In the first North American Cup slopestyle event of the season, a Yukoner landed his skis on the podium.

Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon took the bronze medal in the slopestyle competition in Calgary Feb. 9.

In a field of 73 athletes from across Canada and the United States, the Whitehorse skier qualified for the final where the 32 remaining competitors got two more runs on the rails and jump course.

In his first run, Geoffroy-Gagnon tallied a score of 80.41 putting him in second place after the run, just over six points behind the eventual winner Philippe Langevin.

The 20-year-old Yukoner didn’t have a solid second run scoring 43.66 and relying on his first run score for a shot at the podium as the best score of the two is what counted.

He was passed by one competitor, Patrick Dew, who scored an 84.16 to finish in second.

Landing in third place, this is the first time a Yukon freestyle skier has been on the podium in a NorAm Cup competition.

But the season is just beginning for the young snow shredder.

He is in Aspen, Colorado for the second cup event of the season running until Saturday to compete in the slopestyle competition.

Now training in Alberta, Geoffroy-Gagnon is hoping to gain enough points in his runs to qualify for World Cup competitions which pick back up in the beginning of March with slopestyle competitions in Switzerland and Italy.

The third NorAm event is March 12-13 in California with the final event back in Canada running March 27-April 1 in Quebec.

Prior to hopping on the NorAm circuit, Geoffroy-Gagnon took top spot in the most recent Canada Cup competition and after two events sits in second for the Toyo Cup lead – which goes to the most consistent athlete across all disciplines.

The top three athletes overall receive education bursaries. The next event is March 22-25 in Quebec.