Ski Magazine - ClintBurson.com

Ski Magazine
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This issue is all about the US Open.
Since it is one of the biggest events of
the year I thought it was only fair that
I give it a lot of space in the magazine.
So there are no gear reviews, no resort
reviews or any of the usual features.
Instead, this issue is all the US Open.
I spent the weekend in Vail hiking
up and down the slopestyle course,
standing on the deck of the pipe
and freezing my butt off at Big Air.
I shot more than 2,000 photos over
the course of three days. Instead of
telling you what went down, I would
rather show you. Each section has a
few thoughts on what happened but is
mostly photos from the comp.
I saw a lot of great things over the
weekend. Tanner was back to his old
self, laying down clean pipe runs.
Scott Hibbert was skiing better than
I have ever seen him ride. Tons of up
and coming young skiers and a huge
1440.
I saw some bad too. A blown knee,
broken bindings and even a kid
jumping through a judges’ tower. He
was ok. A cameraman was not. No
one was holding anything back and
sometimes it just didn’t work out.
The US Open is a huge comp. If you
didn’t make it to Vail this year, flip
through these pages and see some of
what you missed.
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Almost a bad day... Laurent Favre having a friendly chat with ski patrol. See the jersey in the patroller’s hand? That’s Favre’s. After a
couple minutes of explaining to the patroller that he really can ski switch that well, the patroller gave him the jersey back.
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Switch Magazine Contributors
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Editor-In-Chief
Contributers
Website: www.skiswitch.com
Correction: In the last issue, the
picture of Jarrod Kahn was mislabled as Jeffrey Leowe. Sorry
Jarrod.
Clint Burson
[email protected]
Ad Sales:
Jessica Burson
[email protected]
Eric Schmitt - Photography
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* We’re always looking for people to contribute to the magazine. If you’re a photographer or writer who would
like to help, drop us a line and we’ll talk. If you’ve just got an idea on things you would like to see covered in the
mag, we’d be happy to hear that too. We may not do it, but we’ll at least think about it for a minute or two.
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Contents
Men’s Slopestyle - Pg 6
Women’s Slopestyle - Pg 22
Big Air - Pg 29
Men’s Pipe - Pg 14
Women’s Pipe - Pg 27
It’s Summer, now what?
Everyone else quit publishing back in January. We’re not skiers October through
February though. We are skiers year round.
Besides, there is still a lot going on over
the summer.
there at the moment was thrown together
in a rush. The new one will be bigger and
better.
The next issue likely won’t be out until
August. In that one you can expect to see
coverage from the Orage Masters, various
summer camps and all the end of season
craziness that goes on between now and
then.
Coming next season will be the Switch
Correspondent program. I’ll turn pages
of the magazine over to you, the readers.
You’ll get the opportunity to pitch story
ideas and if I like them, you’ll write it, collect the photos for it and have it published.
Want to put “Published Writer” on your
resume? Start thinking of ideas now.
I will also be working on a total revamp
of the skiswitch.com web site. The one
Finally, I hope everyone will take a step
back from the season that’s coming to an
end and keep things in perspective.
We’ve seen some big losses to our sport.
Doug Coombs was recently lost to an avalanche. Telluride local Hoot Brown was
lost in a Snow Cat accident during a photo
shoot. Remember those that passed doing what we love and have a moment of
silence for them. Losing talented skiers in
freak accidents sucks. Remember those
that have died doing what they love.
Enjoy the summer folks, I’ll see you on the
glaciers.
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US Open Slopestyle
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Slopestyle is the biggest event at the U.S. Open. With the largest number of competitors it takes three days to get through everyone.
The qualifying heats took place on Thursday and Friday with semis and finals going off on Saturday. Most of the pros were
prequalified straight to semis so Thursday and Friday were reserved for the ams and a few pros that didn’t manage to prequalify.
The course was laid out on Vail’s Golden Peak, just below the normal terrain park. From the start area, skiers had a choice of two
picnic tables. Below them was a flat down rail in the center of the course with c-rails on either side. The flat down was the rail almost
everyone hit. Overall, the rail section was a bit on the generic side.
With fresh snow during qualifying, most competitors were choosing to skip the picnic tables and just hit the bottom rails so they could
carry enough speed into the first jump. The area after the flat down rail was relatively flat so if you didn’t carry much speed off the rail
you were almost guaranteed to come up a bit short on the first jump.
Below the rails was the jump line. Three jumps with huge, steep landings. Each jump gave skiers two options. The right side was the
smaller of the two hits.
Unfortunately, the qualifying rounds were held in the middle of a snow storm. The fresh snow made conditions outside of the park
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great but anyone with a bib on wasn’t
there to ski outside of the park. The fresh
snow kept the course very slow. Clearing
the first jump was proving difficult.
I stood on the deck of the first and second
jumps during qualifying and saw several
people coming up short and slamming into
the knuckle. Some didn’t even make it that
far.
The riders that advanced out of qualifying
to join the prequalified skiers in semis
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and finals definitely earned the right to
compete with the pros.
The Good from slopestyle:
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Sammy Carlson throwing a huge
1260 on the third hit to finish his
run.
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Simon Dumont’s sick truck driver
7’s over the second hit. He’s got
that trick wired.
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Tanner Hall dropping steezy 5’s
off the second hit in between
runs. You’d never know he
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missed most of last season.
Sunshine for semis and finals.
Jon Olsson taking third… again.
Lots of unknowns throwing down
for the chance to get noticed.
Corey Vanular winning big and
standing atop the podium by
stomping everything during his
finals runs.
All of next year’s gear on display.
From outerwear to skis, it all
looked sick.
Jerseys instead of bibs for the
continued on pg 13
This is what the weather looked like during
the qualifying rounds. Lots of clouds, lots
of snow.
Top Left: Not sure who this is, but it was a
nice pic so it got in. If it is you, you know
who you are.
Top Right: Byron Wells crossed up and
corked during prelims.
Bottom: One of the few people to choose
the C-Rail on the slopestyle course.
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Top: Andreas Hatveit after breaking a
binding during his finals run.
Right: Ian Cosco made it through quals
and semis to ski for the big money.
Left: Colby West
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Top Left: Charles Gagnier, tweaked.
Top Right: Alexis Godbout.
Bottom Left: Peter Olenick, semis.
Bottom Right: Corey Vanular, on his way
to first.
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U.S. Freeskiing Open - Slopestyle
John Spriggs
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Charles Gagnier
prequalified skiers. I hope the
move away from bibs continues.
The Bad:
•
Andreas Hatveit breaking a
binding landing switch during his
first finals run.
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The weather during qualifying.
Not only did it make for a slow
course that made clearing the
jumps difficult, it made getting
good photos of all the ams next to
impossible.
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The rail section. What a
disappointment.
•
Watching a grom go off the third
jump weird and fly (literally)
through the judges tower. He was
OK but that was not fun to watch.
•
Laurent Favre having his jersey
momentarily held hostage by Vail
Ski Patrol for skiing switch too
fast in a “slow skiing zone.”
•
Tanner Hall not competing in
slopestyle. I know he wanted to
focus on pipe but watching him
lay down the cleanest cork 5’s
off the second hit all day long. I
couldn’t help but think he would
have destroyed the course.
Results
1st - Corey Vanular
2nd - Sammy Carlson
3rd - Jon Olsson
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PIPE
US Open
Vail, CO
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Skier: Simon Dumont
Photographer: Clint Burson
At the end of the pipe comp, one thing
was clear. Tanner Hall was on top of
his game and had his pipe run dialed.
The only person in the field capable of
matching his technical skill and amplitude
was Simon Dumont and he couldn’t land
the 1080 cleanly at the end of his run
when it counted.
After qualifying, the pipe comp was down
to mostly the pre-qualified pros. It was
quickly apparent who was in contention
for the podium and who was not.
Hall never faltered in his pipe runs,
landing everything smoothly and high on
the transition. He appeared so casual in
his runs that one photographer on the pipe
deck did not realize he was competing.
Loic Callomb-Patton and Corey Vanular
rounded out the podium by having clean
runs in the finals though neither could
match Hall.
If you expect to do well in the US Open
Superpipe comp, you have to be able to
throw something on every wall and all of
your hits had better be overhead. Straight
airs and/or low amplitude just won’t cut
it.
That said, there are a number of good
pipe skiers out there. Scott Hibbert was
going higher than anyone on his first hit.
In his final run he had put together a run I
thought would put him on the podium…
until the last hit that is. Throwing
what appeared to be an alley-oop 540
screaming seaman he washed out on
landing, ending his hopes for a podium
spot.
Greg Tufflemeyer certainly had the
amplitude and technical tricks to do well.
continued on pg 20
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Skier: Tanner Hall
Photo: Clint Burson
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Top: Andy Woods airing it out. Being upside down
that far above the pipe has to be a very strange
way to view the world.
Right: I don’t know who this guy is but he was
going pretty big and he definitely stood out.
Check out the Prior skis. Unfortunately he didn’t
put together a full clean run so he didn’t make it
out of the qualifying rounds.
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Top: Sean Fields managed to not fly so far down
the pipe this year. He got five hits in instead of just
three. He was going as high as anyone else but a lack
of technical diffiuclty hurt. I guess amplitude isn’t
the only thing the judges look at afterall.
Left: I don’t know what’s better here, the air or
Craig Coker just randomly standing on the deck of
the pipe watching the action fly by. That’s John
Symms looking down on Coker.
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continued from pg 15
Left: Greg Tufflemeyer on the first of three hits in the pipe. Last year, three hits was enough to podium. It wasn’t this
year.
Right: Jean Laurent Ratchel using Pipe Cleaners to uh... clean the air above the pipe I guess.
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He was at least double overhead and was landing his usual 1260 to end his run. Unfortunately he was only managing three hits in the
Vail pipe and one of them was a straight air. With so few hits he could not climb up to a podium spot despite the tornado-like 1260 he
kept landing at the bottom of the pipe.
There were a number of skiers throwing down runs with multiple switch hits. The low amplitude of the switch hits apparently left the
judges underwhelmed as none of those runs scored particularly high. Switch tricks may be the future of pipe skiing but they’ve still
got a ways to go before they make an impact on the scores.
Overall, the pipe comp was pretty cool. I definitely recommend checking it out if you get the chance. You’ll be standing closer to the
skiers than any other event. Believe me, a 15 foot air looks good from a distance or on video but when you are right under it, it is
absolutely sick.
Tanner Hall was going off all weekend. The pipe run
was clean the first time he dropped in and only got
better with each run. Tanner looked unstoppable.
He was, ending the comp at the top of the podium.
What broken ankles? If I hadn’t seen the video, I’d
think he faked the whole injury thing.
The Podium
1st - Tanner Hall
2nd - Loic Collamb-Patton
3rd - Corey Vanular
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Women’s
Women’s slopestyle went down on Saturday after the men’s semis heats. I spent a bit
of time up in the start area while the ladies were dropping in. The women of freeskiing
definitely cheer each other on. All of the riders were giving out advice. I even overheard
Kristi Leskinen (out of the comp with an injured back) giving tips on staying warm and
getting blood to cold fingers.
On course they were tearing it up. Grete Eliassen was head and shoulders above the
rest of the girls. Literally. She went substantially bigger than the next closest girl, Sarah
Burke. Michelle Parker rounded out the podium for the women with consistently smooth
spins and hitting the left side of the jump line. (Most of the women elected to hit the
right side of the first two jumps.)
Though the women’s division was substantially smaller than the men’s, they were
every bit as exciting to watch. Most of the girls were young, showing that freeskiing is
attracting more women and that the future looks good for women in freeskiing. These
were not just girls that were straight airing over the jumps and barely able to stay on the
rails. These ladies were showing all kinds of style and great rail balance.
Enjoy the photos.
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Skier: Grete Elliassen
Photo: Clint Burson
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Top Left: The start gate during the women’s slopestyle comp. Lots of ladies on twins.
Top Right: Michelle Parker crosses it up during her run. She was one of the only
women to take the left side of the jump line.
Bottom Left: I think this is Iris Dougherty. If it’s not... wear your bib so I can see
your number!
Bottom Right: Sarah Burke landing switch.
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Results
1st - Grete Eliassen
2nd - Sarah Burke
3rd - Michelle Parker
Michelle Parker on her
way to a podium finish.
Whitney Wickes showing
why she won the Young Gun
comp a couple weeks earlier.
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Left: Marie Martinod waiting her turn at the start gate of women’s slopestyle. The start gate during the womens’ comp was a great
place to be. The ladies were all supporting each other and cheering one another on.
Right: Kristi Johns having a very bad day. In the women’s finals she came up short on the second hit and went down hard. The injury
was to her knee, thus ending the day and possibly the season.
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Women’s Pipe
The field for women’s pipe was pretty
small. It was also lacking two big names.
Grete Eliassen chose not to compete in the
pipe comp after taking first in slopestyle.
Kristi Leskinen gave it a shot but with her
back still hurting was forced to pull out of
the comp after her first run.
Even without those two ladies the
women didn’t hold anything back. Sarah
Burke was going just as high or higher
than many of the men. Jen Hudak and
Jess Cumming managed to balance out
amplitude and spins to complete the
women’s podium. Consistency was the
key to women’s pipe. Landing a clean run
would put you near the top.
There were a number of women having
great runs. Marie Martinod had some
great lines but couldn’t hold it together for
a full run. Stephanie Sirianni made it past
qualifying with some good amplitude but
couldn’t keep it together for finals.
Skier: Michelle Parker
Photo: Clint Burson
Women’s pipe has come a long way. Just
getting out of the pipe is not good enough
any more. Girls are getting solid spins
and switch tricks now. It was too bad
their time in the pipe was at the end of
the day when most of the men were at the
bottom of the hill warming up for Big Air.
They deserved more attention than they
received.
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Left: Whitney Wickes showing she’s
going to be a force in womens freeskiing
in the not so distant future.
Top Right: Sarah Burke getting way over
head. See the guy in the back? She’s way
over his head.
Bottom Right: Natalie Sirianni
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Results
1st - Sarah Burke
2nd - Jen Hudak
3rd - Jess Cumming
Big Air
Skier: Sammy Carlson
Photo: Eric Schmitt
“Oh $#@&*!!!” That was my response after watching TJ Schiller
down a HUGE switch 1440 to win the US Open Big Air comp.
Almost everyone that saw it thought or said the same thing.
Including Uncle E, announcing the event.
From where I was standing in the landing area, I could see the
top of the drop in down to the small bump everyone was stopping
at before dropping in to hit the 80-foot jump.
I knew Schiller was about to go huge when he dropped in.
Instead of sliding down to the bump, he dropped straight in from
the top…. switch. Four revolutions and one grab later, TJ was
dog-piled at the bottom, the undisputed winner.
Sure, there were other great jumps in the contest: Andreas Hatveit
going huge and doubling over in pain with each landing, Charles
Gagnier throwing switch 10’s both directions and Tom Dolozel
jumping in a shiny white thong… but that switch 1440 is what
will be remembered from the 2006 US Open Big Air.
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Photo: Eric Schmitt
Results
Photo: Eric Schmitt
1st - TJ Schiller
2nd - Charles Gagnier
3rd - Adreas Hatveit
Photo: Eric Schmitt
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Photo: Eric Schmitt
Photo: Eric Schmitt
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Photo: Eric Schmitt