Cassie Sharpe leads high-flying Canadian podium charge at Mammoth Mountain
Canadians snag medals in freeski halfpipe and snowboard slopestyle
Canada's Cassie Sharpe secured freeski halfpipe World Cup gold at Mammoth Mountain in California on Saturday.
Sharpe, a native of Comox, B.C., scored 90.00 to edge Russia's Valeriya Demidova (89.00) in a close finish.
Sharpe's teammate, Rachael Karker of Erin, Ont., rounded out the podium with an equally close 88.00.
Sharpe and Karker also shared the podium at last week's Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., where they finished second and third respectively in the women's ski superpipe event.
Sharpe was all smiles after Saturday's event: "I went into this competition trying to have the mindset of fun, but knowing me and my competitive spirit I couldn't just go for fun. As much as it was fun, I also wanted to compete at my highest level. I'm really happy with the runs that I put down and the consistency of my riding, it was a beautiful day and everybody skied really well. I'm so happy to stand on the podium with my teammate!"
On the men's side, Calgary's Noah Bowman also landed on the podium.
Bowman's 88.60 was just enough to edge American Lyman Currier (88.20) for silver. The day, however belonged to Aaron Blunck of the U.S. who topped the podium with 97.20.
In women's snowboard, Laurie Blouin captured her first World Cup podium of the new year.
Blouin, 23, scored a 76.16 on her second run to finish behind Jamie Anderson (83.40) of the U.S., while Britain's Katie Ormerod (75.83) took bronze.
WATCH | Laurie Blouin captures World Cup silver at Mammoth:
It's the second-straight week that Anderson has bested the Stoneham, Que. snowboarder for top honours in slopestyle.
Anderson won gold at last weekend's Winter X Games, while Blouin settled for silver.
The pair will renew their budding rivalry as the World Cup shifts to Canadian soil on Feb. 13 in Calgary.
With files from Freestyle Canada