Andreas Håtveit reminisces on his run
Russ Henshaw has gone and done it again. It being qualifying first in slopestyle for the second straight Winter Dew Tour. The Aussie may not be accustomed to the bitter conditions offered here in Vermont, but he sure is comfortable on a slopestyle course. Following Henshaw on the imaginary podium today was Norway's Aleksander Aurdal and Sweden's Henrik Harlaut. Despite wind bursts and frigid temperatures on the course, the field of 24 competitors put their collective noses to the grindstone and got it done.
The Red Baron: Matt Walker
Henshaw's run bested the competitions field with an incredible string of tricks on the three jumps which consisted of a rightside 900 japan, switch double rodeo 900 and near perfect double cork 1080. Aleksander Aurdal was popping off double cork 1080 like they were going out of style while Henrik Harlaut was dropping switch double rodeo 900s up top and the largest switch 900s you've ever seen on the bottom jump.
Nick Goepper unnatural 900.
Youngster Nick Goepper grabbed a quality spot in fourth place today with a mirror of Russ Henshaw's jump section, only the opposite way, as Nick spins rightside. JF Houle rolled the dice today after a disappointing first run. The Quebecois managed a solid second run with his double cork 1260 and rail mastery.
Andreas Håtveit, the only competitor to bang out left and right doubles took sixth, not because of the difficulty of his maneuvers, but because he himself said the runs could have been cleaner. Switch 900, right double cork 1080 and left double cork 1080 will be much improved tomorrow, Andreas promises.
Teen Heartthrob Bobby Brown practicing.
McRae Williams and Alex Schlopy rounded out the nine qualifiers today. Young Schlopy took the moniker of Bubble Boy today, after using a leftside 900 to switch double wobble 1260 to double cork 1260. Big things will be seen out of both Schlopy and Williams in tomorrow's finals.
Bubble Boy Alex Schlopy
Just missing the cut off was Charles Gagnier and Chris Laker, both of whom put down solid runs. In fact, every competitor stayed on their feet, with the exception of Phil Casabon who went down on both of his runs.
Simon Dumont and Banks Gilberti made their way over from the halfpipe this morning in hopes of qualifying, before they had to ski in finals this evening (with Simon taking third place tonight). James Woods, who learned to ski on dry slopes, was seen putting down double corks all over the place, we'll be seeing more of this youngster in the future. An unknown injury kept Paul Bergeron from starting today, hopefully all is well on his front.
Dane Tudor.
But in the end, the judges had to make the cut at nine riders and those chosen move on to tomorrow's final. They will meet up with the top three from the Breck stop: Alexis Godbout, Bobby Brown and Sammy Carlson.
JF Houle predicts the day.
An early morning promises cold temps and fast snow. The stage is set for absolute slopestyle apocalypse tomorrow morning, live from Killington, Vermont.
Men's Slopestyle Qualifications
1. Russ Henshaw — 88.33
2. Aleksander Aurdal — 87.33
3. Henrik Harlaut — 86.33
4. Nick Goepper — 86.00
5. JF Houle — 85.17
6. Andreas Håtveit — 85.00
7. Elias Ambühl — 83.17
8. McRae Williams — 82.67
9. Alex Schlopy — 81.00
_ _ _ Cut Off _ _ _
10. Charles Gagnier — 79.33
11. Chris Laker — 79.00
12. Sean Jordan — 78.67
13. Dane Tudor — 75.00
T-14. Ian Cosco — 72.83
T-14. Matt Walker — 72.83
16. LJ Strenio — 70.50
17. Banks Gilberti — 70.17
18. Simon Dumont — 70.00
19. James Woods — 68.67
20. Thomas Dolplads — 68.17
21. Colby West — 64.17
22. Jossi Wells — 63.50
23. Chris Logan — 63.17
24. Phil Casabon — 36.83
25. Paul Bergeron — DNS
Elias Ambühl warms his frozen hands.
