This afternoon in Park City saw some of the best competitive halfpipe skiing to date, at the World Superpipe Championships. Mother Nature had some good news and bad news for the crew today: the bad news being it was a little snowy and flat light, but the flat light kept both pipe walls primo, which ended up being a blessing in disguise.
With the event drawing a huge crowd, the competitors put on a show. Super underrated Scott Hibbert pulling the switch 1080 and flare screamin’ out of his deep bag of tricks. JP Solberg throwing his version of the whiskey flip in the middle of his run. Byron Wells launching his tiny frame into the double overhead range and impressing the entire field. With a variety of runs and tricks, the competitions didn’t become stale, nor did it disappoint.
NH boy Tucker Perkins launching bigger than we’ve seen, landing him in the 5th place spot. Depsite Simon Dumont’s floaty 900s and 1260, he couldn’t advance past 4th place. Mike Riddle got his baller ass 1080 to switch alley-oop 900 back which landed him atop the podium in 3rd. Justin ‘J-Bone’ Dorey’s unique run consisting of a giant alley-oop flatspin, 360, and switch 720 busted him onto his first big podium in the US. And New Zealand’s Jossi Wells took his giant 540, back-to-back 900s, and switch 900 took Jossi straight to the top and held him there throughout the competition.
As always, Park City has continued to create a venue with a superpipe that affords the best possible competition for the riders. Tons of immaculate riding went down, with mother nature cooperating in a backhanded way, which all adds up to another great competition.