Copper Mountain – More than 200 aspiring skiers spun and soared their way through two days of qualifiers at the U.S. Freeskiing Open’s 10th annual halfpipe showdown.
The final dozen were notable mostly for who they weren’t. Simon Dumont, Jon Olsson, Peter Olenick, Sammy Carlson and more of the most recognizable names in pipe skiing were conspicuously absent from the lineup, with the world’s best playing it safe and resting for the upcoming Winter X Games.
That left Tanner Hall, the 23- year-old patron of pipe who soon will permanently trade his jib sticks for fatty powder boards, with an easy flight to his third and likely last U.S. Open pipe crown. The Park City icon of jib skiing sported a new beard and a new trick for the Open: He entered the pipe switch and miraculously managed mega-amplitude on his first hit, spinning graceful 720s some 18 feet above the deck.
He is promising more height and more spins for X – he will need it to beat the world’s best – leaving some to speculate on what would be the first-ever switch 10 to open a pipe run.
Breck upstart Matt Phillipi took second and New Hampshire’s Colby West finished third. Remember those names, for they will lead the next generation of pipe.
Among the women, Minnesota powerhouse Grete Elliassen waited until her final trick to bust the rare alley-oop 720, delivering her first U.S. Open halfpipe gold.
The two-time X gold winner has all kinds of momentum heading into Aspen and will be charging for her third X pipe gold.
