For a second straight year, the Whistler Freeride Club (WFC) has produced a world champ.
Lukas Bennett rose to the occasion at the 2024 Freeride Junior World Championships (FJWC) with a gutsy 93.33-point run in Kappl, Austria. Bennett had to think on his feet, launching a 360 over an avalanche barrier to open things up. He never looked back from there, packing his run full of high-speed features and technical rotations going both ways.
In so doing, the 18-year-old followed up on Marcus Goguen's 2023 FJWC triumph with a worthy sequel in the Tyrolian Alps.
Less than four points separated the athletes on the men's ski podium: Tyler Blocker earned silver (91.00) and fellow American Michael Wheatley held down bronze (90.00)
"This is the most insane feeling being here with all my friends – they’re like a family," said Bennett in a press release. "I had to do a little bit of improv on my run, getting lost at the top, and I wasn’t supposed to go over the barrier. All the riders sent it today. Anybody could have won. It's insane."
Fellow WFC athletes Nate Wilson (63.00) and Kieren Ferguson (62.00) also dropped in to finish 13th and 14th respectively. Kane Gascoigne had a tougher day at the office, ending up 28th with no score.
A pair of Whistlerites also cracked the top 10 among women's skiers. Drea Dimma (50.00) put together a seventh-place effort after crashing out in last year's competition, while Kayla Constantini (2.00) was ninth.
It's the first time that Canada has been represented solely by WFC members at the FJWC.
Jana Häusl (85.00), daughter of freeride pioneer Stefan Häusl, stormed out of the gates to showcase some solid drops, a fluid 360 and another air off the kickers. The 15-year-old is now the youngest female junior world champ on record, as well as the first Austrian to win the ski event. Swiss contestant Elfy Rouiller (79.67) grabbed second and Ida Feen (64.00) completed the podium in third for Norway.
Conditions were challenging, with spring-like snow and stiff winds pushing 130 kilometres/hour. As a result, organizers moved the festivities from the Quellspitze to the Hausberg face, giving riders a fair shot at their best runs.
Full results from the 2024 FJWC are available here.
