Featured Image: Daniel Milchev | Skier: Alex Hall
The inaugural Red Bull Cascade kicked off in the Vasquez Ridge territory at Winter Park Resort on Friday, April 21. The Red Bull Cascade, brainchild of Colorado ski icon Bobby Brown, was launched with the goal of crowning the most well-rounded male and female skiers. The strenuous two-mile-long course allows riders to link runs in a variety of ways with multiple line combinations that feature rails, park jumps, natural side hits, bump sections, tree runs and big mountain skiing.
This new competition format, style of course and scoring gives riders and fans a fresh, more relatable event when compared to the traditional slopestyle competitions where technical tricks and large spins are rewarded most. With the variety of features and run options, the Cascade course allowed judges to focus and observe the technical skiing in between features as well as the tricks and line choice from each rider.
“We really don’t wanna put people in a box for what they have to do, so we’re gonna score the skiing in between and creative lines just as much as the tech. In traditional contests, the more technical tricks would add up way more, but in this we’re going to incorporate different line choices and creative flow, separating out riders who choose things that others aren’t doing. We want to see how each rider interprets the course and reward skiers who take chances.” – Bobby Brown
With overcast skies and a chilly, windy 20-degree temperature that left us wishing for warmer, slushy, springtime conditions, we began with the men’s first round. 12 riders took their turn to advance into the second round and a chance to compete alongside the ladies in Saturday’s final tomorrow. Skiers had their chance to put down one run against their paired opponent in a head-to-head, single-elimination format. One run for glory!
Skip to Men’s Round One results
Tom Wallisch and Hunter Hess were the first riders to drop into the Cascade course. Hess walked away with a round one victory beating out legendary hot-dogger Wallisch with a score of 43. The next pairing to take their turn was Blake Wilson and the man behind Red Bull Cascade, Bobby Brown. Torin Yater-Wallace was originally slated to go up against Wilson, but had to withdraw due to an ankle injury. Wilson snuck out of the first round with a score of 32, narrowly beating Brown’s score of 30. Hunter Hess and Blake Wilson will be the first head-to-head in the round two matchup.
The third pairing to drop was Mac Forehand and Thibault Magnin. Mac put down a heater of a run, posting the highest score in the first round of competition with a 46.5. Magnin had a slight bobble on his final hit, but still was able to walk away with a 35. Next to drop was Winter Park local boy, Birk Irving, followed by Ben Smith. Irving advanced to the next round scoring a 43.5, besting Smith’s 40. Forehand and Irving will be moving on and facing off in a highly anticipated second round matchup.
Alex Hall and Hunter Henderson were the next skiers to take their turn at the Cascade course with the closest head-to-head matchup of the first round. AHall moved onto the second round with a score of 45, beating Henderson’s 43.5. Two young gunners, Konnor Ralph and Tanner Blakely were the last two riders to drop. Blakely had a bobble heading into the last jump allowing Ralph to advance with a 39 over Blakely’s 30. AHall and Ralph will be competing head-to-head in round two tomorrow.
Men’s Head-to-Head Qualifying Round
Tom Wallisch v Hunter Hess
Blake Wilson v Bobby Brown
Mac Forehand v Thibault Magnin
Birk Irving v Ben Smith
Alex Hall v Hunter Henderson
Konnor Ralph v Tanner Blakely
Men’s Round One Results:
Tom Wallisch – 38
Hunter Hess – 43
Blake Wilson – 32
Bobby Brown – 30
Mac Forehand – 46.5
Thibault Magnin – 35
Birk Irving – 43.5
Ben Smith – 40
Alex Hall – 45
Hunter Henderson – 43.5
Konnor Ralph – 39
Tanner Blakely – 30
Men’s Round Two Matchups:
Hunter Hess v Blake Wilson
Mac Forehand v Birk Irving
Alex Hall v Konnor Ralph
Women’s Final
Grace Henderson v Caroline Claire
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