20 of the world’s top vert skaters turned up the heat to qualify for Saturdays Skate Vert Finals. Although temperatures in Denver reached 100 degrees outside the Pepsi Center, the temperature inside soared well beyond that as 20 of the world’s top vert skaters turned up the heat to qualify for Saturdays Skate Vert Finals.

With six rippers advancing into the Prelims from Friday afternoons Skate Vert Open Qualifier and only 12 out of 20 advancing to the Finals, the stage was set to see who could stay focused and stomp their most technical flow of tricks in their dig for gold in Colorado. Skaters had two 45-second runs to prove themselves, and with the clock working against them tick-ticking away, pressure mounted with every skater that dropped.

Heat 1 started hot from the get-go with flawless runs from the likes of Montreal’s Max Dufour with huge FS stalefishes and BS 540s, Mike Crums nollie heelflip FS airs, and Jean Postecs consistent 540 stalefishes, kickflip indys and lofty FS ollies. Colorado’s Glen Charnoski also represented the old school with a smooth style that let everyone know his classic skate roots and although Rune Glifberg, Mizael Simao and Derek Krasauskas all skated hard, some unfortunate slams kept their scores low and made them have to work harder in their second runs.

Now lets talk about Shaun White. Regardless of what happened in Louisville, White was a man on a mission in Denver as he boosted some of the hugest air of the Prelims with nasty Japan airs, sky-high FS rodeo 5s over the channel and technical craziness that made everyone’s jaws hit the floor. Ironically, the music for Shaun’s run was AC/DC’s Back in Black, truly a fitting theme for his return to the Dew Tour. Combining his snowboard style with sick tech skate skills, Shaun let all the other skaters know that he will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the Dew Tour season.

The final runs of Heat 1 included Jean Postec, Pierre-Luc Gagnon and Bucky Lasek who all killed it with 540 stalefishes over the channel, FS rodeo 5s and more tech trickery than you know what to do with, sending Pierre-Luc into first place after Heat 1 with super clean runs and huge, lofty airs.

Heat 2 included big names like Bob Burnquist, Sandro Dias, Lincoln Ueda and Andy Macdonald, who absolutely killed the vert ramp with frontside blunts on the extension, tons of switch tricks and more backside ollies and airs over the channel than you can keep track of. Neil Hendrix, Buster Halterman and Rob Lorifice also had really awesome runs which secured their spot in the Finals, but when it was all said and done, no one could top Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Bucky Lasek and Bob Burnquist who finished first, second and third, respectively.

With the level of skating displayed in Fridays Prelims, Saturdays Skate Vert Finals looks to be one of the most competitive vert events in skateboarding to date. Although Burnquist swept Louisville, he will surely have a tough time continuing his streak in Denver and will need more than just luck alone to stay on top. Don’t miss a second of the action going down Saturday at 12:15 PM CT!

Results:

1. Pierre-Luc Gagnon 86.00
2. Bucky Lasek 85.75
3. Bob Burnquist 84.75
4. Shaun White 84.25
5. Sandro Dias 82.00
6. Andy Macdonald 81.00
7. Jean Postec 81.00
8. Max Dufour 80.75
9. Buster Halterman 80.75
10. Rune Glifberg 80.00
11. Rob Lorifice 80.00
12. Neal Hendrix 79.00
13. Lincoln Ueda 78.25
14. Phil Hajal 76.00
15. Simao Mizael 71.00
16. Benji Galloway 67.75
17. Paul Zitzer 66.00
18. Glen Charnoski 63.25
19. Mike Crum 61.50
20. Derek Krasauskas 54.75