The famous WSI big air contest went down on Saturday night to record-breaking crowds and cheers at the base of Whistler mountain. Changing things up from previous years, the jump was legitimately big, enough that many competitors like Justin Dorey and Chris Turpin were able to throw doubles. It was a refreshing change from years passed when the jump was barely big enough to get a nice 9 around.
The format was unchanged from last year. Each competitor was given two jumps to get themselves into the finals, the best jump of the two scoring. Once JF Houle, Ian Williams, Austin Ross, Shinji Osada and Ian Cosco got themselves into the final, each person had one jump to do each of a 5, 7, 9 and one trick of their choosing. In the end, JF Houle’s solid style and huge air put him on top and put a smooth $10,000 in his pocket.
Not to be outdone, a girls contest with Roz Groenewoud, Sarah Burke and Ashley Battersby went off! Roz went for the 10, Sarah for the 12. In the end Ashley’s stomped switch 7 took the cake. There were only three girls competing, but they pushed it and did legit tricks. Great to see, and perhaps a good argument for more women’s big air comps.
When the contest ended, the thousands of spectators rolled into town, and Whistler went crazy. There aren’t many places in the world as fun as Whistler during the festival, and with no events scheduled for the next couple of days, there’s going to be nothing else to do… so we’ll see you at the bar.
Men’s Results:
1. JF Houle
2. Ian Williams
3. Austin Ross
4. Shinji Osada
5. Ian Cosco
Women’s Results:
1. Ashley Battersby
2. Sarah Burke
3. Roz Groenewoud
