News
JEN HUDAK REIGNS THE WINTER X GAMES EUROPE 
15. März 2010
Following her gold medal at the Winter X Games in Aspen this season, Jen Hudak also dominated the halfpipe at the Winter X Games Europe in Tignes yesterday. The score of each of her three runs clearly topped the whole competition. Earlier on, Ashley Battersby had finished third in slopestyle.
Friday was a busy day for all female skiers at the premiere of Europe's Winter X Games in Tignes. It kicked off early with the girls' slopestyle final. The first skier to leave a mark was Marker Völkl team rider Ashley Battersby. She showed a very clean run including both a forward and switch 720°, which she even upped in the second round. A score of 83.33 was enough for third place, closely behind Keri Herman who had placed second at Winter X Games in Aspen, too. Kaya Turski continued her dominance from Aspen with a high score of 93.66. In the end, Ashley Battersby was happy with her bronze medal: "I am glad I made the podium this time, as I had just barely missed it in Aspen. It was close for second place, but Anna [Segal] is as closely behind in fourth. It was a tight competition which shows that the riding level of the girls gets better and better."
Even more dominating than Kaya Turski was Jen Hudak in the superpipe final later that day. The winner of the Winter X Games in Aspen this January left no doubt about her ambitions to double her triumph from the very first air. A huge 900° followed by a 540° and a 700°, all with solid grabs and good amplitude, earned her twice a score of 90.33 and even 91.66 in the final round. Second place went to Roz Groenewoud with 84.66 points closely followed by local hero Anais Caradeux with a score of 83.33. Virginie Faivre, reigning halfpipe word champion and Jen Hudak's team mate in the Marker Völkl Freeski Team, had a very clean third run, but lacked a bit of amplitude and thus had to settle for fourth place. Sarah Burke who had dominated women's freestyle skiing for years couldn't finish a clean run and only placed sixth. However, even with a perfect run she would have had a hard time to knock Jen Hudak off the top spot. This emphasizes the sharply rising level of female pipe skiing this season: Six of eight finalists showed a 900°! The more stoked Jen Hudak was about her victory: "It feels great to win both major events of the season, even more as there are still only a few comps happening for girls. I think we have proven what we are capable of and that we deserve more big contests. I hope this will change in the near future."