Whitehorse slopestyle skier Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon has wrapped up his time at the world cup after competing in Italy on the weekend.

Coming off a finals birth at his previous world cup in France, Geoffroy-Gagnon made the semifinals in Italy coming in 12th place.

Geoffroy-Gagnon was reached in Calgary and he said the competition in Italy ran differently than the one in France.

“In France, there was a hard cut from qualifiers to make it 16 skiers in the finals,” said Geoffroy-Gagnon. “In Italy, there were three qualifying runs. The top two skiers in each of the qualifiers made it through to the finals. Then there was the semifinals to see who the other skiers were in the finals to make it 10.”

Twelve skiers made it to the semis to vie for a spot in the finals.

“I was sitting in first after the first run,” said Geoffroy-Gagnon. “But I fell on my second one. I put down the run I wanted to, but it sucks sitting there, seeing if your score is going to hold up.”

In the semifinals, Geoffroy-Gagnon said he was trying to ski a technically sound run through the terrain park to make it through to the finals.

“I was just trying to get through,” said Geoffroy-Gagnon. “It was a long day and I could have done more and gone for it, but after a tough week of training, I’m super stoked with the way I was skiing.”

After Italy, Geoffroy-Gagnon is sitting in the 18th spot in the world cup standings. In Canada, he is ranked in the top 10.

Back in Canada, Geoffroy-Gagnon will next be competing on the North American circuit starting in Calgary, where he plans to continue improving.

“I can try out new tricks in the North American competitions,” said Geoffroy-Gagnon.

“The competitions don’t count towards the world cup ranking.”

Although he has world cup experience under his belt, he said he feels more pressure in the North American competitions.

“There is more pressure to do well because I am on the national team,” said Geoffroy-Gagnon. “There are guys competing that are looking to take my spot and they are really good. If I stick to my game plan and do my thing I can hold down my spot.”

Despite there being a target on his back in the North American competitions Geoffroy-Gagnon is embracing the challenge.

“I can handle the pressure now,” said Geoffroy-Gagnon. “I use it as a boost even in the smaller events. I am just looking for experience.”

In Italy, Geoffroy-Gagnon said the “big guys” did not compete because they were in Aspen, Col., for the X Games.

Because of this, the Italy competition was worth less FIS points than France. Still, it gave talented skiers an opportunity to show off their skills.

Geoffroy-Gagnon’s teammate Max Moffat, from Guelph, Ont., won the event with a score of 83.10. Mark Hendrickson, from Calgary, came in the tenth spot but only scored 31.60 in the final run.

In his first run of the semifinal, Geoffroy-Gagnon scored 76.70. He was unable to improve upon his score as he fell on his second run.