Amid a snowstorm, the British athlete made the best of tough conditions to put down the most technical run of the day in the women’s competition.

She dropped a left-side 720 on her first hit, before going switch through her next three airs - including back-to-back switch 540s both ways - and putting down an exclamation point with a right-side 720 on her second-to-last.

It earned her a top score of 87.75 points in an impressive performance from the youngster.

"I'm so excited - honestly, I’m speechless," Atkin said. 

"It feels so surreal. 

"I've been working on going as big as I can and being able to spin all four ways to set myself apart from the other competitors, and I’m happy to be able to put that run down today."

Second place went to the United States' Brita Sigourney, whose third and final final run gave her a score of 85.00 points and a 10th podium of her World Cup career.

Rounding off the podium was Canada’s Rachael Karker with 81.75 points.

It secured the 22-year-old a third podium of her World Cup career, with all those top-three finishes coming in the last 12 months.

Finishing just behind Karker in fourth place was China's Zhang Kexin, the winner of the season opener in Cardrona in New Zealand in September.

The result was enough for Zhang to maintain her lead atop the women's FIS Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe World Cup standings with 150 points.

Russia's Valeriya Demidova is second with 105 points, while Atkin is third with 100.

In the men's competition, it was reigning world champion Aaron Blunck who stepped up to defend last season's Copper Mountain win with another top performance.

While last year, Blunck blew everyone away with a run that included four doubles in four hits, there would be no such heroics this time due to the conditions in Colorado.

Still, Blunck led off his run with a left double cork 1080 into a second hit switch 1080, finishing it off with a left side 1080 on his final hit to earn himself a score of 87.00 points and the fourth World Cup victory of his career.

The win, combined with his third-place finish at the season's first event in Cardrona, puts Blunck into top spot in the men's FIS Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe World Cup standings with 160 points.

He is 10 points ahead of team mate Birk Irving, who won in Cardrona and finished fourth today.

Second place today went to two-time reigning Olympic champion David Wise, also of the host US squad, who was returning to action after breaking his leg at the Audi Nines showcase in Ötztal in Austria in May.

The American scored 85.25 points to secure the 16th podium of his World Cup career and was followed in the standings by Canada's Noah Bowman, who managed 84.75.

Bowman now sits third in the men's FIS Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe World Cup standings with 140 points.

The FIS Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe World Cup season is due to continue in Secret Garden, a venue for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, from December 19 to 21.