BRECKENRIDGE — Putting together a first run that consisted of two cab 1080 double corks in the men’s snowboard halfpipe final at the Winter Dew Tour, Danny Davis earned the highest score in tour history Saturday and ran away with his second consecutive title.
Many of the top riders, including Shaun White and Louie Vito, stayed away from this event because of Breck’s 18-foot pipe, which is 4 feet shorter than the Olympic standard used in most contests this season.
Davis’ showstopping run — which earned him a whopping 96.5 points — pretty much took the drama out of the rest of the afternoon, as riders tried to huck their biggest tricks in a seemingly impossible game of follow-the-leader.
“I was glad, because I sealed up some sort of spot right away,” he said. “It’s nice to get it out of the way early.”
Swiss rider Iouri Podladtchikov nailed a double cork 1080 in his first run, earning a 91.25, good for second place.
Olympian and 2002 bronze medalist JJ Thomas of Golden finished third at 84.75.
Riddle bounces back.
After falling hard on his first run, Mike Riddle was buried near the bottom of the standings of the freeski halfpipe finals. Being the third-to-last skier to drop on the second run, he had a decision to make.
“You have to decide if you’re going to play it safe or if you’re going to send it,” he said afterward. “I guess I chose to send it.”
The run he laid down, which included a double flip, two 900s and an alley-oop 360 flatspin, sent him to the top of the Dew Tour podium, narrowly edging out Jossi Wells of New Zealand.
Spaniard wins women’s halfpipe.
With most of the sport’s best riders not competing in the women’s halfpipe finals, 20-year-old Spaniard Queralt Castellet took advantage.
Starting her run with back-to-back 540s and mixing in a frontside 900, Castellet was the only rider to score more than 90 points in the final to take home her first major pipe title.
Canada’s Sarah Conrad finished second with a score of 89.0, and Kjersti Buaas of Norway was third at 87.0.
Bryce Evans, Summit Daily News
