Conditions were less than ideal for pipe finals today, with some fog hanging in the air and some winds, but both the men and women threw down nonetheless. It helps that the PC pipe looked perfectly shaped, unlike the last couple of years at X Games. In fact, this was probably the most impressive pipe event since the Pyeongchang Olympics, with 4 guys pushing into the 90s on run one alone and some of the most technical (and stylish, though that didn't win) pipe skiing seen for some time.
Men:
Run 1:
Taylor Seaton put down a typically technical and stylish run, highlighted by an alleyoop cork 7 with a proper mute for 82.0 lots more style points. Noah Bowman landed almost in the flats twice but put down an insane run nonetheless with a downpipe 3 stale, switch dub 12, switch ao dub 9 and right 10 down the bottom for 90. Kevin Rolland stomped 4 dubs (switch dub 10, right and left dub 12 and a left dub 10) for 93.80 and the lead. Aaron Blunck switch dub 9 to switch dub 10, dub flat 9, right dub 12 to what was looked meant be a left dub 12 but was kept at left 9 because of running out of pipe for 91.8. Simon D'Artois stomped an awesome run with an air to fakie up top, a switch on axis 12 and a dub 12 to ao dub flat 7 at the bottom for 91.0 but arguably the coolest run of the day. David Wise put down both dub 12s, a first hit switch dub 10, a switch cork 7 and a downpipe 1080 to and looked very surprised to only see a score of 80.6.
Kevin Rolland (2nd place run):
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Run 2:
None of the first four guys managed to improve their first scores, before Birk Ruud (who apparently also skis pipe) went massive, but crashed on his final hit. Simon D'Artois cleaned up his first run but was only awarded 0.4 more points for his efforts, which definitely seemed harsh. David Wise put down all 4 ways dubs, just as he did in Pyeongchang, but a slight bobble on the first hit kept his score down to 86.60.
Simon D'Artois (just because it was a dope run):
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Run 3:
Toto Krief stomped a run at the third time of asking, making it past his third hit dub and scoring a solid 87. Noah Bowman stomped all three of his switch dubs (sw l dub 12, sw l ao dub 9, switch l dub 10), a big improvement on his first run, boosting his score to 91.6. It was enough to bump his compatriot Dart but not to beat Blunck or Rolland in the judge's eyes. Nico Porteous and Birk Ruud managed to put it down third time of asking too, but not quite the perfection of the guys at the top of the podium today. Birk did go 5th though, out of nowhere. Alex Ferreira couldn't quite find his top gear, landing his regular run but not quite finding his usual amplitude to challenge the podium. Aaron Blunck took the top spot right at the death with his trademark dub switch 9 into switch dub 10 combo up top and somehow squeezing a switch 9 in with no pipe left at the bottom. David Wise stepped up his last hit to a downpipe dub 14, landed three other directions of dubs, but had a slight hip check on his first hit switch dub 10... and the judges said that was enough to leave him with an 86.0 and Aaron Blunck world champion.
Noah Bowman (Third place run)
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Aaron Blunck (Winning run)
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Results:
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Women:
Run 1:
There were a couple of sizeable stacks from the two Chinese riders towards the start of proceedings, before the up and comer Rachel Karker was the first to put down a clean run with a huge first hit flair and a big left 9 for a mid-80s score. Brita Sigourney went big too with a huge 9 tail on her third hit and a crazy looking bio-ish 7 at the bottom to be the first to score in the 90s. Kelly Sildaru looked technique incarnate but uncharacteristically caught and edge setting up for a switch hit at the bottom of the pipe. Cassie Sharpe's trademark both ways 9s up top and left 10 at the bottom for a huge 94 and a big lead.
Cassie Sharpe (2nd place run):
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Run 2:
Kexin Zhang, Fanghui Lu and Elizabeth Gram all put down clean runs but remained towards the bottom of the order thanks to a lack of technicality compared with the rest of the field. Kelly Sildaru made up for a rare mistake on run one and put a technical run down just missing a grab at the bottom, limiting her score to 88.0. Cassie Sharpe put down a 91.40, with the same run as her first, just slightly less clean. That score still would have had her winning the contest though.
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Run 3:
The Chinese team is going to be a real medal threat by the time the Olympics make it to Beijing. Both Kexin Zhang, in particular, might not have the biggest tricks yet but she showed really solid pipe skills. Brita Sigourney put almost a mirror image of her first run down but it wasn't enough to bolster her score. Kelly Sildaru did step up her run with both 9s, both alleyoop 5s and switch 10 at the bottom for a huge 95.00 score and the lead. Cassie Sharpe couldn't topple her on the final run of the day, leaving Kelly the world champ.
Brita:
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Kelly (Winning run):
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Results:
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