McRae Williams competes in men's slopestyle at the 2016 Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain Resort on Jan. 24, 2016 in Mammoth, Calif.
Amid extremely windy conditions, skier McRae Williams took home his first career FIS Slopestyle World Cup win in Font Romeu, France.
The final was scheduled for Saturday, but as the wind became too much, the final runs were cancelled and Thursday's qualification results determined the podium.
Williams' 92.80 points stood up to give him the win ahead of Sweden's Jesper Tjader's 91.40 points. Alex Bellemare of Canada rounded out the podium in third with 90.60 points. 2016 Youth Olympic silver medalist Alex Hall finished fourth with 90.00, his best world cup result to date; 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Nick Goepper was fifth with 89.40 and gold medalist Joss Christensen ninth with 85.20. The win gave Williams 100 world cup points and the early lead in the overall season standings.
Williams had two prior world cup podium finishes under his belt, both on home soil. He took second in Mammoth, California in 2016 and Park City, Utah in 2015. He won slopestyle gold at the X Games in Tignes, France in 2013 and a silver the following year in Aspen, Colorado, after just missing a spot on the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team.
On the women's side, Nadia Gonzales had the best finish for U.S. competitors, placing 11th with 56.40. Olympians Devin Logan and Maggie Voisin finished 18th and 23rd.
