Kent Callister Completes the Sweep, Wins Snowboard Pipe Title Along With Kelly Berger

The snowboard world is now officially on notice. The name Kent Callister is one that will come to be known more and more over the next few seasons. The 16-year-old scored his second win in a 24 hour span, pairing Saturday's slopestyle win with a superpipe championship on Sunday, in the process becoming the first competitor to ever win 2 championships in a single Gatorade Free Flow Tour season.

Dropping in for his first run, Callister immediately caught the attention of the fans and judges with a monster backside air on his first hit. From there, he threw down the gauntlet, landing a frontside 1080 on his 2nd wall. The rest of his run was stellar as well, executing a Haakon flip, frontside 720, frontside 900, into a backside 900, then wrapping it up with a crippler.

Kent Callister makes it 2-for-2

Callister was one of three riders to successfully land a 1080 in the contest. Chase Josey landed a frontside 10 a little deep on his first run, leading him to wash out on a front 9 on his next hit. Showing lots of promise despite the first run troubles, Josey bounced back on his 2nd try, throwing back-to-back 900's before going into the frontside 10. Wrapping his run up with a cab 720, frontside 720, and an inverted backside 900, the 16-year-old from Idaho posted a great score that put him into 2nd.

Brandon Davis, the only rider in the contest aside from Callister pulling double duty this week, also landed the 1080, doing it cab on his first run. The trick was preceded by a Haakon flip, back-to-back 540's and a frontside 720. The run landed him on the podium on 3rd, a modest improvement from last year's 4th-place showing.

Callister's 2nd run brought about one of the day's biggest "did that really just happen?!" moments. Needing something major to step up his already-impressive score, he attempted a double mctwist in the middle of his run. An amateur rider even thinking of throwing a trick like that just seems to defy plausibility. Even though the trick wasn't landed, the fact that he even went for it gave everyone in attendance a glimpse of what the future might hold. Adding a double mctwist to the first run Callister had is the kind of thing that gets you into a Winter Dew Tour final.

Another notable contestant was Max Jenson, the youngest competitor in any contest this weekend. If that name sounds familiar to any of our season-long fans, it could be because he competed in skateboard vert finals at the Gatorade Free Flow Tour this past summer. Safe to say the kid's a legitimate two-sport athlete at just 13 years of age. He launched huge backside airs in the pipe and demonstrated execution of the frontside 900 and Haakon flip.

The men's contest was preceded by the ladies. Kirby Kelly, the only girl to make superpipe finals in all 3 years of the Gatorade Free Flow Tour, held the lead entering the 2nd set of runs. But before the order could circle back around to Kirby for a victory lap, 16-year-old Kelly Berger stated her case for the title.

Kelly Berger

Berger's run started off with a frontside 540, backside 540 and back-to-back-airs, all setting up a big-time frontside 720. The run wrapped up with a cab 360 and a frontside air tailgrab. The 720 really helped set the Mammoth Lakes native apart form the rest of the contenders, giving her the lead with just one rider to go.

Coming back around to Kirby Kelly, the challenge had been issued. She'd need to find a way to top what the judges had just witnessed. Kirby landed a mctwist on her first hit, going into back-to-back 540's and 3 setup airs before attempting a backside 900, washing out in the process. The 2nd place finish matched her previous best result at the Gatorade Free Flow Tour Finals, when she finished as the runner up in 2010.

Noelle Edwards rounded out the podium for the women, with Shannon Branthoover taking 4th a day after competing in slopestyle.

With the wins, Kent Callister and Kelly Berger earn pre-qualified spots into next season's Winter Dew Tour.

Men's Snowboard Superpipe Results
1. Kent Callister, 94.25
2. Chase Josey, 92.50
3. Brandon Davis, 91.50
4. Spencer Whiting, 89.75
5. Max Jenson, 86.50
6. Jake Pates, 76.25
7. Owen Dayton, 66.00
8. Adam Hohmeyer, 43.75
9. Nik Baden, 22.25

Women's Snowboard Superpipe Results
1. Kelly Berger, 90.25
2. Kirby Kelly, 85.75
3. Noelle Edwards, 75.50
4. Shannon Branthoover, 61.75
5. Maggie Leon, 50.00

Kent Callister