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Snowbird, UT—At last year's U.S. Freeskiing World Tour event, Rick Greener Capped his run down North Baldy mountain by hucking himself off a cliff and crashing down into a fluffy bed of waist-deep powder.

He was laid up for a while after that, messed up cartilage in his rib cage and all, but it was a great run.

There was a little hucking going on Froday at this year's event on Snowbird's Silver Fox run, last year's powder replaced this season by unforgiving hardpack. Even some smaller jumps were more than bindings could handle, with jarring landings separating multiple skiers from their skis. This type of snow emphasized fast skiing more than jumping, technique plus guts, through bumps or down chutes showing scattered rocks.

Just the kind of contitions Greener liked for his comeback.

"I dominate hardpack" said the 32-year-old, oldest of three Greener brothers who compete under a combined Snowbird/Alta sponsorship, and owner of a Sun Valley quarry that supplied the boulders for Snowbasin's stately day lodge. "With all my gear, I weigh 200, maybe 230 pounds, so when I put edge pressure into hard snow, I can accelerate more than somebody who weighs 160 to 185 pounds."

He displayed enough speed to place 16^th among 81 male skiers and to advance to today's finals—again, on North Baldy. Greener's younger brother, Nick, known in ski circles as "Little Buddy" since he grew up following Rick and middle brother Rob around the mountains, also earned a spot among the 36 survivors of the cut, making his mark by successfully landing a 360-degree jump off a little ridge.

"It was a fun, fun run," said 19-year-old Nick. "Everything went to plan."
The day belonged to French skiers, with Manuel Gaidet and Aurelian Ducroz sharing the first-day lead, and two of their country men placing fourth and fifth. Snowbird's Ben Wheeler was the top local, finishing sixth in the first run.

On the women's side, Asia Jenkins of Aspen heads into today's competition with a solid lead over Kit DesLauriers from Jackson, WY.

Michelle Manning didn't make the cut. But considering she just started skiing four years ago, after graduating from Woods Cross High School and taking a job at Alta's Peruvian Lodge, the notion that she even qualified to compete was impressive. She love "standing at the top, waiting. Your heart beats so fast it's sweet."

Walker Willey's heart beat faster the instant he realized he didn't have quite enough speed to pull off the jump he planned. "I got up on the air and it was like tree, tree, tree, tree" said Willey, 22, another Snowbird skier, who pruned off a branch and emerged backwards from the encounter but stayed upright and completed the run.

Well-withers at the finish line included his mom, Lori, who acknowledged she spent his run "praying the whole way, ‘Just let him be safe.'"