate patties.

Danielle Scott is more than happy to hand over the apron.

“Cooking is like an art for Sam and she is the winner in the chef department. She definitely loves to cook and we just like to get fed,” Scott said.

Wells attributes her culinary skills to her family.

“My mum is great cook, and her mum is a great cook. It’s about learning new skills and the mastery of the challenge,” she said.  

There’s no idle hands or an idle mind in the Wells’ household it seems - from making curtains, moccasins, hand sewing or a macramé wall hanging.

“Sewing and craft are high on my list. I love being genuinely busy and good at stuff.”

It’s ten years since Sam Wells has lived at home on the shores of Lake Macquarie in NSW but she will be home in mid-October for a short holiday, but if you want to keep up with this high achiever, you’d want to be up early.
 
 By Belinda Noonan
OWIA

Australia’s Flying Kangaroo Aerial skiers are in Moscow for the World Cup Final this weekend and will be jumping from a massive multi-storey high scaffold set-up just outside of the city centre.

Following Lydia Lassila and Danielle Scott’s one-two podium finish last weekend in Belarus, the Flying Kangaroos remained in Minsk for two days ahead of the Moscow final.

“All the athletes are in great shape,” coach Jeff Bean said.  “We had a great few days jumping prior to coming here (Moscow).”

“Everyone is jumping better and becoming more confident as we continue to train their jumps. They are ready for Moscow and for the World Championships next week in Sierra Nevada.”

The Ladies overall title will come down to Scott and China’s Xu Mengtao. Scott narrowly regained the yellow bib in Minsk and is sitting on 402 points - just a hair’s breadth ahead of  Mangtao’s 400 points.

In six competitions this season Scott has one victory and three runner-up results plus a top ten placing, as she seeks to improve on a 2015/16 season in which she finished second overall in the Aerial Skiing World Cup to USA’s Ashley Caldwell.  

With Scott’s double-flipping precision and exceptional form matched up against Xu’s explosiveness and triple-flipping degree of difficulty, the drama developing ahead of this weekend’s competition and the battle for first overall is high.

Third overall currently belongs to Lassila, and the 35-year-old mother of two has written one of the most remarkable stories in Freestyle this season with two gold medal podiums.

Laura Peel and Samantha Wells have shown great consistency and find themselves just outside the overall top-ten. in eleventh and twelfth places respectively.

Dave Morris has not had the season he was hoping for, coping with niggling injuries earlier in the tour but is now feeling more like his Olympic self. Morris enters the final event on sixteenth place overall and has been using the current World Cup season to test out some new advanced skills.

Morris enters the final event in 16th place on the world ranking leader board.

Conditions in Moscow are different to normal with the aerial skiers jumping from a scaffolding set up, which requires two elevators at the rear to transport the athletes to the top.

“The in-run is steeper and the transition area in front of the jumps is longer than normal so the visuals are slightly different,” coach Bean said.
 
“We are fortunate to have a very experienced group of athletes who have jumped here in Moscow for the last three years as well as in Beijing so we are jumping and training as per normal.”
 
"The weather here is currently challenging and looks like it will continue down that track with warm condition and rain, we are happy to have a good training foundation and feel ready regardless of the conditions."

Competition begins in Moscow on Saturday, with qualifying commencing at 10.05pm (AEDT) and finals from 3am on Sunday morning, which can be watched live on Eurosport.  

 

The Flying Kangaroos Aerial skiers will be keen to continue their strong form today when they compete in the Pyeongchang 2018 Test event at Bokwang Snow Park.

Lydia Lassila, Danielle Scott, Samantha Wells, Laura Peel and David Morris hope to maintain their standard when the event begins with qualifying this afternoon at 3.40pm.

Dual Olympic medalist Lassila became the story of the season last weekend when she fought through challenging weather conditions to take gold at the World Cup event in Deer Valley, Utah.

It was a remarkable result for the 35-year-old who was making only her second competitive appearance since winning bronze at Sochi in 2014 and as with Deer Valley, Lydia’s aim is, “to keep staying on my feet.”

“Our team feels really focused and strong at the moment and everyone is in a position to do really well.”

The result moves Lydia into seventh in the overall World Cup rankings.

Team mate Danielle Scott is the current World Cup leader with three podium finishes this season, including two gold.

“It has been an amazing start to the season and I am really happy,” Danielle said.

“The confidence is there and I hope to get the most out of each experience no matter what the outcome is.”

Samantha Wells and Laura Peel are currently ranked 9th and 11th.

Wells finished third in a World Cup event in December, while Peel  - who was the 2015 World Champion has already enjoyed a top-ten result in 2017 after recovering from a serious ankle injury.

Wells believes the results reflect the hard work being put in behind-the-scenes.

“It is fantastic to see our team doing so well. I think it has a lot to do with our coaches working well together and keeping the team dynamics positive.”

Sole male competitor David Morris has also excelled in recent months.

The 32-year-old Sochi silver medalist has achieved two top-ten finishes in his last three events, but believes there is more to come.
“As always I'd like to be doing better, I'd like to get myself on the podium,” he said.  

“I've been close but couldn't finish off the final jump to snare a medal. It's been productive so far and that's a positive and I’m just going to keep going and hopefully peak at the right times.”

This weekend’s event provides athletes with the unique opportunity to get a feel for the venue they will compete on in 2018.

“When things are new there's always distractions, and that will all get out of the way for the test event so that next time we return it'll feel more familiar and we'll be able to just get to work because we've done it all before,” Morris said.
 
The finals will be braodcast live tonight on Eurosport from 9pm (AEDST).

Being first to jump in the Aerial Skiing World Cup super final in Lake Placid didn’t phase Danielle Scott who opened up the medal round with a smooth back double full full, scoring 92 points, taking silver and moving into outright World number one after an exciting day’s competition for all the Australians.

Scott just made it into the top six after Final 1 and needed to ‘reset’ to make it to the podium.  

“It was a close call to make the final,” Scott said. “All week we had funny training and we train to ‘reset’ after each phase of the event. I thought – ‘this is it – do what I want to do’.”

“I was really happy with my jump in the Super Final and think it’s one of the best double full fulls I’ve done.”

Being the world number one has been a goal for the Sydney-sider.

“I had two goals going into this World Cup. To make the top six and keep the yellow bib – so I’m excited that that has been the result today,” she said from Lake Placid.

The Flying Kangaroos Aerial Team all performed well when Dave Morris and all four women Danielle Scott, Lydia Lassila, Laura Peel and Samantha Wells qualified into the top 12 Final, initially led by an improved Sam Wells who scored 89.14 and led the 27-strong field. Qualifying second behind Wells was Danielle Scott.

Jumping for the top six, Samantha Wells was not able to replicate the landing form from the qualifying round and had to settle for 12th but the improvement keeps happening she said.

“A number of people have commented to me here about how much better I am jumping. It shows that the feedback I get from our coaches is exactly what the judges are rewarding me for,” Wells said.

“Because of a cold during the week, I only managed four jumps on site – so despite the ‘punch front’ landing in the Final it was a pretty good result. Coming first in the qualifying round definitely is confidence building.”

All eyes were on Lydia Lassila’s return to competition and they were not disappointed as the dual Olympic medallist jumped her way into the top 12 with a back, full, full and 86.31 points, pumped her fists into the air after a smooth landing and deservedly looked pleased with her first competitive jump in three years.

Lassila’s attention to detail, air, form and execution were all on display as if she had never been away, nor had a second child. Her jump in Final 1 was a carbon copy of the first for an almost identical score of 86.62, resulting in 3rd and a place in the top six to jump for a medal.

A fairy-tale podium finish was not on the cards after the landing in the Super Final went “over the handle bars” on the landing of her back double full full, leaving Lydia in 6th place overall.

“I’m happy I did enough to make the super final, but not super excited. I overstretched in the Super Final. It’s just a little error – not reading the conditions well enough, but I’m happy with the quality and slowly building,” Lydia said.

“It was really good that all four of us made it to Final 1 and then had three Aussies in the Super Final. We have two more weeks in Lake Placid to be able to get in a good training block and I will get more mileage before Deer Valley.”

Quietly moving up the ladder with each World Cup is World Champion Laura Peel, who continues to strengthen and showed everyone today why, when she qualified 9th (81.27), then came second in Final 1 scoring 87.25 for the same jump behind eventual winner Ashley Caldwell (102.22).

“I definitely did a better job than in China,” Laura said of her final 5th placing. “My goal was to make the Super Final. I’m pretty good with my ‘full in’ and should have landed it. However, I’m getting there and still have some time.”

The gradual improvement will keep going Peel says.

“I’m not where I want to be with my jumps yet, so the next few weeks training will be a good time to ‘dial them in a bit’.”

Australia’s lone male Aerial skier at an elite level, Dave Morris is a happy man after his third World Cup for the season.  
His run to the Super Final started with a fourth in the qualifying, then solid Final 1 where he came in fifth with 110.18 points. The Super Final is where Morris went for the harder quad twist that landed him in sixth overall after a saved landing.
“I’m very happy with today’s result after adding the first quad twist for this season – particularly because I’d only done one in practise,” Morris said.
“In the Super Final I went a little too big (in height and flip rotation), but I have to say that all that working out in the off season paid off with a less than ideal landing which I was able to save ….. just. I will have a few sore muscles but all-in-all it’s good and couple of lessons have been learned.”
The Flying Kangaroos will train in Lake Placid for two weeks before heading to the fourth World Cup this season at Deer Valley on February 3.

The Australian Flying Kangaroos Aerial Ski Team have made an impressive start to the World Cup event in Lake Placid, USA, with all team members advancing through to the final.
 
In the women’s qualifying, Australia was particularly impressive claiming the top two places and three of the top five.
 
All Australian female athletes jumped a back full-full, a double twisting double back somersault, with Samantha Wells in first with a score of 89.14, Danielle Scott second (88.83), Lydia Lassila fifth (86.31) and Laura Peel ninth (81.27).
 
Making an inspiring return was Lydia Lassila, qualifying fifth in her first competition since winning bronze at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and giving birth to her second son.
 
In the men’s event, David Morris scored 115.64 for his back lay-double full-full jump, a triple back somersault with three twists, qualifying for the final in fourth place.
 
Finals in Lake Placid commence at 12:15pm AEST.

IMAGE: David Morris flying high above Lake Placid during training © FIS

Time flies, as it will this year for Australia’s Olympic hopefuls ahead of the Opening Ceremony for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, Korea on February 9 next year.

Australia is preparing to field a team of up to 55 athletes in Korea, which is a few less than the sixty in Sochi, but according to Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman smaller is looking stronger.  

“December produced outstanding results starting with moguls when Britt Cox and Matt Graham won Gold and Silver respectively in the season opening World Cup,” Mr Chesterman said.

“The following weekend delivered more with a Snowboard Cross Gold for Belle Brockhoff and Bronze for Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin and an historic weekend for the Aerials team as Danielle Scott claimed an individual Silver and then Gold plus a World number 1 ranking, Samantha Wells placed third and with Dave Morris Australia won its first-ever Team medal with a Bronze.”

Importantly for Australian winter sports is the emerging depth across more disciplines.

“As well as all those medals there have been other top five places in World Cups and major international competitions where our athletes continue to represent Australia with distinction,” Mr Chesterman added.

“It’s the depth of the performances that is the most important thing. We see so many athletes representing at the highest levels and truly establishing Australia as a winter sport nation.”

Fifteen winter sport disciplines offering a total 102 Olympic medals will be contested in PyeongChang, which is South Korea’s first Winter Games and the third for an East Asian city - after Sapporo in 1964 and Nagano in 1998.

The three skating sports are figure skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. The six skiing sports are alpine, cross-country, freestyle, nordic combined, ski jumping, and snowboarding.

Australia is likely to qualify in the three skating and four skiing sports.

Test events for OWIA athletes continue in February at the 2018 Olympic venues at Gangneug Ice Arena and Bokwang Park including;
9 - 12 February:                Long Track Speed Skating: Danielle Greig
10 February:                      Aerial Skiing:  Danielle Scott, Lydia Lassila, Laura Peel, Samantha Wells and Dave Morris
11 February:                      Mogul Skiing: Britt Cox, Nicole Parks, Matt Graham and Brodie Summers
15 – 19 February:             Figure Skating: Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine.
17 February:                      Snowboard Halfpipe: Scotty James, Kent Callister and Nate Johnson
   
“The Games have been well located to provide ease of access for athletes,” Ian Chesterman advised.

“These days with the games being so big that’s a real challenge. The venues all look good, with many already used in test events and more to come.”
 
“Full credit to the organising committee producing such good venues and for building infrastructure such as the high-speed rail from Seoul.”
 
“Korea is well prepared with venues for these Games.”
 

Australia’s Flying Kangaroos Danielle Scott, Laura Peel, Samantha Wells, Lydia Lassila and Dave Morris have arrived in Lake Placid, USA ready for the third Aerial Skiing World Cup, which kicks off with qualifying just before 7am on Sunday, January 15 (AEDT).

In mid-December Australia enjoyed a successful winter weekend when Danielle Scott won silver in the season-opener World Cup, backed it up with a gold and equal World Number 1 ranking the following day and was joined by Samantha Wells on the podium who took bronze.

To cap off the wonderful winter weekend, Danielle and Sam were joined by Dave Morris with all three delivering their best to claim bronze in the Team Event – a first for the Australian Aerial Skiing Team.

Australia’s Aerial coaches Jeff Bean and Joe Davies say that the athletes have worked hard for their early season success.

“We made a lot of changes over the summer and the team’s success is indicative of that work,” they said.

When asked if there will be any special preparation for Lake Placid, both coaches chorused, “Absolutely not.”

“We treat every comp like a training day,” Coach Bean said. “We’ve learned a lot since 1998 starting with Kirstie, and Jacqui and Alisa. That breadth of experience across the program is something pretty special.”

“We understand that the expectations can’t go away but we are able to take all the resources that the Aerial program provides to produce the best that we can as a group. We have an entire team of people who can get on the podium on any given day,” Joe Davies added.

For Danielle Scott the goal will be to maintain her World Number 1 ranking with the yellow bib.

“The World Cups in China in December were Dani’s best-ever start to the season,” said Geoff Lipshut, CEO Olympic Winter Institute of Australia.

“The same can be said for Samantha Wells, who broke 90 points for the first time in December. That was a big step up for her. It’s also super pleasing to see Laura Peel jumping well and making changes after coming back from injury.”

Sochi silver medallist Dave Morris is fully recovered from injury and trained well leading into Lake Placid.

“Dave’s health and confidence are good, and he is indicating that he’s getting back on track for the World Cups in North America,” Mr Lipshut said.

“The OWIA is appreciative of the valuable support provided to the Aerial Skiing athletes from sponsors and its major stakeholders and partners,” he added.

Lydia Lassila joins the team for her first event since Sochi in 2014 and first World Cup for the 2016/17 season.

“The Aerial Skiing program is very structured and we run a pretty tight program. Lydia has trusted the program from the outset and we think she saw that we all put a lot of thought into that structure and do all the extra ‘one percent’s’ that make a difference,” the coaches said.​

The Aerial World Cup in Lake Placid begins at 6.55am Sunday, 15 January (AEDT) with Ladies Qualifying; Men’s Qualifying at 9.35am and Finals from 2.15pm.

The winter wonderland weekend continued with a flurry of stellar results in the Aerial Skiing World Cup in China today, just a day after Danielle Scott claimed Silver in the opening event of the season.

The Flying Kangaroos, led once again by the in-form Scott, added three more medals to their weekend tally, with Scott winning the one-jump World Cup event, while Samantha Wells snared Bronze.

The qualifcation seeding ahead of the team event acted as a perfect opportunity to battle for World Cup points as the individuals strove to push themselves up the world rankings as well as improving their team's standing.

Scott took the full 100 points from the competition, before the two girls combined with Dave Morris, fresh off a 5th place effort in the one-jump event, to grab another Bronze medal in the Team World Cup, the first medal of any kind obtained by an Australian Aerial Skiing team.

After Gold and Bronze with Belle Brockhoff and Alex Pullin, the VIS athletes have capped off what has been the most successful December on record for Australian winter athletes with the third World Cup win of the season to go along with a collection of podium finishes.

Scott’s second career win today put her at the top of the pile in the World, something she said was extremely special to her and credited her support team.

“I’ve been so close to that yellow bib for a long time so it feels great to finally wear it and land on top of the podium,” she said.

"I feel pretty good about the execution of my jumps and have loved every second of working with Joe (Davies) and Jeff (Bean) on the hill."

"Barbara and Kate have also been excellent, it was a fantastic team effort out there."

“I felt really good about the execution of my jumps and have loved every second up here. To finish the day with Bronze in the team event as well just made this time one to remember,” she said.

​It was a career defining weekend for Wells too, who bounced back after a disappointing individual performance yesterday to hit a personal best score to make her second career podium.

“My aim was just to carry out some of the things we worked on in pre-season camp which was my take-off and my landing technique,” said Wells.

“Even though I didn’t start well on paper, I was happy to progress my jumps over the course of the four days, and landed the dFF for the first time in competition so it was a really satisfying and enjoyable time.”

Dave Morris faced a tougher task but pushed on for 5th, before joining up with the girls to go one better than last year’s 4th place team finish in Beijing to claim the Bronze.

“Unfortunately I was fairly unprepared for competitions this weekend with injury, so today was a much-needed confidence boost after a disappointing result in the first World Cup,” Morris said.

“Last year the team came 4th, being at a disadvantage having two girls and one boy, instead of two boys and one girl. Sam and Dani really put down some great jumps, which combined with mine to secure a spot in the top three, pushing out what seemed like some much stronger teams, but quality jumps and good landings pulled through and we have Australia’s first team medal."

"I’m very proud of everyone’s efforts today."

World Champion Laura Peel is yet to find her best form after qualifying strongly on day one in fourth place, followed by two 12th places but has her eyes set for bigger things in 2017.

The team will break over Christmas but will re-group again for the next event on January 13th at Lake Placid, USA.

China has qualified first, second and fifth on home ground this afternoon for the opening Aerial Skiing World Cup in Beida Lake and the good news for the Flying Kangaroos Australian Aerial Ski Team is Danielle Scott and Laura Peel have made the Final in third and fourth.

Scott and Peel both scored 86.31 after successfully landing double back somersaults with two twists. The tie was broken in Scott’s favour by the Air component  (5.50 to 5.40).

The Beida Lake World Cup in China marks Peel’s return to competition after recovering from ankle surgery. After 620 days off the snow, she was looking for a confident return and “landing forwards on her feet”.

US World Champion Ashley Caldwell snuck into the Final in 12th place after going for the more difficult triple twist, scoring 70.47.

Samantha Wells placed 14th and will not advance to this afternoon’s Final, which begins at 4.30pm (AEDT). To watch the event live, switch on to Eurosport.

Men’s qualifying with Dave Morris begins in just under an hour.  

Photo: Danielle Scott (Instagram) 

Bigger and better is the overall goal for the Freestyle Aerials team this weekend for the first World Cup in Beida Lake, China as the season gets underway with the opening event of seven competitions at six different venues spread out across Asia, Europe and North America.

Australia’s team of Dave Morris, Danielle Scott, Laura Peel and Samantha Wells finished two weeks  training in Ruka, Finland, which included hours jumping on snow daily, before heading to China for back-to-back competitions on December 17 and 18, 2016, at China’s Beida Lake resort. 

Danielle Scott, who finished with a series overall second place last season and third the previous season says she has, “one step to go”.

“We’ve been making the jumps bigger and better. We’re just going to work with doubles at the highest degree of difficulty, maxing out the scores,” Danielle said.

“Beida Lake is the first event and I want nice, clean jumps every round.”

With a start list that could number up to 35 women, going clean and making the final 12 will be a huge confidence booster for the Flying Kangaroos, none more so than 2015 World Champion, Laura Peel who is returning to competition after recovering from ankle surgery last season.

“Until Finland, it had been 620 days since I jumped on snow. It was a long rehab and the ankle handles snow better than the impact of the water jump,” a happy Laura said from China yesterday.
 
“I’ve come back well. It was hard work getting back physically – now it’s also about mentally getting in the swing of things. I’m excited about the weekend.”

Asked about her goal for the weekend, the experienced World Champion was straight to the point; “Land facing forwards.”

Last year was a breakthrough season for Newcastle’s Samantha Wells, who made her first podium with a silver in Deer Valley, USA and as far as Sam is concerned, the only way is up.

“Last year I became more consistent but there were areas of my jumping that weren’t receiving the scores. I spent the Australian winter working on the height and landing of my jumping. My form  scores well, but I need more air,” Samantha explained.

“Carrying the basic elements of a quality jump with an increasing degree of difficulty is what I’m after. For me, it’s about focussing on executing the improvements that have been made.”

​Sochi Silver medallist Dave Morris is as candid as ever when asked about his preparation going into Beida Lake.

“Not great. Worst preparation ever. Ruka started well then I suffered a torn quad muscle, which affected my knee resulting in nearly two weeks off. I haven’t done any triples at all,” he said.

A philosophical Morris said the injury is not overly serious but has suppressed his natural ‘go-for-it’ approach to every event.

“In my career, I’ve got away without any major injuries. It’s my turn I guess.”

“I’d like to start the year off with a bang and do big tricks but realistically I have to get through these two events (in Beida Lake) with nice, safe doubles and build up through the season.”

“It’s a training event and we’ve solidified what I’ve got already. I can’t throw my body around,” the 32-year-old.

There will be more coming, not least because Morris will not be satisfied until he goes for five twists  in an event.

“From earlier this year, I started really practising doing five twists on the snow to potentially do it at an Olympics.  Everyone in the Super Final had five except me.”

“We’ve trained five properly this year and I’d like that in my back pocket.”

Morris took a year off after Sochi and says, “I would not be happy with my career if I didn’t do five twists and three flips – or at least try it.”

The competition for the podium will be stiff as the Chinese look to reassert their team having dipped from the high placements in the 2010-14 period to only one man in the top ten last season and one woman in the top five.  

The top stories of last season were an Eastern European surge on the men’s side, and the second-straight US crystal globe on the ladies’. The Russian team is also one to watch out for.

Oleksandr Abramenko, a decade-long tour veteran found a newfound consistency to capture the first-ever Freestyle crystal globe of any kind for Ukraine, whilst American Ashley Caldwell improved from second-best in 2014/15 to win last season’s crystal globe - the second in a row for the young USA ladies team.

With seven podiums in 10 events over the past two seasons and a penchant for performing the most difficult jumps, Caldwell is the one to chase, but not without competition from Danielle Scott, who has been pipped by the American on the podium the past two years. 

While less explosive than Caldwell, Scott’s clean technique and consistency puts her in a position to podium at nearly every event she enters. In the five seasons on the World Cup, Scott has only finished outside of the top-10 seven times. 

From Beida Lake, the Aerials World Cup hits its US swing, first at historic Lake Placid just after the holidays and then on to the classic showdown in Deer Valley in early February. 

As with all of the events under the FIS Freestyle Skiing umbrella (except for big air), the season truly ends for the top aerials athletes in the world at the 2017 Freestyle World Ski Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain, in March.

With the first World Cup of the season two weeks away, Danielle Scott has showed she is well placed for a strong season following back-to-back Europa Cup victories in Ruka, Finland.
 
The wins were achieved on the back of four well-executed competition jumps, with her Day Two performance particularly impressive with a two jump score of 187.96, almost 20 points clear of second place.
 
Scott was joined on the podium on Day One by her Flying Kangaroos teammate and current World Champion, Laura Peel, who finished third in her first event since March 2015. In the second event Laura finished in sixth place.
 
Samantha Wells had two top ten results, with a fifth place Day Two performance being the highlight.
 
Olympic Silver Medallist David Morris elected not to compete, as he manages some minor injuries early in the season.
 
Flying Kangaroo development athletes Britt George, Abbey Willcox and Harrison Tulberg all made their competition debuts coached by Olympian and Victorian Institute of Sport Technical Coach Bree Munro. The three athletes all had near perfect scores in their back layout and back tuck single backflip jumps. Britt George was the highest placed with a 14th finish in the second event.
 
The opening World Cup event will take place in Beida Lake, China, on December 16-17.

PHOTO: Danielle Scott (middle) and Laura Peel (right) on the podium in Finland

Danielle Scott has finished second overall for the season in the 2015/16 FIS Freestyle Skiing Aerials World Cup, after finishing second in the final event of the season in Minsk, Belarus.

The 25-year-old Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)/Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) athlete was locked in a battle with World Cup leader, Ashley Caldwell of the United States.

After finishing first in qualifying, Scott entered the first final with confidence, putting in a good jump to finish equal fourth, and therefore qualifying for the Super Final.

With the top six qualifying for the Final, Scott was third to jump, and put in an excellent Double Full Full, a triple twist double somersault under pressure, scoring an impressive 96.93, and her second highest score for the season.

Caldwell though responded strongly. Last to jump, and with the World Cup title on the line, she finished with a score of 103.27 performing a Full Full Full, a triple twisting triple somersault to claim a good win, taking home the crystal globe as World Cup champion for 2015/16.

Following the event, Scott reflected on what was a thrilling finale to the aerials competition.

“I’m pretty happy with second overall; it’s one up from last season, so I guess it just keeps getting better and better,” Scott said.

With so many possible scenarios today, Scott maintained her focus on each individual performance.

“The strategy today was definitely dealing with the conditions and speed,” Scott said.

“I’ve had a little bit of trouble with that recently, so I just trusted the coaches were putting me in the right places and do what I needed to do,” she added.

Samantha Wells finished eighth overall in today’s event, after a very strong performance of 3rd place in the qualification round, while Renee McElduff finished in 17th place.

In the Men’s, David Morris finished 21st to finish the season inside the top ten, finishing ninth overall.

IMAGE: Danielle Scott (left) celebrates on the podium © FIS

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)/Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) athlete Samantha Wells has continued her good form after once again qualifying for the Super Final, this time finishing sixth, at the Aerial Skiing World Cup event in Moscow, Russia.

Conditions in Moscow were challenging for all athletes, as the event site, constructed from scaffolding, was subjected to high winds in the lead-up, which made training extremely difficult.

Wells suffered an injury during the week, making her performances even more impressive.

“On the second day of training I had a considerable crash on my first jump,” Wells said.

“I was way too slow due to wind and snow conditions, and injured my ankle, sidelining me for the day’” she added.

Following her best ever World Cup result in Deer Valley, USA last weekend, where she collected a Silver medal, Wells, with her ankle heavily strapped, put in a solid performance in qualifying, where she finished seventh, to secure a berth in the top twelve.

In the Final, Wells finished third after an excellent Full Full (bFF), scoring 85.36 and therefore qualifying for the Super Final.

“I got my speed in the right place to land a nice Full Full and finish in third position,” Wells said.

In the Super Final, Wells performed a Full Double Full (bFdF), scoring a 65.56 and securing a sixth placing overall.

“I hadn’t prepared any Full Double Fulls, but we decided to put it out there anyway and see how it went,” Wells said.

“The risk didn’t pay off. I made a bad call in the air to crash the landing and finished up sixth,” she said.

Danielle Scott, the defending Moscow World Cup Champion, was so close to also reaching the Finals, missing out by just one spot, after finishing 13th in Qualifying, whilst Renee McElduff finished in 16th.

In the Men’s, David Morris finished in 23rd place in Qualifying, therefore missing out on the finals action.

With one World Cup aerial event remaining, Danielle Scott is in second place, David Morris fifth, Samantha Wells ninth and Renee McElduff 15th on the World Cup standings.

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)/Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) athlete Danielle Scott has capped off an excellent weekend for the Australian Aerials team, by taking silver in the second of the World Cup events at Deer Valley, USA this afternoon (Australian time).

Following Samantha Wells second placing in yesterday’s first World Cup event of the double header weekend, Scott could not contain her excitement when she realised she had secured the silver at the 2002 Olympic resort.

Today’s women’s event was taken out by China’s Xin Zhang who finished with a score of 99.40, just 2.11 points clear of Scott with Ashley Caldwell of the United States third.

“I feel fantastic; I’m just soaking it up,” Scott said, shortly after her Super Final run.

“The atmosphere is so awesome here in Deer Valley,” she added.

Scott was thrilled with her performance, and said she felt relaxed leading up to her final jump.

“I just maintained my focus and went out and had fun, not thinking about things too much,” Scott said.

Scott progressed to the Super Final after finishing fourth in qualifying, and again in her first final run.

Scott was thrilled with her final jump and said once she landed it, there was then a nervous wait.

“I just had my fingers and toes crossed; I knew it was close and when I realised I was second, it was just a great feeling,” she said.

Renee McElduff and Samantha Wells finished 15th and 22nd respectively in qualifying today, to miss out on a place in today’s final
In the Men’s event, David Morris finished 24th in qualifying to miss out on a place in the finals.
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Petr Medulich of Russia was the overall winner, with Oleksandr Abramenko of Ukraine second, and Japan’s Naoya Tabara third.

The Australian Flying Kangaroos OWIA/VIS Aerial Skiing program has taken part in celebrating Snowbasin Resorts 75th year of operations.

Snowbasin, situated in Utah, USA, is the North American home of the Flying Kangaroos OWIA/VIS Australian Aerial Skiing program.

Steeped in history, Snowbasin Resort opened in 1940 as the 'Ogden Snow Basin Winter Playground' and proudly hosted the 2002 Olympic Games' Downhill, Combined and Super G races.
 
Australian Olympic Gold Medallists Alisa Camplin and Lydia Lassila also feature at the resort, with their own signature Gondola, recognised alongside many of the greatest snowsports athletes in history from all over the world

At a special celebration at the resort, OWIA and VIS athletes were on hand to meet the Snowbasin guests and sign autographs at the base of the resort.

Snowbasin is having a fabulous winter season, with excellent snow and many days of perfect weather for the athletes to enjoy skiing at one of the North America’s very best ski resorts.

IMAGE: The Australian Flying Kangaroo Aerial Skiing athletes with Snowbasin Resort General Manager John Loomis.

Following the Beijing World Cup before Christmas, the OWIA/VIS Aerial Skiing Program enjoyed a much deserved break.

The team is now back together in Val St Come, Quebec, Canada, and began training on the 8th of January.

Due to unseasonably warm weather conditions on the east coast of North America the program has had to make adjustments with training camp dates and competition schedules. 

The program started training slightly later than planned due to snow conditions and the Lake Placid World Cup has unfortunately been cancelled for the first time in almost twenty years.

This will be used as an opportunity to train and make the most of the extra time now available in the lead up to the next event in Deer Valley, Utah, USA.

Deer Valley will now run an additional Aerial event to make up for the Lake Placid cancellation, on Thursday February 4.