NEW ZEALAND FREESKI OPEN: Frenchman defends Superpipe crown
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The first major comp in a long while commenced today down here in sunny New Zealand. Top international skiers converged on the scene at Snow Park—a freestyle-only ski hill with three pipes, tons of jumps, and so many boxes and rails it just makes your bum hurt—for the 2nd annual NZ Freeski Open, a two-week competition showcasing Superpipe, Slopestyle, Rail Jam and Big Mountain.
The K2 Superpipe kicked off the Open today as 12 skiers qualified to make the Finals where judges graded the best of three runs. Frenchman Loic Collomb-Patton defended his Superpipe crown beating out a slew of international skiers in impressive fashion. Collomb-Patton, who won both Superpipe and Slopestyle at last year’s NZ Freeski Open, threw down under blue skies with an alley-oop, to flatspin 540, to air-to-fakie, to an insane Cab 1080 at the bottom on his 3rd run. It was sick! I can’t remember the last time I saw a switch 1080 in a comp, but he landed it and raised his arms as the crowd at the bottom of the pipe cheered in appreciation for the Frenchie’s sweet pipe skills. Collomb Patton has definitely improved his game since the 2006 Winter X Games where he barely missed the podium finishing 4th, so be sure to watch out for this 19-year-old in the upcoming season.
Making sure that people around the globe know the Kiwis are for real, local boy Jossi Wells took 2nd by throwing a 1080 on his second-to-last hit before finishing off his 3rd run with a Cab 900—another combo trick rarely seen on the competition circuit last winter. Wells, a 16-year-old from nearby Wanaka confirmed his status as a legit contender with his performance.
Rounding out the podium was X Games Superpipe superstar Simon Dumont. Dumont threw his standard pipe run with a big, truck-driver 540 on his first hit, ending his run with the biggest 1080 of the day. The Maine native did not have his usual drool-inducing amplitude, but his form looked solid for it being August 15th.
Other top skiers competing today included Oregon native Sammy Carlson, Frenchman Xavier Bentoni who hails from La Clusaz (watch out for this kid—threw some impressive rightside 9’s), and the younger brother of Byron Wells, brother of Jossi.
