All action photos by Brian Walker
Brother and sister team, Chris and Devin Logan come out on top of the podium during The North Face Park & Pipe Open Series slopestyle event today up at Northstar at Tahoe. This is the first stop of the two part series, the second being in Waterville, February 17-20. Chris Logan and Maude Raymond, who won third place in today’s event, both received their coveted X Games invitation.
Devin Logan and Chris Logan with their matching checks for 1st today
Today’s event started out with women’s semifinals, and then went straight into the two heats of men’s semifinals. Grey skies and wind in the morning caused the speed to change giving a few of the females some trouble clearing the jumps. The girls absolutely threw down regardless. I’ve never seen so many girls go off axis, which is a big step toward where women’s slopestyle is headed. I saw cork 900s from Dania, rodeos from both Jessica Warll and Anna Segal, and Devin threw a huge cork 7. Jessica Warll came out in first after this round with a score of 92.4 throwing down a huge cork 3 into flat 5. Maude Raymond was in second with an 86.6. She was the only female of the day to grease the down-flat-down and slide the high flat bar. Dania was in third with a style-y cork 7 to 540. Kim Lamarre, who was killing it all morning, went for a huge zero spin on the second jump, but landing right on the knuckle thanks to the wind. This left her on the wrong side of the bubble.
Women’s Semifinal Results
1. Jessica Warll – 92.4
2. Maude Raymond – 86.6
3. Dania Assaly – 85.4
4. Devin Logan – 83.8
5. Anna Segal – 82.2
6. Meg Olenick – 81.8
Cutoff_______________
7. Kim Lamarre – 79.60
8. Keltie Hansen – 72.20
9. Ali Agee – 68.40
10. Erica Durtschi – 64.60
11. Holly Hind – 42.00
Anna Segal throwing her rodeo 540 off the first jump during qualifiers today.
The sun came out just in time for the men’s semifinal heats to begin. Gus Kenworthy came out on top with a 90.20 throwing 450 disaster, 270 out on the DFD, 2 on, 2 off on the high bar, switch 10, switch right-side 9 and a 540 on the quarter pipe. Nick Goepper came out second with a score of 88.20, and Chris Laker in third with 87.60. For the second heat, McRae Williams, who got second in qualifiers, won his heat yet again advancing him straight into finals with an 89.60. His run consisted of switch 2, back 630 off on the high bar, and switch 9 into cork 9. Killing it all day long was Joss Christensen, who came out in second with an 88.60. He spun a cork 630 off the high bar straight into a right 9 and switch right 9.
LJ with his switch 2 on, about to flip off.
2. Joss Christensen – 88.60
3. Paul Bergeron – 86.80
4. Joe Schuster – 83.60
5. Aiden Sheahan – 83.60
6. Chris Logan – 80.60
7. Cody Ling – 78.40
8. Mike Mertion – 75.40
Cutoff _______________
9. Matt Margetts – 73.40
10. Max Peters – 70.60
11. Nicholas Keefer – 70.60
12. John Leonard – 70.20
13. Charlie Ingalls – 63.80
14. David Wise – 40.60
15. Matt Nelson – 36.40
16. Kyle Smaine – 30.40
2. Nick Goepper – 88.20
3. Chris Laker – 87.60
4. John Strenio – 84.60
5. Nick Martini – 84.20
6. Tim McChesney – 83.20
7. Clayton Vila – 82.60
8. Ben Moxham – 78.20
Cutoff__________________
9. Robert Walter – 73.40
10. Charlie Lasser – 72.60
11. Patrick Baskins – 69.40
12. Maks Gorham – 67.20
13. Kolby Ward – 59.80
14. Lyman Currier – 45.00
15. Karl Fostvedt – 38.60
16. Jason Arens – 28.00
John Leonard during semifinals.
The afternoon kicked off with women’s finals first. The girls went all out, which made me happy to not have to judge this event. It was a close call, but in the end it was Devin Logan’s huge switch 5 to cork 720 and 540 in the quarter pipe that gave her the win. She was the only girl I saw spin over a 3 on the quarter pipe. Soaring her way into second place was Anna Segal. There is no doubt she rightfully made it onto the podium with her huge rodeo 5 straight into big switch 3. Third place and an X Games invite went to Canadian skier, Maude Raymond who had some of the best style out today. She gained extra points by taking the more risky rail line and throwing down a switch 5 into a nice regular 5. Just missing the cut was Jessica Warll, who is new on the pro scene. With her cork 5s and huge rodeos, she’s definitely one to look out for. Dania Assaly and Meg Olenick both threw down impressive 900s. Overall, the girls showed that women’s slopestyle is stepping it up in the right direction with big spins, inverts and technical rail lines.
2. Anna Segal – 81.25
3. Maude Raymond – 78.20
4. Jessica Warll – 75.00
5. Dania Assaly – 73.20
6. Meg Olenick – 70.00
Devin Login corking out during finals
Up next was men’s finals, which consisted of the top 16 skiers from semis. After winning yesterday’s qualifiers, Chris Logan wanted to let everyone know he had what it takes to do the same today. Chris is known for his smooth style, and he proved today that he could even make 1260s look good. Coming in second was John Strenio who put down one of the best runs of the day throwing a switch double 1080 and a misty off the high bar. Third went to one of the youngest competitors of the day: Nick Goepper. This east coast grown kid showed that he has what it takes to keep up with the older guys with his 9’s, switch double flips and flares.
Chris Logan – backside switch up on DFD, 4 on 4 off of high bar, right 9, switch 12
LJ Strenio – backside switch up 2 out on DFD, switch 2 on misty off high bar, switch right 1080, switch left double 1080
Nick Goepper – 270 on DFD, 2 on 2 off high bar, left 9, switch right double, flare (quarter pipe)
2. John Strenio – 93.40
3. Nick Goepper – 91.00
4. Joss Christensen – 88.00
5. Ben Moxham – 87.40
6. Gus Kenworthy – 85.80
7. Chris Laker – 85.60
8. Nick Martini –84.80
9. McRae Willians – 84.40
10. Mike Mertion – 83.80
11. Aidan Sheahan – 82.60
12. Cody Ling – 81.60
13. Clayton Vila – 78.40
14. Joe Schuster –77.80
15. Tim McChesney – 74.20
16. Paul Bergeron – 50.00
Nick Martini flipping off the high bar during finals.
McRae Williams with a nice mute double on the second jump during finals.
Check back here tomorrow evening for The North Face Park & Pipe Open Series pipe results.
For information on what this does to the AFP World Rankings in Slope, visit the current rankings page.
