Sunshine, finally. This morning the men tried their hand at the slopestyle course, for their qualifying round. Since the weather was better, then course was faster and the jumps manicured to the best they could be. X Games gold medalist Bobby Brown took the big win in qualifiers today, dropping some dub 1080 and switch dub 1260 knowledge on the field.

Following Bobby was USA’s Tom Wallisch whose switch right 1080s, dub 1080s and rodeo 900s wowed the judges. Elias Ambuhl, who honestly was robbed his first run, put together two dubs in his run to snag 3rd. Henrik Harlaut’s smooth spinning and switch 1080 was good enough for 4th, watch for more from Harlaut in finals.

Jossi Wells, fresh off the superpipe finals last night, stomped his dub 1260 and 900 shifty in his 2nd run to qualify for the big show. Alex Schlopy, who is an X Games rookie, dropped a wobble cork switch 1440 on the judges and just about blew their minds. Andreas HÃ¥tveit looked his usual solid self, spinning, grabbing and stomping (even a little afterbanging) that only the big Norwegian can. And rounding out on the bubble was TJ Schiller who opted for a more stylish smooth run, than a faster and spinny-ier run. Watch for Schiller to bring the doubles tomorrow.

Unfortunately, guys like Matt Walker, Alexis Godbout, PK Hunder, Sammy Carlson, and Jacob Wester all skied well enough for finals, but the judges thought otherwise and they are out. Cutting 20 guys down to 8 is no easy task, and there will always be superstars left out, with a start list as packed as here in Tignes.

Friday, the stage is set for finals, men’s and women’s. Be here in Tignes, or be square.

Men’s Slopestyle Qualifiers
1) Bobby Brown
2) Tom Wallisch
3) Elias Ambuhl
4) Henrik Harlaut
5) Jossi Wells
6) Andreas HÃ¥tveit
7) Alex Schlopy
8) TJ Schiller