Bend’s Hunter Hess placed third in a halfpipe skiing World Cup event Friday night in Secret Garden, China.

Hess finished with a score of 88.75 for the second World Cup podium of his career. In 2018, Hess finished third in a World Cup, also at Secret Garden.

Hess, 25, is a Summit High School graduate who grew up competing at Mt. Bachelor with the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation.

Two-time Olympic medallist Alex Ferreira of the United States secured his fifth World Cup victory with an opening run of 91.00.

New Zealand’s Luke Harrold, just 15 years old, scored 89.25 to take second place in his World Cup debut.

Olympic champion Nico Porteous, also of New Zealand, was unable to complete a clean run and ended up 10th with a score of 42.00.

Double Olympic champion Eileen Gu of China won the women’s halfpipe skiing World Cup with a score of 94.25. Gu won two gold medals at the Beijing Winter Olympics at Secret Garden in 2022.

Hanna Faulhaber of the U.S. was second with 82.25, ahead of Canada’s Amy Fraser (79.25).

The skiers head to Copper Mountain, Colorado, next week with World Cup halfpipe and big air finals taking place on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

—Bulletin staff report