Laax Slopestyle finalists face battle on Saturday
After a heated battle, the twelve slopestyle finalists for LAAX OPEN 2016 have been figured out.
Swedish top-rider Sven Thorgren showed the best performance of the day with a score of 89.05. He is followed beneath others by Canadian superstar Mark McMorris, winner of Olympic bronze medal in 2014, who was second best with 88.90 points. Stale Sandbech, winner from previous year Burton European Championships, surprisingly didn’t made it into the finals after falling on both of his runs.
After a two-hour delay this morning due to fog, the skies finally cleared revealing a glorious day in the Swiss Alps for the Men’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals, at the inaugural LAAX OPEN. The pressure was on for the 40 men, who were looking to get one of 12 spots in Saturday’s final, and a piece of the $500,000 USD cash prize. During the two heats, the guys threw down some incredible runs on the pristine Laax Snowpark course, it could have been mistaken for the finals. No one was taking any safety runs, especially during the second heat, with 21-year-old Sven Thorgren stomping the best run of the day, scoring an 89.05. 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, Mark McMorris, got technical and went big as he always does, ending with an 88.90— the second highest score of the day. 19- year-old Canadian, Darcy Sharpe, was the highlight during the first heat, with an 83.30 also taking a spot in the finals.
Unfortunately, last year’s Burton European Open Slopestyle champ, Stale Sandbech (NOR), didn’t make the cut for Saturday, falling on both of his runs. The LAAX OPEN Slopestyle Finals are scheduled for Saturday, January 23, at 10:30am LT. If you can’t be in Laax, be sure to check out all of the fun streaming live www.laax.com/open. Men’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals Heat 1 (Top 6) 1. Darcy Sharpe (CAN) 83.30 2. Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) 80.65 3. Tyler Nicholson (CAN) 80.10 4. Max Parrot (CAN) 79.55 5. Dario Burch (SUI) 73.00 6. Roope Tonteri (FIN) 69.85 Men’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals Heat 2 (Top 6) 1. Sven Thorgren (SWE) 89.05 2. Mark McMorris (CAN) 88.90 3. Yuki Kadono (JPN) 88.65 4. Sebastien Toutant (CAN) 83.85 5. Billy Morgan (GBR) 73.95 6. Michael Ciccarelli (CAN) 73.80 All results can be found on www.laax.com/open.
The women’s semifinal has been postponed for today.
After holding freestyle contests for nearly 30 years, the LAAX OPEN 2016 signals a new era in snowboarding events at Europe’s leading freestyle destination. From January 18 to 24, 2016, Laax is going to crank it up: up on the mountains and down in the valley, the freestyle feeling is taking over. Top-notch snowboarding competitions, powder runs, lifestyle, cultural and culinary delights – with something for everyone, the LAAX OPEN is in a class of its own.