The men’s ski slopestyle finals kicked off under bluebird skies at Copper Mountain, a stark contrast to the snowy days leading up to it. The course was groomed to perfection by the team at Copper, and the new snow made for soft landings on all of the features.
Winds were a bit unpredictable during the contest, making the situation a bit more challenging. Colby Stevenson noted, “they were a bit hard to judge,” referring to what sort of approach to take on the kickers.
A wind gust can make or break a trick, and alter the speed of a skier while in the air, so being able to gauge that variable is crucial to each run. Despite this, some highlights of the action on the jumps included a left dub 16 with a Cuban grab on the Performix SST jump by Colby Stevenson, and a double misty 12 with a safety grab by Swiss skier Fabian Boesch. Boesch’s teammate Andri Ragettli threw a massive dub 16 with a tail grab, which may have been helped by a tailwind, increasing his amplitude.
Alex Hall threw down in his last run with all four ways of spins on the rails and snagged the second-place spot with a 93. Evan McEachran out of Ontario, Canada, and last year’s Dew Tour Champion scored well with a switch left dub 14 tail that was followed by a solid line through the rails, landing him in third.
Antoine Adelisse got absolutely corked with a right triple 16, which was another notable hit on the last jump.
As for the rails, Christian Nummedal did a k-fed onto the butter pad and was rewarded for his run with a 94.00, sliding him into the top spot. Colby Stevenson did a 3 swap transfer that impressed the judges, but he, unfortunately, took a spill in the jumps in that same run.
Nummedal was stoked on the win, saying, “I was lucky enough to compete as a third alternate, I can’t believe this!”
Men’s Ski Slopestyle Results
1.) Christian Nummedal, 94.00
2.) Alex Hall, 93.33
3.) Andri Ragettli, 92.66
4.) Evan McEachran, 91.00
5.) Colby Stevenson, 87.33
6.) Nick Goepper, 85.33
7.) Fabian Boesch, 85.00
8.) Oystein Braaten, 84.66
9.) Antoine Adelisse, 81.00
10.) Birk Ruud, 78.66
11.) Alex Beaulieu-Marchand, 77.00
12.) Ferdinand Dahl, 74.00
13.) Max Moffatt, 73.33
14.) Cody LaPlante, 72.00
15.) Mark Hendrickson, 58.66
16.) Gus Kenworthy, 22.00
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