The 2009 Canadian Freestyle Ski Association female Canada Post Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer award went to Alberta Park & Pipe Team member Megan Gunning from Calgary, Alta.

Sixteen-year-old Gunning won the award on the strength of her performance in the FIS Halfpipe World Cup series this season where she was second at the World Championships in Japan and third overall for 2008-09.

Megan Gunning on the podium at the World Championships
“It’s unbelievable to see someone with this much talent at such a young age. And, she still has a long way to go,” said Trennon Paynter, Head Coach, Canadian Halfpipe Ski Team.

Paynter credited Gunning’s success to her skill level and her mental state, “What really shines with Megan’s skiing is the technicality she brings and her fearless approach. That combination is what’s really brining her to the top quickly.”

Although snowboard halfpipe has been an Olympic Sport since 1998, the ski version of the sport has been left on the sidelines for the world’s biggest sporting spectacle – although halfpipe skiing is part of every other major halfpipe event on the circuit, including the X Games.

It’s a fact that Canadian halfpipe athletes and coaches have been lobbying hard to get changed.

“We fought to get it to Vancouver for 2010 and now we’re working on getting it to Sochi in 2014,” said Paynter who added that Olympic status would significantly change his sport by broadening its appeal and significantly boosting its funding opportunities.

Currently the Canadian Halfpipe Ski Team is without a major sponsor, so the costs of competing are left up to the athletes and their families. That contrasts sharply with the other Freestyle disciplines that benefit tremendously from government and private funding.

Gunning will be featured on CTV news Friday evening, April 17, at 6:45 p.m. She will also be competing with Canada’s other top halfpipe skiers at the Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C. from April 17 to 26.