Laax Open 2022 closes out with spectacular Saturday
[ad_1]
Just fractions of a point behind Fitzsimons in second place for the men was veteran Staale Sandbech of Norway, whose last World Cup podium also came in the form of a runner-up result in Laax back in the 2018/19 season.
Sandbech’s second run earned him a score of 80.43 – less than half a point back of Fitzsimons’ winner – with a rail line highlighted by a backside 180 on to cab 3 out that was the highest scoring trick of the day on the down rail, and featured a huge cab 1260 stalefish to frontside 1440 indy combo through the jump line.
Third place was the second U.S. rider to score a career first with his performance in Laax, as Jake Canter grabbed third place with a score of 74.76 for a run that included a half-cab on to nollie backside rodeo 540 out on the butter mound, and big ol’ backside triple cork 1440 indy on the second jump.
HALFPIPE RECAP:
ALL KIM DOES IS WIN, CAI CLAIMS CRYSTAL GLOBE
Just a few hours after Coady and Fitzsimons claimed their slopestyle wins it was on to the world-renowned Laax halfpipe for a sunset session of epic proportions to close out the 2021/22 FIS Snowboard halfpipe World Cup season.
Chloe Kim dominated proceedings in last year’s Laax Open halfpipe competition, claiming her third victory there with relative ease.
That win was one of six she’s now rattled off since her return to competition at the start of last season, and if you look at her bio on our database, you’ll see nothing but ones in every phase of FIS Snowboard competition she’s entered dating back to the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games four years ago.
All of which is to say that, when it comes to women’s halfpipe, this is Chloe Kim’s world, and we’re all just living in it.
On Saturday evening it was the same story once again, as Kim lead off her first run with a boosted backside air, into an even bigger frontside 1080 tail, then a cab 900 melon, then a switch backside 540 weddle with an uncharacteristic wobble in the awkward axis, which she was then able to recover from quickly and launch a cab 1080 melon on her last hit for a score of 90.25.
[ad_2]
Source link