Colby West wins the 48Straight halfpipe and overall standings and Peter Olenick wins the Monster Hit contest.

The folks at 48Straight put on a great pipe comp here in Sun Valley this weekend. The finals proved to be a great show of new and established talent in front of a charged and enthusiastic crowd.

The pipe was cut to perfection, the sun came out, the crowd showed up and the event went off without a hitch. The athletes put on a show that had the crowd fired up all day and in the end it was a podium of New England natives: Colby West (NH) took first, Simon Dumont (ME) in third and JP Solberg (NH) locked up the 2nd place spot with some incredible pipe skiing.
Even though the pipe was not a true “superpipe” it was more than adequate for these athletes to put on a serious show of halfpipe prowess. Dumont continues to be the crowd favorite by simply going bigger than anyone else in the field. Today that was not enough to win as Colby West was going almost as big with perhaps a little bit more tech in his runs – I’m not a judge – nor would I have wanted to be one today – but Colby did what it took to put him on top and had a superb day of flying high above the lip with his signature smooth style, on on his second and winning run, a first hit 900, followed by a 540, a 720 switch to another 720 and a final 1080. His efforts today, combined with his results from Squaw Valley put him in the overall top spot and earned him another $5,000 for the day.

“This feels great, and I’m stoked to do this in front of friends and fans here in Sun Valley,” said West. “I’ve felt really good all season, and I came into today’s event with the same game plan. I decided to do what I do best and let the rest take care of itself. I knew I had to go bigger on that last run to overtake J.P. (Solberg), and fortunately it all worked out.”

Dumont was floating his first hit 540 17-20 feet out and looked as strong as ever following his signature first hit with back to back 900s and on his second run a 1080 – all with amplitude. Solberg was the welcome surprise this weekend going absolutely huge on every hit, all the way to the bottom, and stomping a 900 and 1080 with straight airs and ally-oop flairs. J.P. pushed the entire field today and it was awesome to see his talent get the recognition it deserves.

Peter Olenick skied well too and was on top form carrying some momentum into the Monster Hit competition that followed the halfpipe comp. In fact, he took home the $15,000 first prize by beating out Solberg in the big final. Both skiers made it to the big final by bringing doubles to the table – something the judges clearly appreciated. In the end it was Olenick, but on the podium he credited JP for challenging him with the double flips. “JP stepped it up and made me throw a double, so thanks to him for that,” said the gracious Monster Hit champion – before soaking the crowd with champagne. Dumont and West were also stand-outs in this competition, taking the “monster” part of the comp to heart and maxing out the altitude at 20 feet out. Not bad for a pipe with 18-foot walls!

VP of Operations for 48Straight, Ted Martin, commented: “It’s been a long year for everybody working on the tour, mostly because of some crazy weather. We had rain in Telluride before we built the course and then 100mph winds and snow in Squaw. Those types of scenarios make it difficult. But we had the weather this stop and when we get the weather I think we proved that we can produce an event that is exactly what the athletes want. And they put on a great show. 48Straight is going to be bigger and better next year.”

All told, 48Straight put on a great pipe event during a phenomenal weekend of revelry and entertainment. The parties were all-time as usual and tonight promises to be the best of all as Kip Nelson will once again host the athletes, the entertainers and some other lucky guests at his amazing house here in Sun Valley for what is always a great time to remember (or try to remember in any case).

That’s a wrap for 48Straight 2008 Winter. See you next year!

Pipe Results:
1. Colby West
2. J.P. Solberg
3. Simon Dumont
4. Peter Olenick

Monster Hit contest:
1. Peter Olenick
2. J.P. Solberg
3. Simon Dumont
4. Colby West

Overall 48Straight Pipe Champion: Colby West