The last day at the US Open saw sunny skies turn to clouds, which gave way to snow and wind, all during the halfpipe competition. Noticeably absent from the lineup were the big name pros from the X Games making the more unknown riders wow the crowd with their skills. There was a bit of chatter about the pipe being a tad funky, and perhaps that was a major role in why amplitude didn’t play a huge part for most of the field. Regardless of the condition of the pipe, the finals saw some technical runs, with and without amplitude, with the Finnish newcomer wrapping up his US Open with a gold.
French pipe aficionado Xavier Bertoni, on a mission, crushed his run with a switch rightside down the pipe 1080, and right and left side big spins, all but assuring his 3rd place finish. Local boy Taylor Seaton dropped a switch 720, and similar right and left spins to Bertoni’s to nab 2nd place. But it was the Finnish youngster AJ Kempainen whose big switch 720 and solid left to right 900s that secured his 1st place spot on the podium.
The finals was chock full of solid runs, all with varying levels of amplitude. Stefan Thomas took his switch run to a new level by upping the air and spinning like a top, completing all three solid runs. The other Finnish newcomer Kalle Leinonen stunned everyone with his spinning and huge switch alley-oop 1080 at the bottom. Kiwi Byron Wells carried his little body to new heights, although he couldn’t quite get the runs he wanted going in the finals. But not everyone skied well, with Symms and Colby West unable to put down a run, and Lyndon Sheehan’s wildly large, yet uncontrolled airs.
AJ Kempainen was picked as the unanimous winner, yet there were some murmurs from the athletes and industry types about the rest of the top ten. While no judging is perfect and it is subjective, the results may have left a sour taste in a lot of peoples’ mouths.. especially concerning Kalle Leinonen and Stefan Thomas. But despite the judging, the contestants skied well, giving what crowd there was a show they won’t soon forget.
US OPEN MEN’S HALFPIPE FINALS
1) AJ Kempainen
2) Taylor Seaton
3) Xavier Bertoni
4) Stefan Thomas
5) Kalle Leinonen
6) Lyndon Sheehan
7) Dan marion
8) Jon Marks
9) Sean Field
10) Byron Wells
11) Colby West
12) Tyler Peterson
13) Jon Cyrulik
14) Matt Hayward
15) Brent Abrams
16) John Symms
