Mark McMorris stuns Winter X Games veterans during Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Final
With the inclusion of snowboard slopestyle to Winter Olympics, the riders had taken it upon themselves to justify the promotion. ESPN was also eager to do everything it could for the sport and thus scheduled the event to take place under lights at Winter X Games Aspen 2012 in order to ensure maximum viewers.
As always, the best riders from around the world had gathered on the Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colorado, to show off their skills and life the curtain off their latest carefully-engineered runs in order to earn the coveted Winter X medals. With every passing year, the competition had been getting more intense and it was only natural to expect the atmosphere to be as electrified as ever during the Final of Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle on Saturday, January 28.
With a field comprising of the likes of America’s Eric Willett and Sage Kotsenburg, Canada’s Sebastien Toutant and Mark McMorris, along with Finland’s Peetu Piiroinen and Belgium’s Seppe Smits, there was hardly any doubt that the battle for the top-three would be a treat to watch.
Making his second appearance at Winter X Games, the 18-year-old McMorris had already left his mark on the mega-event after clinching the gold in Snowboard Big Air on Friday. However, he was clearly looking to collect another shiny medal to put on his mantelpiece back home and made his intent to dominate the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle evident quite early. During the elimination round, the Regina-based rider had scored a 95.00 to finish well ahead of everyone else and thus confidently made his way into the Final.
Pitted against seven of the world’s best riders in the final, most of which were his friends, McMorris got off to an excellent start, scoring a 90.00 off his first run to take an early lead. However, the run was soon forgotten as he stepped into the course for his second run. Executing a front-side 180 onto a cargo container, following it with a Cab 270 into wall-ride, backing it up with a front-side blunt-side to 450 out in the technical rail section before throwing a Cab double cork 900, a front-side double cork 1080, a double “wildcat” back-flip and a back-side 1260 on the four jumps, the Canadian rider he cemented his lead with Run 2 score of 93.33. The lead held throughout the course of the Final to seal the fate of the contest in his favour.
“The second run was the run I'd planned,” McMorris said. “Everything kind of worked out and I got to cruise my last run. That's what I find most fun in snowboarding, is having fun.”
Throwing some massive, floating method airs in his third-run victory lap, the Canadian seemed to be having a time of his life in front of the huge crowd.
“Those riders up there are some of my really good friends,” McMorris said during his post-Final interview. “When you're riding with the people you love to ride with it makes everything so much fun.”
The 18-year-old Kotsenburg failed to make much of an impact during his first two runs, making it seem as if he was going to stay off the podium this year. However, the pressure seemed to have brought out the best in him, allowing him to put on a solid Run 3, which featured a switch back-side cork 1080, Cab double cork 1260 and back-side double cork 1260, earning an 88.00 off it to secure second place on the podium and walk away with a silver medal.
The 23-year-old Piiroinen had been dominating the slopes during the Swatch Ticket to Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour. However, Saturday night saw him land third place, securing a bronze for his effort after scoring an 86.00 off her third run.
Piiroinen admitted that he was surprised by making it to the podium at all considering the amount of talent that he was up against.
Piiroinen was not the only one who was taken by surprising by coming across such a strong competition this year. With the young guns of snowboarding landing really technical runs, last year’s Snowboard Slopestyle gold medallist Toutant was forced to leave the event site without a medal on Saturday as well. Earning an 83.66 off his first run, the Montreal-based rider pretty much wasted his second and third run and thus had to walk away from the contest without a medal.
The rate at which snowboarding is progressing was clearly evident during the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals on Saturday. This was precisely the point that had been highlighted by the advocates of snowboarding and freeskiing during their meeting with the representatives of International Olympic Committee and precisely the reason why the sport was all set to make its Olympic debut at 2014 Sochi Games in Russia.
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