Reno’s Wise wins men’s halfpipe competition

By USSA

OSLO, Norway -– David Wise (Reno) and Torin Yater-Wallace (Basalt, Colo.) boosted ahead of the tough competition to win halfpipe gold and silver at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships on March 5.

Wise and Yater-Wallace put down solid first runs that couldn’t be topped, landing them on the podium just 0.6 points apart.

David Wise

In women’s halfpipe, Angeli Vanlaanen (Bellingham, Wash.) finished sixth, the top spot for U.S. women. Switzerland’s Virginie Faivre took the gold medal for women.

Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe) did not compete after she sustained a fall in training and didn’t feel up to qualifiers.

Yater-Wallace attempted a double 1080 in his second run, which could have put him in position for gold, but he didn’t land it.

Tuesday was Wise’s first World Champs win after placing fourth in 2009 and 2011 in Japan and Park City.

The win gave Wise the extra 141 points to overtake teammate Yater-Wallace in the AFP halfpipe World Rankings.