BEO Superpipe Finals
Jan 30 2007 / LAAX, SwitzerlandAfter a week of weather conditions that ranged from ‘mixed’ to ‘evacuate the penguins’, today saw the sun come out, skies clear to deep blue and temperatures rise to a crisp 23°F… the perfect setting for halfpipe finals day.
Hard to believe really, considering that only yesterday the Laax pipe had been enveloped in freezing fog, howling winds and heavy snow. At this point, the organizers were looking at two options: hope the weather would break and hold the contest tomorrow, or failing that, base the results on the previous day’s semi final results. Markus Malin, who had pulled off a surprise victory in the semis and therefore in line for the title if the final was called off, was pretty diplomatic at this point, saying “If the weather clears tomorrow it’ll be great, but then again if it doesn’t I’m not gonna be the one complaining!”
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But as we emerged bleary eyed from our beds this morning, still reeling from last night’s closing party, we were greeted to the hangover-clearing sight of fresh snow and bluebird conditions the final was on!
Up at the legendary Laax pipe this resort has been welcoming snowboarders for over twenty years and building state-of-the-art pipes for fifteen the riders were getting ready to put on a show for the gathering Sunday crowds. The field, somewhat depleted by Wednesday’s exodus of the biggest names for the X Games, was nonetheless bursting with young talents and legendary veterans. Included in the latter category was Swiss national hero Gian Simmen, winner of the first Olympic halfpipe gold way back in ’98, and German pipe slayer Xaver Hoffman, who, at the ripe age of 32, is riding better than ever. Hopes of a Swiss victory were resting on Markus Keller one of the most stylish pipe riders in the world right now, Markus had qualified in second place without breaking a sweat, and was as hungry as anyone for a victory on home soil. Meanwhile, in the ladies category, all eyes were on Australian Holly Crawford, who had absolutely blown away the competition in Friday’s semis, pulling off one of the highest, most stylish runs we’ve seen in a long time and scoring a massive 95 points 13.2 ahead of second place qualifier Meri Peltonen. What most people didn’t know, however, was that Holly was riding with a cracked rib sustained while crashing in her final run on Friday… would this scupper her chances? Judging by the determined expression on her face during practice, it seemed not.
By noon, the riders had had two hours to get their runs dialed, and the top 16 men and top 8 women gathered at the start gate for the first of three runs. Dropping in reverse order, ladies first, Norwegian Lisa Wiik dropped first, and the game was on…
Supergrom Ellery Hollingsworth put down the first memorable run of the day, showing style and technical difficulty far beyond what you’d expect for a girl of just 15 years. But this early lead was quickly toppled by Canadian Sarah Conrad, who made up for her technical simplicity by pulling the highest, smoothest airs out of all the ladies. But once Holly Crawford dropped, it was clear that it was going to take more than a cracked rib to keep this Aussie ripper down. First hit was a huge frontside 5 stalefish, with a tweak that Shaun White would have been proud of. The rest of her run was clean, high, technical, and the resulting 91 score would prove to be unassailable over the following two rounds. On to the mens…
With seven Swiss passport holders in the top 16, hopes were high for a local victory, and the crowd knew it. Every time MC Chris Bachman slipped into his native Swiss German dialect, a ripple of excitement passed through the crowd. Gian Simmen made them roar with a huge, stylish Method air on his first hit, but was unable to maintain his amplitude. Rolf Feldmann, a relatively unknown Swiss rider, was having the contest of his life: the crowds cheers spurred him on to make the best runs of his career, and in the third round he surpassed all expectations to score an 84.8 not enough for a podium spot, but enough to out-do most of his compatriots… including favorite Markus Keller. Right from training, it was clear that Keller was not feeling the same form he’d been on during the semis. Each run featured his trademark monster frontside alley-oops and perfect frontside 9 melons, but a little of his usual smoothness was missing, and the judges penalized him for it. Meanwhile, Moscow-born Iouri
Podladtchikov was having the ride of his life, throwing down a rotation-drenched run that included two nines, a seven and a ten… sick, and enough for a silver spot on the podium. But this year’s winning run was to come from another red and white flagged nation… Canada. Crispin Liscomb, former Gravity Games winner and Olympian, had been spinning like a Yo-Yo all week, but hadn’t managed to convince the judges until his final run, when he launched into a huge frontside ten, followed by a cab 7, frontside 9, backside 9 and finishing off with a perfect backside 3 Alley-Oop. The crowd, as they say, went wild.
And that, my friends, was that. After the disappointment of seeing the Slopestyle event cancelled due to high winds, and a week spent riding powder in the fog, this was the payback for all the crew at Burton and Laax resort, who all worked so hard to provide the best possible environment for the European leg of the Burton Global Open Series. Respect due.
Results:
Halfpipe Men
1: Crispin Lipscomb CAN
2: Iouri Podladtchikov RUS
3: Janne Korpi FIN
Halfpipe Women
1: Holly Crawford AUS
2: Sarah Conrad CAN
3: Ellery Hollingsworth USA
-Chris Moran
