Out of the ordinary weather on Saturday forced the contest to be moved to the next day as harsh winds delayed lift operations and wreak havoc on the hill. Sunday we woke up to sunny skies, warm temps, and a recuperated course with the help of the Mt High’s superb park crew.
The men's snowboard slopestyle field featured a solid mix of local and travelling shredders. 16 year old winner Brandon Davis put it down for his run with a backside rodeo 540, cab 900 tail grab, and a backside 720. Davis was a fixture on the tour last year, finsihing on the podium in 2 separate slopestyle events, and winning the superpipe contest at Sierra-at-Tahoe. After travelling to Snowbasin for last year's superpipe finals, where he finished 4th, Brandon has his ticket punched this year for slopestyle. "I can’t wait to get out to Snowbasin and hit that course!" Davis exclaimed after the event.
Marco Gooding came in 2nd after throwing a backside 720 and a cab 540. Mammoth's Spencer Whiting rounded out the podium, landing a frontside 720 and a backside 360 double-grab in his run.
Men's Snowboard Slopestyle Results:
1. Brandon Davis
2. Marco Gooding
3. Spencer Whitling
4. Zack Foster
5. Levi Kaseroff
On the lady’s side, 2010 finalist Nirvana Ortanez will be heading back to Snowbasin this year after taking the win in the women's division. Ortanez's run went a little something like this: boardslide on the down box, into a backside 360 melon grab, followed by frontside 180 indy-grab, and then a cab 180 to wrap things up.
“I’m so happy to go to the finals again," Ortanez said. the jumps were really fun today and I’m looking forward to riding the course in the finals.”
Women's Snowboard Slopestyle Results:
1. Nirvana Ortanez
2. Kelly Berger
3. Alexandra Morris
4. Jasmin Gallop
5. Chloe Kim
With their wins, Davis and Ortanez are qualified into the Gatorade Free Flow Tour Finals in Snowbasin, Utah, which will take place during the Winter Dew Tour's Toyota Championships.
