Stassel dominates to win slopestyle gold

Ryan Stassel, an Anchorage snowboarder who holds Peninsula connections, took home the top prize in Wednesday’s slopestyle finals in Kreischberg, Austria.

Competing in the men’s finals at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships, Stassel, 22, earned a high score of 97.5 points on his third and final run of the day to claim the gold while beating defending champion Roope Tonteri of Finland, who earned silver with 93.75 points. His winning run consisted of three 1260s, making him the only competitor of the day to land the 3.5-turn trick.

“I’m speechless,” Stassel told Kreischberg reporters. “I have been working on that run for a long time, and it feels really good to finally pull it all together here at the World Championships.”

Stassel’s first run earned a score of 94.0, the second-best score of the day. He scored 51.0 on his second run and came back with his gold-medal run, earning scores of 98.0 from three of the six judges.

Stassel is a third generation Clam Gulch set-netter who spent many summers on the beach that lies about 28 miles south of Kenai. Wednesday’s accomplishment represented his first world championship of any kind.