The magnificent weather gods smiled down upon Buttermilk Mountain today as men’s slopestyle qualifiers were on the agenda today. Hundreds (well, between 100 and 200) men signed up to navigate and trick over the gauntlet of snow monstrosities, known as jumps and rails. With seven.. again, SEVEN, men from each heat qualifying, the race was on. Oh, and the next five highest scores overall were also graciously moved into the semi-finals.
Five heats of roughly 30 men each were scheduled today, starting in the early morning, when the sun was shining and ending in the afternoon when the sky was calmly milked over. Switch 1080s, Kangaroo Flips, flips off the snow box, and rightside spins were commonplace throughout the day. Probably the most common trick of the day was the cork 900. Some big, some small, some styled out nicely, some frantically whipped around. Basically, there was no shortage of mind-boggling action on the slope today. One could make the claim that if today’s event were a sandwich, it would be filled with all the delicious tricks and wonderful tasting ski action.
The men had TWO runs in which to do their thing, to put it all on the line and try and qualify for the semi-final rounds tomorrow. While speed remained relatively constant throughout the entirety of the day, there were quite a few cases of knuckling (or ‘casing’ as the kids call it). Whether it was a wax thing or a more overarching speed issue, the men who came up short, were definitely bumming. But the speed only added pressure on the athletes as today’s events whittled down 100+ boys to a mere 40 men.
The big name slopestyle competitors all made it through to the semis, with newcomers sprinkled within. Although absent from the field was last year’s ASO slopestyle champion, Matt Walker, due to a minor injury. So, unfortunately there will be no Stoney Bill for tomorrow’s festivities. X Games competitors Phil Casabon and Bobby Brown move on, as well as 13-yr old lothario, Beau Wells, the latest in the Wells’ family plan to dominate competitive skiing.
Here are the men who made it through. Be sure to stay tuned tomorrow for all of the men and women’s slopestyle madness.
Heat 1 Qualified:
1)Oscar Harlaut
2) Alexis Godbout
3) Sean Decker
4) Joe Schuster
5) Ben Moxham
6) Henrik Lampert
7) Sam Ferguson
Heat 2 Qualified:
1) McRae Williams
2) John Strenio
3) Aidan Sheahan
4) Vincent Gagnier
5) Willis Brown
6) Tim McChesney
7) Kelly Selby
Heat 3 Qualified:
1) Tom Wallisch
2) Luke Nutting
3) Phil Casabon
4) Adam Battersby
5) Elias Ambuhl
6) Karl Fostvedt
7) Finn Anderson
Heat 4 Qualified:
1) Henrik Harlaut
2) Erik hughes
3) Russ Henshaw
4) Alex Schlopy
5) Chris Logan
6) Andrew Hathaway
7) Beau Wells
Heat 5 Qualified:
1) Bobby Brown
2) Gus Kenworthy
3) Kolby Ward
4) Lucas Perin
5) Nicky Keefer
6) Parker White
7) Adrian Dingle
Last Chance Qualified:
1) Mike Mertion
2) Hans Wiener
3) Chris Laker
4) Chapman Geer
5) Rich Fahey
