Hanna Lamm, a 19-year-old out of Basalt, is making her World Cup debut in the U.S. Grand Prix in her home halfpipe at Buttermilk today. Lamm is one of seven locals competing on Friday.\u00a0
Hunter Maytin, at 16 years old, is one of the youngest competitors in the World Cup in Aspen this week.\u00a0
Nick Geiser climbs the halfpipe in training on Wednesday. Geiser got his first World Cup top-10 finish in New Zealand this fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reporter
Hanna Lamm, a 19-year-old out of Basalt, is making her World Cup debut in the U.S. Grand Prix in her home halfpipe at Buttermilk today. Lamm is one of seven locals competing on Friday.\u00a0
It\u2019s time to defend the Buttermilk halfpipe.
A fleet of seven Aspen-based athletes \u2014 with ages spread across 14 years \u2014 will drop into their home pipe today and \u2014 with strong performances \u2014 on Sunday in the FIS World Cup U.S. Grand Prix. Some are already on top of the freeskiing world; others are looking just to establish themselves. One \u2014 19-year-old Hanna Lamm \u2014 is competing on the World Cup stage for the first time.
\u201cI\u2019m a little nervous but I\u2019m so happy to have it at home for my first one,\u201d Lamm said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of training, camps, things like that. \u2026 [I\u2019ve grown] so much, it\u2019s crazy. You put in the work and it\u2019ll really show.\u201d
Lamm is a convertee from the big-mountain skiing world, rapidly climbing the ranks in slopestyle and halfpipe. In her first season in the park in 2023, she took a gold in the pipe and silver on the slopes at the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association National Championships.
All she\u2019s done since is win a Futures Tour event at Mammoth Mountain in California last July and routinely place in the top five in Nor-Am Cup and other FIS events, plus a podium at the Australian New Zealand Cup in October.
Hunter Maytin, at 16 years old, is one of the youngest competitors in the World Cup in Aspen this week.\u00a0
None of the Aspenites entering the competition were gifted a spot \u2014 each one was earned based on previous scoring results in competitions like the North-American Cup. It just so happened that Lamm earned her first bib in time to compete in front of her family and friends.
\u201cShe really deserved it,\u201d teammate Hunter Maytin said. \u201cShe\u2019s done good the last two years. \u2026 She boosts. She goes big, she\u2019s not afraid to do new things. She\u2019s always trying stuff.\u201d
While she is the only local woman getting a start \u2014 former world champion Hanna Faulhaber is on the shelf this week after taking a fall during X Games \u2014 Lamm is not the only Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club athlete\/alumni looking to establish themselves on the World Cup stage.\u00a0
Eugene \u201cKai\u201d Morris earned his first World Cup start at Aspen in 2021, during the pandemic. In his third full season on the U.S. Ski Team, the 20-year-old has reached as high as No. 16 in a final and has placed in the top 10 in two qualifiers \u2014 including a fourth place in qualification at Secret Garden, China.
Nick Geiser is making his 11th World Cup start and his first in his home pipe. He broke into the top 10 for the first time in his career in Cardrona, New Zealand, finishing No. 8.
\u201cI\u2019m excited to compete in front of my city,\u201d Geiser said. \u201cI always want to do good at comps but this, competing in my hometown is really special and important to me and I really want to do well. \u2026 All my friends and family will be watching, so I feel like I owe it to myself to do good at my home pipe.\u201d
Maytin is one of the youngest athletes on the circuit \u2014 younger even than the rookie Lamm at 16 years of age. This will be his seventh World Cup competition, looking to take the next step and get into the finals for the first time in his career.
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty sick,\u201d Maytin said of competing in the same pipe that hosted X Games just a week before.
Nick Geiser climbs the halfpipe in training on Wednesday. Geiser got his first World Cup top-10 finish in New Zealand this fall.\u00a0
Tristan Feinberg, despite being just 21, is comparatively\u00a0more established. He got his first World Cup start back in 2019. He ended last season on a high note with a ninth place in Calgary and is coming off a 12th place at Copper in December.
Cassidy Jarrell, at the ripe old age of 25, has finished in the top 15 in five of his last six competitions with a seventh at Mammoth last February and a 10th at Secret Garden.
Just a week after X Games, it\u2019s a carrot for the younger locals to chase \u2014 many of whom spent their even younger years watching the pros tear down the pipe, some even grooming the pipe when they were with AVSC.
\u201cI\u2019m a little bit jealous that I\u2019m not competing in [X Games],\u201d Geiser said. \u201cBecause I\u2019m close, but just like fueling toward pushing my skiing and pushing myself so I can compete in X Games and do well in this competition. It\u2019s what I\u2019ve been training for and what my dream has always been.\u201d
Rounding out the septet is grizzled-veteran \u2014 at 30 years old \u2014 Alex Ferreira, who is quickly becoming one of the most decorated competitors in the history of the discipline. He\u2019s medaled in his last nine World Cup comps dating back to January 2023 \u2014 winning seven of those contests. He\u2019s chasing a second consecutive halfpipe \u2014 and overall park and pipe \u2014 Crystal Globe, which would secure his spot in the 2026 Olympics \u2014 the only spot up for grabs this season.
In total, six of the competitors were named to the U.S. Ski Team at the beginning of the season. Lamm and Maytin did not quite crack the roster \u2014 yet.
\u201cIt\u2019s certainly impressive that we have so many people on the U.S. Ski Team from Aspen and the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club,\u201d Ferreira said in an interview in December. \u201cThat\u2019s insanely impressive and I do think it is unique, at the same time, for us to be around the same age and for everyone to be doing so good at this sport.\u201d
Lamm is set to drop in 14th in the 20-person women\u2019s field, starting at 9 a.m. today. The men\u2019s field begins at 12:45 p.m. with Morris leading off the first heat, Jarrell going third and Ferreira sixth. In the second heat, Geiser will go second, Feinberg eighth and Maytin wrapping things up 23rd.
Qualifiers out of Friday\u2019s competition will advance to Sunday\u2019s finals.
rich@aspendailynews.com<\/a>
Reporter
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