Red Bull Snowscrapers Results

I just watched the big scaffolding hip gap in NYC that was Snowscrapers. Shayne Pospisil took the top spot and the $50K check with a big backside '900.' Torstein Horgmo came in second with Scotty Lago and Travis Rice wrapping up 3rd and 4th respectively. Torstein survived a crazy fall that saw him skid off the side of the take-off on his last run. He then got up to the top of the drop-in and made his last jump. Ballsy.

The format went like this, all 16 riders went at it in a 60-minute jam session which then cut to the top 8 who competed head-to-head. Oddly enough, it looked like the #1 rider from the jam rode against the #2 rider. Then, 3 vs. 4 and so on, instead of the traditional 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc. The bummer in this case went to Shaun White who got knocked out by Torstein Horgmo in round 1 of the elimination. If the scores went down the same, he would have gotten knocked down by #8 Daniel Ek, too, so maybe that one didn't matter. It still seemed a bit off.

The weirdest thing about the contest was that the riders couldn't get enough speed even though the drop-in was 90 feet tall, so they got a slingshot start from two workers or a winch. The riding was pretty good, though. Not 'Air & Style' good, but OK. Pospisil's '900' in the finals deserved first place for sure. Rice had some nice rodeos, Lago ripped off some quality spins and of course Terje cranked a nice method or two. Terje also attempted a one-footed air, but washed out the landing. Super ballsy, especially considering some of the riders were barely clearing the gap fully strapped in. They gave him the best trick at the end, I can only assume it was for the big method.

It might be my inexperience with hip jumps, but it seemed like the announcers were adding an extra 180 to all the tricks. For example, in Pospisil's '900' he took off forward and landed forward. I'd have called it a 720, but I defer to the experts. Maybe they just wanted it to sound bigger or maybe I'm wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

I thought it was cool to see Shayne win a big event like this. He's not exactly a household name, even though he rips hard. For proof, check out last year's King of Quarters and last week's Air & Style. Hopefully he had a bunch of family and friends in attendance, being a Jersey native and all. I was also really impressed with Daniel Ek's performance. He's pretty new to the scene, but he threw down with the vets and came out with a nice finish. Hopefully we can see some more of what he's capable throughout the season.

Another cool thing is that some smaller form of the jump will be kept up for a week or so for public use. How cool is that? If you're anywhere nearby, go check that out: East River Park at FDR and Houston. Now snowboarders have a chance to play out their dreams. Internal monologue, "It's come down to this last jump, for all the fame, glory and 50,000 dollars. (S)he's got to beat an 85.33 for the win..." In the words of Valient Thorr, that's what I'm talkin' about.

Here are the rest of the results, 5-8 are my best guesses based on scores from the first round of eliminations.

1. Shayne Pospisil
2. Torstein Horgmo
3. Scotty Lago
4. Travis Rice
5. Daniel Ek
6. Shaun White
7. Bjorn Leines
8. Terje Haakonsen

Next stop for me is the Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom, where the goal is to not leave the ground so much. Check back for more on that one later...

Competition or Community?

This weekend two of the most opposite contests in the history of competition are going down: the 24th Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom and Red Bull's Snowscrapers. One is a long-standing race that gets hundreds of groms, pros and old souls together for a few days of racing with nothing more (or less) than locally-made prizes and a trophy fashioned after a roll of duct tape. The other is a first-time mega-jump with uber-sponsors and hyper-promotion (and-I-love-hyphens!). Battling it out for spin-to-win supremacy and 100G's in prizes will be 16 hand-picked combatants.

Tonight, the first ever Red Bull Snowscrapers kicks off in New York City. The scaffolding jump is reminiscent of Air and Style, but with a hip landing; a gap hip, if you will. I've never seen anything quite like it. Not sure what will go down. Initial reports say the speed isn't quite right, so I hope they got that fixed. Anthrax (the band, not the disease) is set to make an appearance. Oh yeah and the prize pool is 100,000 bucks, so everything is huge, large and/or epic. Check out the info at Red Bull and watch it live at GO211 from now 'til around 6pm Pacific Time.

Tomorrow the qualifying runs start for the Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom, one of the most storied snowboard races of all time. Tomorrow night, Jamie Lynn's band, Kandi Coded, will rock the Joowanna Café in Maple Falls. Coincidence? Probably not. This is one event that might be more about people getting together off the hill than throwing down on it. Run in the same natural halfpipe since 1985, the LBS course changes a little every year, but the basics are the same: banked turns and high speeds. On the same run are everyone from 10-year-old amateurs to 60-year-old grandfathers. The last chance to qualify is Saturday, then the finals on Sunday determine who takes home the tape. Oh yeah, they have a baked salmon dinner and a bonfire on Sunday, too. That's it. No live broadcast, no commercial interruptions. Money donated to causes infinitely exceeds prize money because there is no prize money. Really. A contest with no prize money. And it's not a qualifier for other contests that do have prize money. If you don't get it, you might have to drive east on WA 542 to find out.

An interesting connection: Travis Rice and Terje Haakonsen are listed as competing in both events. Also, the band Valient Thorr is playing Snowscrapers while they played in Kandi Coded's spot last year. Maybe the two events aren't so different after all. It's all snowboarding, ya know?

It's a little late to get to NYC, but GO211 has the live coverage of Snowscrapers right now. I'm making the drive up to Baker tomorrow and might even have a blog from there for you. Not that the internet can capture the legendary vibe, but maybe it will get you to check it out for yourself next year...