Mikey Schumacher gets elevated during his halfpipe bronze medal run


Five AVSC Freestyle/Freeride skiers scored big at the Winter Gatorade Free Flow Tour in Vail this past weekend, January 9-10. Aidan Sheehan, Torin Yater-Wallace and Alex Ferreira shook up the 20 and Under slopestyle event, while Cole Pates and Michael Schumacher each took home a third place finish in the 13 and under Juniors division. The Free Flow Tour, a series of regional freeski and snowboard competitions linked to the professional Dew Tour, is designed for up-and-coming freestyle skiers to compete with the winner getting free airfare and lodging to head to the finals and try to land a spot on the Dew Tour.

17 year-old Aidan Sheehan advanced through the two preliminary heats of 22 skiers each and took his best shot in his second run in the 20 and under slopestyle. Sheehan posted a second-run score of 84 and finished second only to Vail's Tanner Coulter. "Aidan skied great and had a real shot at winning the whole thing," said AVSC Freestyle Pipe and Park coach Geoff Stump.

14 year-old Torin Yater-Wallace was the youngest competitor to make the finals and finished fifth. "I think his rail section was exceptional," remarked Stump. "He might have posted the highest rail scores of the competition. He knows he's in striking distance now." 15 year-old Alex Ferreira finished 11th against a strong lineup of skiers from the Rocky Mountain region as well as some competition from Vermont and Canada. "They took the top-ten for the finals and Alex was right on the cusp," said Stump.

Cole Pates broke out of the 13 and under pack in Saturday's slopestyle event. "He trained so hard this fall and it showed," said Stump. "It was the last competition that day and it started around 3:30 in the afternoon. All the skiers had been there since the early morning and Cole kept his focus throughout. He had some impressive jumps but his rail work separated him from the others."

Yater-Wallace followed up on Sunday by finishing second in the half-pipe competition. "Because of the weather they eliminated the preliminary heats and went to a three-run final," said Stump. "Torin had the possibility to win," said AVSC Freestyle coach Elana Chase. "I guess it's ok to get beat by a 19 year-old when you just turned 14." Added Stump, "It just stoked the fire in him that much more." Alex Ferreira had what Chase described as "the best comp run of his life" to finish fifth overall. Michael Schumacher took home the bronze in Sunday's halfpipe the 13 and under category.