Cassie Sharpe skis to halfpipe silver at Copper Mountain

The Comox, B.C., native rebounded after a tough first run, scoring 89.75 in her second before her final — and best — run clocked in at 90.50 points.

Sharpe, 26, won Olympic gold in February in Pyeongchang and also took home last season's FIS Crystal Globe. She finished first in qualifiers in Colorado.

Watch Sharpe's silver-medal performance:

Olympic champ Cassie Sharpe scores silver medal at World Cup opener in Colorado

6 years ago

Duration 2:36

The Comox, B.C., native won a silver medal at the first FIS halfpipe World Cup event of the season on Friday at Copper Mountain.

Estonia's Kelly Sildaru edged out Sharpe for gold by scoring 93 points in her middle run. American Brita Sigourney took bronze with 88 points.

"I'm really excited to start the season off with a podium. It was a good contest, and it was really fun to have Kelly [Sildaru] there and put some fire under the skis," said Sharpe.

Another Canadian, 21-year-old Rachael Karker, burst onto the scene with two solid runs, including a final run scored at 86 points, good enough for fourth place.

On the men's side, Simon D'Artois was Canada's lone finals qualifier after Noah Bowman failed to advance. D'Artois, the 26-year-old Whistler, B.C., native, finished sixth with a high score of 79.50 points.

Americans Aaron Blunck and David Wise won gold and bronze, while New Zealand's Miguel Porteous snuck between them for silver.

Watch Sharpe discuss her second-place finish:

2nd place finish 'sets a fire' under Cassie Sharpe's skis

6 years ago

Duration 0:41

The reigning Olympic champion from Comox, B.C., vows to return to the top of the podium, after she was upset by Estonian Kelly Sildaru at the opening FIS World Cup event at Copper Mountain.

Copper Mountain has traditionally proved a tough event for Sharpe, who called the halfpipe there her "nemesis."

Three years ago she took a tumble on the Copper Mountain course while doing one of her easier tricks and has had trouble turning off those negative feelings associated with it since.

"I think coming into last year I was only thinking about that [fall] and I wasn't aggressive, I wasn't enjoying skiing it, I had so much on the back of my mind," said Sharpe, who's spent the last few weeks training in Austria for the upcoming season.

"I think this year coming into it I've tried to only have positivity about it and not dwell on something that happened three seasons ago. We'll see how it goes but I'm definitely trying to emote more positive vibes toward this pipe."