James Woods wins slopestyle silver at ski World Championships

James Woods has won Great Britain's first freestyle skiing medal at a World Championships in 20 years after winning slopestyle silver in Norway.

The 21-year-old was given a score of 91.2 to place him second behind American Thomas Wallisch.

In the women's event, Britain's Katie Summerhayes finished outside the medals in fourth place with a score of 72.2.

Slopestyle where snowboarders and skiers are judged on tricks, will be a new event at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

"I'm absolutely thrilled," Woods told BBC Sport.

"To do those tricks you have to be really bang on, and I feel like my second run was pretty close to it."

The bronze medal in the men's event was taken by American Nicholas Goepper in Voss-Myrkdalen.

The women's gold medal was won by Canadian Kaya Turski, who scored 89.6, with compatriot Dara Howell taking silver and American Grete Eliassen collecting bronze.

Summerhayes, who describes Woods as her best friend, has already qualified for next year's Winter Olympics as she continues to hit form on her comeback from a knee injury.

"There is no happier coach in the world at the moment," said Britain's freestyle skiing coach Pat Sharples.

"James produced an absolutely brilliant run to take silver, and what Katie has achieved so soon after coming back from injury has been amazing.

"The team is in a great place at the moment. There is a lot more work to do but we are in the best position to smash it heading into the Olympic season in 2014."

Heavy snowfall has some Wash. ski areas opening

MOUNT BAKER, Wash. - Heavy snowfall in the Cascade Range has some Washington ski areas preparing to open.

Mount Baker Ski Area says it's received more than 45 inches of new snow in the last few days, and it plans to open on Thursday.

Crystal Mountain, meanwhile, says it's gotten about 2 feet recently and could open for limited operations on Wednesday.

Year Round skiing in Virginia - August 2009

August wouldn't come to mind as the right time of year for skiing, unless you were headed to South America. But a year-round ski facility called the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre is scheduled to open in Lynchburg, Va, at Liberty University on Aug. 29.

Its slopes will be layered with a synthetic material that simulates snow for skiing, boarders and tubing. Snowflex will be open to the public as well as to students. The facility will include a main slope, two grind rails, an 11-foot-high quarter pipe, and a beginner slope. Equipment rentals will be available.

Austria gets dumped on

Austria is enjoying the best of the snowfall this week, and the resorts we report on are in excellent shape as temperatures remain comfortably cold. Many resorts are expecting further snowfall this week with up to 50cm expected in some places. Wunderbar!

Most of the country is benefitting from the storm, which is set to last into this week bringing a further 50cms in places. Obertauern is in superb condition following 30cm of fresh snow falling on Sunday.The cold temperatures mixed with sunny spells this week are providing good visibility, so it's a great week to make the most of the resort's powder! The same snowstorm that dumped heavy snowfalls on Obertauern also boosted the conditions at Zauchensee which is very close by. The base depth in the whole resort is up to a metre, as is the base at Waidring in the Steinplatte area. 30cm of new snow fell there on Sunday increasing the base depth on the upper slopes by 50cm.

Kaprun's base on the upper slopes has increased significantly to 258cm, partly due to the fresh snow that has fallen this weekend but also due to improved depth measurements.

Europe triumphs at Tignes Airwaves

More than 2000 spectators gathered in the Tignes to support freestyle skiers taking part in the 5th Tignes Airwaves event this weekend.

The freestyle skiing competition kicked off on Sunday with, for the first time at the event, the Riderscup. Inspired by the golfing competition, the contest saw North America take on Europe in the Big Air contest, followed by the half pipe competition yesterday.

Unlike other freestyle competitions, the Riderscup is based on team ranking. Team leaders Candide Thovex (Europe) and TJ Schiller (North America) each recruited 8 of the best riders, including one promising new talent.

Sunday's Big Air featured an 18ft high kicker which the competitors used to perform tricks and jumps to bag points. Canadian Ian Cosco did an impressive double‐cork 1,260° mute and North American captain, TJ Schiller, performed for the first time an amazing switch double cork 1,200° safety. The Europeans came out on top though and finsihed the day 4 points ahead of the Northern Americans.

Monday arrived and North America were looking to fight back in the Half Pipe, but unfortunately Ian Cosco, Mike Riddle and Josh Bibby were injured during the Big Air event and Half Pipe training.

European team were keen to prove their skill in the 412ft long half pipe. French Kevin Rolland took the lead with a superb cork 5 double mute when entering the copping and performed a crazy switch cork 7 mute to end his run.

Loïc Collomb‐Patton and Thomas Krief, the youngest of the team, also impressed the crowd and performed a fat 540°, a holly hoop flat spin 540°, a cork 900° and a switch 720°.

At the end of the day the results said it all and with 23 to North America's 11, the European team won a resounding victory and took the title of the very first Tignes Airwaves Riderscup.

The Tignes Airwaves event continues this week with the 4Cross today and then the Moguls and Ski Cross competitions on Wednesday and Thursday.