Gjemund Braaten wins men’s snowboard slopestyle final in Breckenridge
The first stop of 2011-2012 Winter Dew Tour, Nike Open, saw Norway’s Gjemund Braaten put on a phenomenal run to clinch top honours in men’s snowboard slopestyle finals that went down at the Brackenridge Ski Resort in Colorado, America, on Sunday, December 18.
The Canadian sensation Sebastian Toutant settled for runner-up place, while his fellow countryman Charles Reid finished third to round out the podium.
The 21-year-old Braaten had shown off a promising form during the qualifiers and continued to assert himself as a formidable threat in the Semi-final, finishing in third place to advance through into the Final.
The Norwegian rider got down to business right away during the Final and set the bar really high on his very first run. The run comprised of a switch back tail 270, cab board-slide front board to fakie, switch back double cork 10, cab double cork 9, front 180 switch wall-ride, switch back-side 180 off, back double cork 10 and a front double cork 10.
The sensational run earned him a 97.75, putting him in a dominant position. The score remained unbeatable until the end to eventually seal the fate of the contest in his favour.
“It was unbelievable,” said an ecstatic Braaten. “I’d been doing that run a lot in practice so I was feeling good when I came into the contest. Just being able to put down a run that I was satisfied with was more than I could ask for.”
The reigning Winter X Games champion, Toutant, treated the crowd to performance that was nothing short of spectacular either. The 19-year-old Canadian started his best run with a back 180 in, cab 3 out on the first down rail, threw a cab 2 lip to fakie on the second down rail, cab 9 double cork on the first jump, front 10 double cork on the second, board-slide 270 out on the up rail, back 10 double on the third jump before pulling off a double back rodeo on last hit.
The effort earned Toutant 96.00 to put him in second place on the podium. Talking to the reporter after the Final, he said, “I was definitely nervous this morning when I woke up, just thinking about competing. But after the practice this morning I was more calmed down and ready to go.”
The 21-year-old Reid rounded out the podium after earning 90.00 from his best run, which comprised of a front 270 on the down flat down, to 50-50 gap back 180, switch back 12 double rodeo 9, half cab back 180 out, cab 9 double, front 10.
The defending Dew Cup champion Torstein Horgmo was unable to make a solid impact this year and was forced to settle for eighth place after earning 59.50 points off his best run.
While many big names of snowboard slopestyle were unable to make it on the podium at the first stop of 2011-2012 Winter Dew Tour, it would be interesting to see how they fare in the remaining two stops and whether the top-three at Brackenridge would be able to steal the show once again at Killington in Vermont next month.
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