FIS News
Halfpipe World Cup ends on high in Breckenridge
On another snowy day in the Rockies, home team representatives David Wise (USA) and Maddie Bowman (USA) were able to grind out solid runs despite slow conditions to take wins in the Breckenridge FIS Freestyle World Cup/Visa Freeskiing Grand Prix halfpipe event on Sunday.
The final halfpipe contest of the 2013/14 World Cup season was nearly cancelled because of the heavy snow, a far cry from most of the other worldwide events that are lacking snow. Wind also proved to be difficult for the organizers. Strong wind forced the cancellation of snowboard events planned for the day and set ski halfpipe back to its original Sunday slot.
And while the snow did come in on Sunday, constant slipping of the pipe and a commitment by organizers and athletes to get the competition in the books meant that human will prevailed. And, at the end of the day, the best halfpipe skiers in the world did what they do best, finding a way to ski as well as possible whatever the conditions.
Wise was one of the few skiers able to lay down two solid runs on the day, starting his line off with a massive double corked 1260 mute and then generally slaying it (relatively speaking) the rest of the way through. Wise was followed by Mike Riddle (CAN) in second. Riddle was at the bottom of the qualification list, meaning he was tapped to drop first, and he took advantage of a freshly-slipped pipe to launch a first-hit dub 12 of his own. third place on the day went to Kevin Rolland (FRA), the first place qualifier from Thursday. Rolland struggled with speed perhaps more than Wise and Riddle, but pushed through to score a 78.80 and land himself on the podium.
With less body weight to lend to gravity in an effort to push through the slough in the bottom of the pipe, the ladies' struggled perhaps more than the men with the snowy conditions. Bowman was one of the few ladies throwing spins in the 540-900 range, and by sticking a clean 900 into a complete run was rewarded with the win. She was followed up by the always-consistent Ayana Onozuka (JPN) in second and Amy Sheehan (AUS) in third, for the Aussie's second trip to the podium in as many weeks.
Despite the difficult conditions, there was a generally satisfied air in and around the halfpipe that the 2013/14 halfpipe World Cup tour finished with fully-run contest.
Justin Dorey (CAN) and Devin Logan (USA) were awarded with the respective men's and ladies' crystal globes as the World Cup overall winners on the season. More on that to come.
Source: the official FIS site
The final halfpipe contest of the 2013/14 World Cup season was nearly cancelled because of the heavy snow, a far cry from most of the other worldwide events that are lacking snow. Wind also proved to be difficult for the organizers. Strong wind forced the cancellation of snowboard events planned for the day and set ski halfpipe back to its original Sunday slot.
And while the snow did come in on Sunday, constant slipping of the pipe and a commitment by organizers and athletes to get the competition in the books meant that human will prevailed. And, at the end of the day, the best halfpipe skiers in the world did what they do best, finding a way to ski as well as possible whatever the conditions.
Wise was one of the few skiers able to lay down two solid runs on the day, starting his line off with a massive double corked 1260 mute and then generally slaying it (relatively speaking) the rest of the way through. Wise was followed by Mike Riddle (CAN) in second. Riddle was at the bottom of the qualification list, meaning he was tapped to drop first, and he took advantage of a freshly-slipped pipe to launch a first-hit dub 12 of his own. third place on the day went to Kevin Rolland (FRA), the first place qualifier from Thursday. Rolland struggled with speed perhaps more than Wise and Riddle, but pushed through to score a 78.80 and land himself on the podium.
With less body weight to lend to gravity in an effort to push through the slough in the bottom of the pipe, the ladies' struggled perhaps more than the men with the snowy conditions. Bowman was one of the few ladies throwing spins in the 540-900 range, and by sticking a clean 900 into a complete run was rewarded with the win. She was followed up by the always-consistent Ayana Onozuka (JPN) in second and Amy Sheehan (AUS) in third, for the Aussie's second trip to the podium in as many weeks.
Despite the difficult conditions, there was a generally satisfied air in and around the halfpipe that the 2013/14 halfpipe World Cup tour finished with fully-run contest.
Justin Dorey (CAN) and Devin Logan (USA) were awarded with the respective men's and ladies' crystal globes as the World Cup overall winners on the season. More on that to come.
Source: the official FIS site
