Australian aerial skiers have finished in two of the top six places to qualify for the World Cup medal round super-final in Lake Placid.
Competing under lights on Saturday, newly crowned world champion Laura Peel finished just outside a podium position in fourth.
The World Cup was won by Bulgarian Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya, with Russian Veronika Korsunova picking up the silver medal ahead of Melissa Corbo from Canada.
The other Australian in the super-final was Renee McElduff after a career-best result to finish the day sixth overall.
It was the first time McElduff had won through to a World Cup super-final.
Competition started strongly for the Australians who filled first and second places in qualification, via impressive jumps by Danielle Scott and Peel.
Scott's double full full impressed the judges and attracted 91.65 points, placing her just ahead of Peel's full full on 87.88 points.
McElduff qualified for the first final in 10th place also with a full full.
In the next round, Scott was dealt a cruel blow. Just as she was turning her skis in to start her approach to the kicker, the wind turned to a tail wind and significantly affected her descent speed, which made it extremely difficult to land her jump.
The result was a back slap on her landing, costing her points and the chance to compete for a super-final medal. Scott finished 11th overall.
Coach Jeff Bean said there was nothing she could have done.
"Mother Nature decided it was not her day. It was absolute plain bad luck."
While Scott experienced difficulties, Peel nailed a back full full, giving her a 90.09, a score which was unbeaten in this round and was ranked No.1 heading into the super-final.
McElduff showed equal determination and, with the same jump as Peel, grabbed third place, recording her highest score with that jump, and her first appearance in a super-final and brightest moment at elite level.
Bean described it as a great day for Peel and McElduff.
"It is due to consistency in training ... In aerials, you kind of break through milestones. Renee has been doing doubles for a couple of years now and her landing percentage in general and consistency have increased.
"It is the start of bigger and better things for Renee."
The squad competes again in 24 hours in the fifth round of the World Cup in which points are up for grabs in a one-jump individual event, followed by a separate teams events.
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