Top Skiers Dazzle in Historic Alaskan Competition

As the day wore on, firm conditions on the face softened slightly, and both Parker and Loschi were able to find soft snow throughout their last runs. Parker's confidence had been shaken throughout the day with a couple of bobbles in steep terrain, but she put down a flowy run that really showed her years of experience in Alaska's terrain. Loschi, who had no prior Alaksa experience, matched Parker's flow with a top-to-bottom run that kept her moving throughout.

It was truly a nail-bitter between these two incredibly strong skiers with such different paths leading them to NST. Ultimately, Loschi took the win as the first ever female NST Ski winner.  

The men's field spent the day battling and testing variable conditions across the Priority 1 face. Despite a grabby sun crust, Kye Petersen, Markus Eder, and Max Palm were all able to put down runs, each scoring over 85 points.

In his first run, Sam Kuch showed more comfort in the "variable" snow conditions than many riders understandably had and came out of the gate with two massive 360's, landing him a score of 93. Despite battling patellar tendonitis in both knees for much of the season, Craig "Weazy" Murray didn't let his knees or the snow stop him and put down a jaw-dropping first run that earned him the highest score of the day with 96 points. 

As the snow softened and the competition heated up, the men's field really opened it up and let 'er buck. Slope-guy turned AK sender Colby Stevenson came into the semis swinging with a massive hand-drag 360 and heaps of his signature flowy, fast style, putting down a run that had him yelling all the way back to the finish and advanced him to semi-finals against Weazy. 

In the semi-finals round between Markus Eder and Sam Kuch, Eder put down an amazing run that would surely have him advancing to finals. That is, until Kuch laid down an equally sick run with a couple massive transfers and unmatched speed. Kuch advanced to the finals with a score of 95 against Eder's 88. 

In a battle for a finals spot between Stevenson and Weazy, Stevenson got hung up on a wall near the top and took a little tumble but continued his run beautifully and confidently. Following Stevenson, Weazy took the phrase "turning is a sign of fear" to heart and came in absolutely cooking down Priority 1 in a run so fast and fluid, even the announcers couldn't believe it. Ultimately, Weazy advanced to the finals against Sam Kuch. 

Kuch and Weazy pulled out all the stops in the finals round. Having knocked out some of the best and most stylish skiers around already, Kuch and Weazy knew they had to put on a show. Despite being competitors, Kuch and Weazy are also close friends. That camaraderie was apparent throughout their battle.

Weazy came into his finals run with even more speed than before, hitting the 100(?) foot gap that had taken him out again with a 360. But he couldn't quite hang on and tumbled, losing a ski. Following Weazy's crash, Kuch came in confident, but after a massive backflip, one of his skis popped off during a turn that had everyone scratching their heads. With a mistake each, both headed back up to the top for their last runs, still hungry.

In the final moments, Weazy laid down yet another jaw-dropping run where he landed the 360 transfer that had previously taken him out, adding in another textbook backflip and arriving at the bottom before anyone had the chance to say, "That was insane." Following Weazy's run, Kuch pulled out all the stops, but after possibly the biggest transfer of the day, Kuch took a tumble, giving Weazy a few extra points ahead of him. 

With their arms around each other, Weazy and Kuch's scores of 85 and 70 respectively were announced. As the two embraced in one of the most tender moments in action sports of the year, the rest of the athletes piled on top of them in celebration of Weazy's win.