Day 4 Highlights - Slopestyle Finals

As a result of the decision to flip flop the pipe and slope finals, today, Saturday March 15th will go down as one of the most picture perfect slopestyles held on European Soil…. or should I say snow.

Waking up to crystal clear skies, no wind and a balmy 35 degrees, there was no doubt that the riders were ready to get it on. There's nothing more motivating for athletes than a sunny, warm slope event with hundreds of eager spectators on hand. What was a battle ground dominated by mother nature just three short days ago was now a perfectly groomed playground for skiing's top slopestyle competitors.

The course consisted of a never seen before rice bowl feature with chop stick rails leading into a set of grind boxes followed by a moto style triple pack of kickers. With the music cranked and the crowd amped, the field of 6 women and 12 men set off the semi finals with a blaze of action. With two runs to prove who deserved a spot in the finals both the men and women threw just about every trick known to man. But wisely kept a few tricks up their sleeve.

At the conclusion of 36 semi final runs it was Joe Schuster, Kim Blomberg, Thomas Dolplads, Tanner Rainville, Tom Wallisch, Pekka Hyysalo, henrik Harlaut, AJ kempainen, Anders Backe, Phil Casabon, charles, Gagnier and Russell Henshaw in the mens finals.

Set to do battle on the ladies side were Athena Brownson, Caja Schopf, Eveline Bhend, Kristi Leskinen, Anna Segal and the reigning champ, Virginie Fairvre.

For the ladies, the story of the day was undeniable… and so to is the fact that Virginie Faivre has mad style. Coming into the event as the heavy favorite, Virginie did what she does best… slay park runs. From top to bottom she greased rails end to end, worked the rice bowl with unmatched style and put on a clinic showing how to carve take offs on all three kickers…. forward and fakie. Walking away with the crown for the second year in a row is Switzerland's own, Virginie Faivre. And to give credit where credit is due second place finisher Anna Segal was one of the few women to throw inverted tricks in each of her runs.

When the men took center stage the general consensus was that today's contest was anyone's podium. With a stacked field of riders representing 10 different countries the judges were sure to be tested. Names like Tanner Rainville, Charles Gagnier, Justin Dorey, Joe Schuster, Tom Willisch, AJ Kempainen and Phil Casabon put on a display of park mastery for the crowd on hand. To quote Luke Van Valin, the event MC, he warned the crowd that they were about to witness runs with such a high level of difficulty that the riders who would podium would be those that added a little extra flavor to their runs.

And he couldn't have been more correct. Cab nines, tens and twelves, regular nines, tens, stomping spins all four ways, rail trickery that could rival a video game are all par for the course these days. So with that many riders all competing at such a high level, how does a judge differentiate the top three from the rest of the pack. They look for styles and innovation. Two traits that third finisher Phil Casabon exemplify. Phil laid down picture perfect runs all day and perfectly timed his attack on the chop sticks for the final run. One of the few riders to 270 on, 180 switch up and 270 out was enough to give Phil the edge. Finishing in second place was fellow Quebecer Charles Gagnier. Known for his unique style and stompability, Charles put on a display of right and left side 10's and rail prowess earning himself a well deserved second place finish.

Taking the top spot was Russ Henshaw, the Australian who just came off a big win at the Red Bull Playstreets event in Bad Gastein, Austria. Henshaw absolutely worked the course the entire way down… starting out with one of the most unique rice bowl moves of the day approaching with a switch 180 into the bowl, 270 on 270 out and then just slayed it the entire way down. Throwing tens both ways with insane style Russ walked away with a very well deserved first place finish.

And there you have it, another edition of the Orage European Freeski Open By Swatch has come and gone. We were able to watch our sport at its finest and the athletes have allowed us to witness the next level. The past four days have been a glimpse into what's to come and the athletes who will take it there. We'll see you next season in Laax.

We hoped you enjoyed our coverage of the 2008 Orage European Freeski Open By Swatch / Laax