Cover photo: Bucholz/FIS
Stunt ditch is still alive and well in Copper, despite them being pulled from resorts left right and center. Today saw a banger contest in some excellent weather, with the lead changing all over the place. The ladies and men threw down in equal measure and got the season off to a great start. It was sick to see Jon Sallinen in a final for Finland, bringing back memories of AJ Kemppainen throwing down. Shoutout to Amy Fraser for the crazy switch hits and to Birk for what we think was an NBD... and the best pants in the contest.
Women:
Run 1:
Svea Irving kicked things off with both-way 5s, followed with alleyoop 3a and switch 3s and ended her run with a bolts left 9 to open the scoring with 76.5. Amy Fraser set the scoring bar for real though, her run with 2 nines, regular and switch and 1080 although with the grab slightly whiffed. This earned her 85.25. Brita had a dope axis on her final right 7 and a crazy amplitude on her left 9 but the run was pretty sketchy. Kelly put it down but it was lots of hits and variation but not much amplitude. The judges took their time but only gave her an 80. Rachel Karker had some of the dopest axes in the opening run with two massive cork 5s that sandwiched back-to-back 9s with a seven and alleyoop switch 3, a run that certainly deserved the 89.5 it was awarded, and the lead.
Run 2:
The second run kicked off with more of the same from Svea, but no grab on the left 9 killed her score. Amy Fraser had 3 switch hits at the top of her run, and the switch 9 was probably trick of the day so far but couldn't put it down clean further down the pipe. Kelly kept it clean and technical again, but some of the grabs went missing this time around. Rachel Karker displayed that she was pretty clearly the best skier on the day, with another solid run but it couldn't quite reach the heights of her first either
Run 3:
Amy Fraser put it down again and rode out stoked but slight imperfections meant she was sticking with her first run score.
Hanna Faulhaber was boosting as normal but couldn't put a whole run down and her 900 was her downfall two runs in a row. Brita had the makings of a podium run for sure but it wasn't her day today either. Kelly cleaned up her run for sure on the final time of asking. There was a touch more amplitude and we think she got all her grabs. It improved her score, but not her ranking, leaving her third and Rachel Karker with the W and a victory lap. Shoutout Amy Fraser for her first podium too!
Results:
View attachment 1058476
Men:
Run 1:
The opening runs from the men showed promise yet saw a generally low scores due to missed grabs and falls. Although Gustvas AO dub 12 was sick he just backslapped out of it. Finley Leville Ives put down the first legit run earning 84.00 for his 3 dub 12s, left, right and alleyoop and capped the run off with a left 10. It was a few more runs before the big dogs stepped up and started stomping their runs. Alex Ferreira put it down with a tasty dub 14 to switch 10 combo. Brendan McKay stomped 4 dubs including switch dub 12 to sw dub 10 up top to take the lead. Birk Irving, rocking some loud pink pants, put down a dope 14 of his own and it was enough to slot in between Alex and Brendan. Hunter Hess was a breath of fresh air in the pipe, bringing a dub nose to his run, in a sport where grabs are typically an afterthought. His down the pipe dub 9 was sick too but he wasn't entirely clean throughout.
Run 2:
Toma Matsuura came through with a big improvement and the 5 octo was a sick little element of difference but overall it wasn't clean enough to challenge. Gustav Legnavsky put it down too but the 12 was fucking enormous. Not bad for a 17 year old. Simon D'Artois was boosting and his air to fakie blunt puts a smile on this grumpy old commentator's face every time. Alex Ferreira then blew the lid off the place with boost and a 16 but it wasn't quite enough for the lead... second though. Brendan sent a 16 of his own but couldn't put it down. Hunter still couldn't convince the judges and was still dope to watch, before Jon Sallinen, last to drop, sent a 16 to the coping and was absolutely fine somehow.
Run 3:
Gustav threw down again, mixing it up a bit and cleaning up the run throughout. Dub 12 wasn't quite as enormous but alley oop dub flat at the bottom was Torin-esque. It lacked a bit on the tech but it was a sick run nonetheless. Finley MI put it down on his final run, stomping the 16 and managing to squeak in his final hit 10 after another massive alleyoop dub flat. Only fourth place but another one to watch in the future for sure. Alex Ferreira tried to step it up with a right dub 14 but couldn't quite put it down. Brendan Mackay decided on amplitude over technicality, sending a huge dub 12 blunt instead of the 16 and marginally improving his leading score. Birk Irving saved his best for last. The first hit on axis switch 10 was a thing of beauty and he dropped an nbd (?) down the pipe dub flat 7 for the lead. Noah Bowman, our definitely biased favorite, put it down on the final run two. The switch overflip blunt is still sick, as was his switch dub, and he bumped out Alex F off the podium. Hunter Hess stepped it up but the lack of a switch hit seems to kill his scores. Jon Sallinen put it down on the last run too, stomping the 16 but the comparatively weak switch hit was his undoing. Sick to see some new names up there though. That left Birk, Brendan and Noah 1-2-3.
Results:
View attachment 1058477
Stunt ditch is still alive and well in Copper, despite them being pulled from resorts left right and center. Today saw a banger contest in some excellent weather, with the lead changing all over the place. The ladies and men threw down in equal measure and got the season off to a great start. It was sick to see Jon Sallinen in a final for Finland, bringing back memories of AJ Kemppainen throwing down. Shoutout to Amy Fraser for the crazy switch hits and to Birk for what we think was an NBD... and the best pants in the contest.
_
Women:
Run 1:
Svea Irving kicked things off with both-way 5s, followed with alleyoop 3a and switch 3s and ended her run with a bolts left 9 to open the scoring with 76.5. Amy Fraser set the scoring bar for real though, her run with 2 nines, regular and switch and 1080 although with the grab slightly whiffed. This earned her 85.25. Brita had a dope axis on her final right 7 and a crazy amplitude on her left 9 but the run was pretty sketchy. Kelly put it down but it was lots of hits and variation but not much amplitude. The judges took their time but only gave her an 80. Rachel Karker had some of the dopest axes in the opening run with two massive cork 5s that sandwiched back-to-back 9s with a seven and alleyoop switch 3, a run that certainly deserved the 89.5 it was awarded, and the lead.
Run 2:
The second run kicked off with more of the same from Svea, but no grab on the left 9 killed her score. Amy Fraser had 3 switch hits at the top of her run, and the switch 9 was probably trick of the day so far but couldn't put it down clean further down the pipe. Kelly kept it clean and technical again, but some of the grabs went missing this time around. Rachel Karker displayed that she was pretty clearly the best skier on the day, with another solid run but it couldn't quite reach the heights of her first either
Run 3:
Amy Fraser put it down again and rode out stoked but slight imperfections meant she was sticking with her first run score.
Hanna Faulhaber was boosting as normal but couldn't put a whole run down and her 900 was her downfall two runs in a row. Brita had the makings of a podium run for sure but it wasn't her day today either. Kelly cleaned up her run for sure on the final time of asking. There was a touch more amplitude and we think she got all her grabs. It improved her score, but not her ranking, leaving her third and Rachel Karker with the W and a victory lap. Shoutout Amy Fraser for her first podium too!
Results:
View attachment 1058476
_
Men:
Run 1:
The opening runs from the men showed promise yet saw a generally low scores due to missed grabs and falls. Although Gustvas AO dub 12 was sick he just backslapped out of it. Finley Leville Ives put down the first legit run earning 84.00 for his 3 dub 12s, left, right and alleyoop and capped the run off with a left 10. It was a few more runs before the big dogs stepped up and started stomping their runs. Alex Ferreira put it down with a tasty dub 14 to switch 10 combo. Brendan McKay stomped 4 dubs including switch dub 12 to sw dub 10 up top to take the lead. Birk Irving, rocking some loud pink pants, put down a dope 14 of his own and it was enough to slot in between Alex and Brendan. Hunter Hess was a breath of fresh air in the pipe, bringing a dub nose to his run, in a sport where grabs are typically an afterthought. His down the pipe dub 9 was sick too but he wasn't entirely clean throughout.
Run 2:
Toma Matsuura came through with a big improvement and the 5 octo was a sick little element of difference but overall it wasn't clean enough to challenge. Gustav Legnavsky put it down too but the 12 was fucking enormous. Not bad for a 17 year old. Simon D'Artois was boosting and his air to fakie blunt puts a smile on this grumpy old commentator's face every time. Alex Ferreira then blew the lid off the place with boost and a 16 but it wasn't quite enough for the lead... second though. Brendan sent a 16 of his own but couldn't put it down. Hunter still couldn't convince the judges and was still dope to watch, before Jon Sallinen, last to drop, sent a 16 to the coping and was absolutely fine somehow.
Run 3:
Gustav threw down again, mixing it up a bit and cleaning up the run throughout. Dub 12 wasn't quite as enormous but alley oop dub flat at the bottom was Torin-esque. It lacked a bit on the tech but it was a sick run nonetheless. Finley MI put it down on his final run, stomping the 16 and managing to squeak in his final hit 10 after another massive alleyoop dub flat. Only fourth place but another one to watch in the future for sure. Alex Ferreira tried to step it up with a right dub 14 but couldn't quite put it down. Brendan Mackay decided on amplitude over technicality, sending a huge dub 12 blunt instead of the 16 and marginally improving his leading score. Birk Irving saved his best for last. The first hit on axis switch 10 was a thing of beauty and he dropped an nbd (?) down the pipe dub flat 7 for the lead. Noah Bowman, our definitely biased favorite, put it down on the final run two. The switch overflip blunt is still sick, as was his switch dub, and he bumped out Alex F off the podium. Hunter Hess stepped it up but the lack of a switch hit seems to kill his scores. Jon Sallinen put it down on the last run too, stomping the 16 but the comparatively weak switch hit was his undoing. Sick to see some new names up there though. That left Birk, Brendan and Noah 1-2-3.
Results:
View attachment 1058477
