After a disappointing result for the young kiwi in Slopestyle finals today, Jossi Wells bounced back merely two hours later to win the Superpipe Elimination round. A combination of boosty amplitude, smooth riding and technical tricks led him to the top. His 900 to right 900 to 540 to 720 to switch 720 to alley oop flatspin 540 to 1080 were enough to appease the judges.
After suffering a pretty horrendous crash a couple days ago in practice which led Simon Dumont to drop out of slopestyle and big air, and force a couple days off, The Dumont was back in fierce form tonight, qualifying 2nd. The signature amplitude was back, the tricks were back, and so was Simon. 900 to right 900 to 540 to alley oop 720 to switch 1080 to ally oop 1080 was good enough for the 2nd qualifying spot. Kevin Rolland followed Dumont closely with a double flip, to alley oop flatspin 360 to switch 720 to right 900 to left 900 to flare to 1260 alley oop 720.
The runs were all tech and mostly boosted, as the top 8 were culled from a super-powered field of 16. Tucker Perkins boosted his first hit huge and utilized a double flip to take 4th. Xavier Bertoni skied in fine form for 5th. Colby West had two switch hits in his run to take 6th. Peter Olenick and Duncan Adams, while having very different runs, both tied for the 7th spot. Peter’s was more traditional, throwing both 900s and boosting a huge flatpsin, while Duncan went the Stefan Thomas approach and air-to-fakied and switch straight aired into the judges hearts.
Both Dan Marion and AJ Kemppainen had technical and stylish runs, But were unfortunately just bumped off the bubble spots by the aforementioned.
In a surprising turn of events, Superpipe Big Timers Justin Dorey, Matt Margetts, and Mike Riddle all failed to qualify tonight. It has been a long time since we’ve seen any pipe competition free of one of those Canadians, but they will all surely be back next week at the Dew Tour. Byron Wells skied years above his age, boosting his last hit to the moon, only to have a his ski come off upon landing. While he didn’t qualify, Byron turned more than a few heads tonight.
Tomorrow’s pipe event should prove to be crazy, with higher amplitudes and more double flips being tried under the lights. Don’t miss tomorrow’s action, which will also be immediately followed by a new event, High Air. Simon Dumont, Kevin Rolland, Mike Riddle and Justin Dorey are in, with two more athletes to be announced tomorrow.
Until tomorrow.
