Panoramic, sunset view of the SuperPipe at Buttermilk Mountain – Jeremy Swanson

Over two hundred of the world’s best athletes in skiing, snowboarding and snow mobiling converged on Aspen/Snowmass this weekend, vying for the most coveted medals in action sports.

Among the top heavy field of North Americans and Europeans (especially Scandinavians and French) were five Australian skiers and boarders, including Olympic gold medalist Torah Bright, Snowboard World Champion Alex Pullin, ski Olympian Jenny Owens, former X Games gold medal Slopestyle winner Anna Segal and hopeful Russ Henshaw who had an unlucky break Saturday.

Jindabyne local Russ Henshaw took fifth spot in the Men’s Ski Slopestyle, but dropped his pole on the final run, pushing him out of a podium finish. Nevertheless Henshaw, who is recovering from knee surgery, is happy with his placing.

“I have mixed emotions today”, he said. “I am frustrated with myself that I would drop my pole in a situation like that, but at the same time I'm stoked I ended up in the top 5 at such a high level of competition.”

Meanwhile in the Women’s event, Melbournian and former X Games gold medalist Anna Segal added to her collection, taking bronze on the podium. The strong finishes bode well for Segal’s and Henshaw’s Olympic careers – this past July Slopestyle (a series of features down a course, including rails, jumps, tabletops and a variety of terrain) was added to the Sochi 2014 Olympics agenda by the International Olympic Committee, 

Alex “Chump” Pullin made it though to the semi finals in Snowboarder X, following his ‘break out’ year in 2011, when he was crowned FIS World Champion and won the FIS Crystal Globe (awarded to the most outstanding athlete on the world cup tour). Jenny Owens, competing at her fourth X Games, pulled through fourth in her discipline.

While Torah Bright made it to the SuperPipe Women’s finals and hoped to secure a gold to match her 2009 win, it was not her day with the eventual gold medal being awarded to Kelly Clark, a three-time Olympian from Vermont who has now won 13 contests in a row.