We’ve met the world’s best Slopestylers and Alpine skiers from around the world as they train in Perisher, now we are going to take you through the who’s who of the elite Mogul world.
Perisher has mogul athletes from Korea, Switzerland, France, Australia and the Canadian and U.S team training here for their next competition. Meet the skiers who race through the bumps, pull off a sky high trick all the while trying to have the fastest time to make it on the podium (talk about multi-tasking!).
This young aussie has been committed to the mogul sport since he was young, joining the Winter Sports Club at Perisher when he was just six and his commitment is really paying off. His career highlights so far have been competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics, placing 7th in the finals for moguls. This achievement is shortly followed by his first World Cup podium this past northern hemisphere season.
He’s been out for most of this season having injured his arm at a training camp in the U.S which required surgery. He’s missing out on the Australian Freestyle Mogul Championships this week which he has only missed twice now since he started competing in it back in 2003. He’s assured us his injury won’t affect his future skiing and is already making plans to hit the slopes at the end of September with the next Winter Olympics firmly in his sights.
Local girl Nicole gets her love for moguls from her father who was a brilliant skier back in the day who loved to ski moguls. Like Matt, she became part of Perisher’s Winter Sports Club when she was seven years old and since has made her Olympic debut in 2014 where she reached her goal of finishing in the top 20, ending the Games in 15th place.
Prior to the Olympics Nicole made her World Cup debut in 2010 and won her first Australian title in 2011. Her Olympic experience has made her want to achieve more, progress further, and take on the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Taylah was also a part of the Winter Sports Club here in Perisher. After honing her skills she started competing internationally in 2009 and first joined the World Cup circuit in January 2010. At the 2012 Junior World Championships, O’Neill came in fifth and was focussed on Sochi. Taylah made her Olympic debut at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at just 19 years old. She progressed from the qualification round into the first round of finals alongside her teammates Britt Cox and Perisher's Nicole Parks. While she missed the medal final, she finished within her goal of making the top-20, placing 16th overall.
The Olympics was something Taylah had dreamed of her entire career, so it really was a dream come true for her to be able to compete for Australia.
Mikael Kingsbury
Attending your first Olympics is a mixture of emotions for all the athletes but just imagine attending your first Olympics and winning a silver medal, that’s exactly what happened to Kingsbury in 2014.
We really can’t be shocked with this result though he is the four time reigning Freestyle World Cup title holder for moguls and freestyle. At the ripe age of 21 he surpassed Jean Luc-Brassard for the most Freestyle World Cup wins by a Canadian. Kingsbury just keeps going from podium to podium!
Marc-Antoine Gagnon
Perisher is certainly seeing a lot of Canadians including Gagnon who narrowly missed out on the podium finishing fourth place in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
In both 2011-12 and 2012-13, Gagnon was one of three Canadian men to end the season ranked in the top five of the World Cup mogul standings. Winning his first World Cup medal, bronze, in 2012 for dual moguls. In 2014 he continued the medal tally with a bronze for moguls in January followed up by a silver in March.
JaeWoo Choi
Korean mogul skier JaeWoo has started in four World Ski Championships, placing 5th in 2013 and an incredible 33 starts in the World Cup. Out of his 33 starts he has placed ten times in the top 20 which includes a 4th in January this year.
It’s really no surprise that we saw him competing at the Winter Olympics in 2014 where he placed 12th. This isn’t JaeWoo’s first time to Perisher. He competed here for the Australian New Zealand Cup in 2012 taking out first place.
Deborah Scanzio
Hailing from Switzerland but competing for Italy is Deborah. She is no new-comer to the Olympic scene having attended the last three Winter Olympics, placing 9th (2006), 10th (2010) and 11th (2014).
She has also placed 26 times in the top 10 during the World Cup since 2005. She is definitely a seasoned mogul competitor who can show you a thing or two about skiing bumps.
Perrine Laffont
The young gun from France, Laffont hasn’t been around for long but has certainly made her mark in the mogul world. She was winner of the Best Young Athlete for the World Cup and has placed on the podium four times during the Junior World Ski Championships.
During the Europa Cup in 2013 she had two firsts, a second and two thirds. Being selected to compete at the Winter Olympics in 2014 has been the highlight of her career though, placing 14th overall. Laffont has big dreams already preparing for the 2018 Winter Olympics where she hopes to get on the podium!
Philippe Marquis
Following in his big brother, Vincent’s, footsteps Philippe competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics finishing with 9th place. This Canadian is established among the world’s mogul elite having captured a bronze medal at the World Cup Sochi test event in the 2012-13 season, sharing the podium with fellow Canadian Kingsbury.
Philippe is one of four Canadians ranked in the top seven in the World Cup moguls standings. It’s clear the Canadian team is one to definitely keep an eye out for.
Simon Pouliot-Cavanagh
Simon has always loved skiing moguls and first heard about the Mont-Sainte-Anne Freestyle Ski Club when he was nine and since has never looked back.
He was selected for the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team in 2010 with his best result so far being a bronze in dual moguls at the Spanish World Cup in 2013. He ended in the 2014-15 World Cup tour ranked 6th overall.
Patrick Deneen
American Deneen is no stranger to the podium, he is a 12-time World Cup moguls medallist racking up one gold, five silver and six bronze. He also won gold at the 2009 World Ski Championships.
Winning the US Olympic Trials in 2009 he secured himself a spot on the US Olympic team for the Vancouver Olympics in which he placed 19th. He returned to the Olympics in Sochi outdoing his last result with a 6th place.
Troy Murphy
In his rookie season on the World Cup tour in 2014 the American mogul skier had nine starts and earned two 5th place finishes, leading him to become the Rookie of the Year award for 2014.
This year he has continued to deliver on results with four top 10 finishes including a 4th place. Troy is a fast skier with a dynamic air package making him one to watch on the international stage.
Dufour-Lapointe Sisters
It’s clear that moguls run in the Dufour-Lapointe family. These Canadian sisters are known throughout the mogul world for their sisterly support as well as their results.
Justine, the youngest of the bunch is the current Olympic champion in women’s moguls and also the current World Champion. When she won the Olympics in Sochi she became the youngest freestyle skiing Olympic champion ever, at just 19 years of age.
Chloe stood next to Justine at the Olympics receiving a silver medal. She was the World Champion for dual moguls in 2013 and competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics coming in at 5th place.
Maxime is the eldest and also competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics finishing 12th place. She has been competing on the World Cup circuit since 2007 and earned her first World Cup podium in January 2014 when she finished third in moguls. In 2009 she was one of the first women to perform a backflip with a full twist in competition.
The Dufour-Lapointe sisters are clearly a powerhouse of strong mogul skiers.
Audrey Robichaud
Audrey has been a part of the Canadian National Team since 2004 and was named Rookie of the Year when she was just 16 years old in 2005. The following year she arrived at the Winter Olympics which she says was the reason why she skied. She placed 8th at the 2006 Olympics in Torino. She missed out on the Olympics in 2010 but made it on the team for 2014 Olympics placing 10th overall.
On the World Cup circuit she has placed first during the 2012-13 season and in 2010-11 she placed overall third. Recently she has been placing in the top 10 for the 2014-15 World Cup circuit, including a few podium finishes.
Brodie Summers
Australia’s own Summers considers himself a late-comer to the professional world of moguls getting hooked in 2007.
A year later he made it onto the Australian Sub-Development Team and in 2010 was selected for the Australian Development Team where he found his skills and techniques quickly progressed leading to his first podium finish in 2013 during the North American Cup. He achieved a 7th place in the day one of the World Championships and 9th on day two in duals in 2013-14. These results set in motion his road to the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he finished 13th.
Now a part of the Australian National Team Brodie sees his late start to the sport not as a disadvantage but as a stimulus for motivation and has his sights set for the podium.
Rohan Chapman-Davies
Rohan has been skiing at Perisher for 19 years and is proud to call it his home resort. He is currently training with the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA).
During the 2014-15 season Rohan competed on the North American Cup tour where he finished 3rd overall for the season with four podium finishes out of the eight events he competed in.
Britt Cox
Britt was born into a mogul skiing environment with her family passionate mogul skiers, so it’s no surprise she’s been competing in the Olympics and in World Cup events for Australia.
At just 15 she became the second youngest athlete in history to represent Australia at a Winter Olympics and was the youngest competitor at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She was the first Australian female to win a World Cup medal in 2012 and in 2013 she won a bronze medal at the World Cup event in Lake Placid.
She showed just how far she has progressed in the sport just missing out on the podium with a fifth at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Britt is driven to become one of the world’s leading mogul skiers aiming for the podium at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Keep an eye out for this rising star out on the slopes. Keep your eyes peeled for the home-grown as well as the international talent while you’re cruising around the mountain.
