Canadian Snowboarders Sweep LAAX Open podium
Canadian Snowboarders Sweep LAAX Open podium
Total domination in Switzerland, a busy weekend for Canadian riders around the World
After bailing on his first two runs of the final, Mark McMorris (Regina, SK) stomped his final run to capture the 2016 LAAX Open title. In what is one of the biggest competitions of the season, Canadians crushed the final by taking all top five spots. Tyler Nicholson (North Bay, ON) and Sebastien Toutant (Seb Toots) (L’Assomption, QC) landed in 2nd and 3rd while Darcy Sharpe (Comox, BC) and Mikey Ciccarelli (Ancaster, ON) took 4th and 5th respectively, with Maxence Parrot (Bromont, QC) rounding out the top ten domination in 7th spot. This is the second major title for McMorris this season after he won the Dew Tour back in December.
“I had some good early shredding in Saas-Fee this year and I think that made a difference, especially for my jumping tricks. I feel good on my board and am loving competing again!” said Seb Toots after posting a score of 83.10 on his first finals run, good enough for third and the $16,000 USD cash prize.
Tyler Nicholson, who beat out Toots by just over a point with a score of 84.35 talked about the atmosphere amongst his fellow canucks: “It's obviously a good vibe, everyone's so stoked for one another. We’re there to ride our best and it’s up the the judges to place us in whatever position they feel is right.”
Max Parrot also made history by stomping three consecutive triple-cork tricks (triples) in one run, a first in competitive snowboarding: “Yeah I'm really happy I've been able to land 3 triples in a row, I’ve been thinking about that for a while! I definitely have some more tricks I'd like to land in contest. Hopefully the opportunity comes soon!” Spencer O’Brien (Courtenay, BC) was the only Canadian female in the final and finished in 5th.
This is the best ever result for the Canadian Slopestyle team and team coach Elliot Catton couldn’t have been happier: “The Canadian Slopestyle Program has had a successful recipe for a long time. The guys and girls on this team are all extremely talented snowboarders and they earned their results. It was incredible to see all the guys riding at their best at the same time.”
The team now heads into next weekend’s X-Games in Aspen, Colorado with a major confidence boost and a whole bunch of swagger.
Check out the full finals run here.
Mammoth Grand Prix – Slopestyle & Halfpipe
After several weather delays and schedule changes, the Mammoth Grand prix finally took place at Mammoth Mountain, CA.
The Slopestyle final was moved to Friday where Development team athlete Max Eberhardt (North Bay, ON) placed 4th, his best ever showing at a World Cup although he still believed he had room for improvement:
"All in all I'm happy with the outcome. My first finals run worked out, but honestly I was trying to step up my next two runs and couldn't put down the run I wanted. It always feels good to land a contest run, but it's a bit unsatisfying to not meet your personal goals. It gives me something to work on though!"
Trevor Niblett (Toronto, ON) and Katie Tsuyiki (Toronto, ON) were the top Canadians in the pipe with both riders finishing in 8th.
Full results are available here.
SBX and Slalom
Over in Feldberg, Germany, the first ever “sprint” style SBX races took place with Chris Robanske (Squamish, BC) and Baptiste Brochu (Saguenay, QC) placing 4th and 6th in the weekend’s first races. The 6th place finish was the best individual World Cup result in the 21 year old’s career. Tess Critchlow (Kelowna, BC) was the top female and finished in a career best sixth during the second World Cup race on Sunday.
Click here for the full race recap.
In Rogla, Slovenia, Megan Farrell(Richmond Hill, ON) took 35th spot in parallel grand slalom World Cup while on the men’s side Olympic Gold medalist Jasey-Jay Anderson (Lac Supérieur, QC) came in 17th.
Final standings can be found here.
photo: Chris Witwicki
