Aerials

Heavenly Ski Resort started making snow back in November for the World Cup aerial jump site. After two and a half months and 9,369 tons of snow, the aerialists flew like birds in Sunday's World Cup competition. Though big wet snow flakes fell on the jump site during the A seed's competition, competitors remained focused.

Canadians Kyle Nissen and Veronica Brenner dominated the competition to take first in the men's and women's A seed, respectively. The Canadian aerialists shined today. Nissen, competing in only his third World Cup, is a rookie on the Canadian team. World Cup standings leader Jacqui Cooper had trouble with her landings, allowing Brenner the chance to win her first World Cup in three years.

"We all had the same conditions. You had to deal with it mentally and physically..."— Brian Currutt

After the athletes choose which kicker they'll hit (there are five different jumps to pick from), some of them reach heights of up to 65 feet. The ramps vary in height and take-off angle — two biggest kickers at Heavenly were 4.2 meters (13.78 ft) high. Aerialists decide ahead of time which ramp they'll go off, what type of trick they'll throw and how fast they need to ski down the "in-run" in order to hit the ramp just right. In the women's event, Cooper finished 2nd behind Brenner, and Switzerland's Evelyne Leu was third.

	Take-off

For the men, Canada's Nicolas Fontaine was 2nd, and three American men filled the remaining top five in the results. Brian Currutt, from Park City, Utah, took 3rd for his best result in four years on the World Cup tour. Eric Bergoust, '99 World Championships gold medalist and '98 Olympics gold winner, was 2nd, and Joe Pack, who won two weeks ago in Deer Valley, was 5th.

Wet snow fell steadily during the competition, causing scary conditions on the course surface, where consistency is essential for the aerialists. Course workers diligently raked and smoothed the surface as the athletes ran frequent speed checks, constantly evaluating the jump site.

"I balked on my first jump because I wasn't sure. It wasn't a lot of fun, but we all had the same conditions," Currutt said. "You had to deal with it mentally and physically."

Television coverage of the weekend events will be broadcast at noon EST Jan. 30 (Super Bowl Sunday) on CBS.

— Michelle Quigley, keeping the lens dry with baggies for MountainZone.com