Today marked the first event (albeit a qualifier) of Winter X Games Europe in Tignes, France. The men of the slopestyle realm got underway, as 18 vied for a spot in tomorrow's finals. With only eight taken though to the next round, it was tough going under a sunny sky this morning. In the end, it was Tom Wallisch—who on his third and final run—secured the top spot in qualifiers. His red hot season will continue tomorrow, as he looks for his second X Games Europe gold medal. Russ Henshaw, the 2011 X Games silver medalist, put down a couple impressive runs on his way to the second spot, while relative newcomer Joss Christensen snagged the third to last drop in tomorrow's final with the help of his spectacular switch rightside 1260s.
The crew was rounded out by usual suspects Bobby Brown, James Woods, Nick Goepper and Andreas Håtveit. However first timer Alex Bellemare cracked the top eight (sixth), giving the youngster something to look forward to. Unfortunately Gus Kenworthy was bumped off the bubble by Wallisch's final run. But Gus was skiing with a tweaked knee after a crash in the superpipe, so big ups to him for skiing so damn well. Jules Bonnaire was doing rodeo 1080 screamins today, probably the only person in history to ever do that trick. Henrik Harlaut unfortunately was a late scratch.
Third place qualifier Joss Christensen.
Stay tuned for news from tomorrow's action, straight from the heart of the Alps, at Winter X Games Europe. To find out about today's women's slopestyle final and Kaya Turski's ascent to the top once again, read on.
Men's Qualifier Results:
1_ Tom Wallisch – 95.66
2_ Russ Henshaw – 94.66
3_ Joss Christensen – 94.33
4_ Bobby Brown – 92.66
5_ James Woods – 91.00
6_ Alex Bellemare – 90.00
7_ Nick Goepper – 88.66
8_ Andreas Håtveit – 87.66
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
9_ Gus Kenworthy – 85.00
10_ Antti Ollila – 82.00
11_ Jules Bonnaire – 80.66
12_ Phil Casabon – 78.00
13_ Kai Mahler – 75.33
14_ PK Hunder – 63.33
15_ Elias Ambühl – 60.00
16_ Jossi Wells – 56.00
17_ Alexis Godbout – 40.00
18_ Alex Schlopy – 19.66
