It felt like a summer day during Mountain High's Gatorade Free Flow Tour snowboard slopestyle finals, but all the riders found the speed needed to boost stylish airs and spin it to try and win it at the SoCal resort.
Men's podium (l-r) Spencer Whiting, 2nd, Mark Reininga, 1st, Brandon Davis, 3rd
The event marked the start of the second season, and the 10-stop tour will be hitting up the best resorts across the nation in search of the next big thing. The winner from each event across the country will meet up in Utah at the end of the season to compete, and the overall winner gets a chance to compete against the pros at the Dew Tour stop in Snowbasin.
Mark Reininga
Mark Reininga, a 20-year-old Mammoth local took home the top prize for guys after throwing down the winning run that went like this: switch backside 540, backside 720, frontside 9, and he finished it off with a front flip off the box.
"I just had fun, tried some tricks and it worked out," Reininga said. "Getting to Dew Tour is the dream, so I'm just trying to chase it."
Spencer Whiting
All the guys were ripping, but 15-year-old Spencer Whiting, a San Diego native who hails from Mammoth, earned second-place in the competition. Another 15-year-old from Mammoth, Brandon Davis, took home third and claimed the last spot on the podium.
Brandon Davis
On the women's side of things, it looked like it could be anyone's win for a while with last season's two-time Gatorade Free Flow Tour event winner Nirvana Ortanez in the mix, along with prior winner Erika Vikander.
Women's podium (l-r) Erika Vikander, 2nd; Jamie Madrid, 1st; Nirvana Ortanez, 3rd
But it was Jamie Madrid who put down the cleanest run and came out on top with her backside 360, frontside 360, frontside 180 and Cab into the box.
Jamie Madrid
"My goal was to get this win because I really want to get out there to the finals in Utah and hopefully dominate there too," Madrid said. "I knew Nirvana was the one that I kind of had to beat - her and Erika. I was really nervous because we were all neck in neck and I was not sure who pulled out the cleaner tricks. I was really stoked to beat both of those girls because they’re really good rippers and I’m pretty stoked to be going to Utah."
Erika Vikander
Vikander ended up in second-place and Ortanez finished third. No hard feelings for Ortanez, who's headed to Gatorade Free Flow Tour stop at Sierra-at-Tahoe to try her luck again.
Nirvana Ortanez
"I think the Free Flow Tour is one of the better competitions to enter, especially for ams, because you don’t have all these initiation fees and entry fees," Ortanez said. "It’s just straight $25, and you can be a part of the Dew Tour and ride with the pros, possibly, and that’s cool."
Check out all the action from the event in the video below
