WhiteStyle report…

Actually it’s hard for me to compare this year’s WhiteStyle edition and others simply because it was my first time here. And i have to assume that i was pretty impressed. Not that i was sceptical, but i was only thinking about a slopestyle on snow, i mean, you kow, snow isn’t dirt…But i was totally wrong as snow is super hard, and do not accept crashes. Especially because this year course was really massive. Check this out after the drop with great pics form Ale DiLullo as always…

Grant Fielder was the course builder, and he did an amazing job. It was huge. Short descritption of the course would include a start-igloo with a small drop, big doubles, step-ups, huge drops, big hitter at the end…well basically the course seemed to be really fun to ride. Technically speaking, i was also impressed by the fact that a lot of rider were still riding in jeans, despite the coldness and snow ahahahh….and mainly impressed by hardtails.

I was really thinking that a small fully would be perfect but despite huge drops and big jumps, Martin, Sam, Yannick, Amir and so on were killing it on hardtails, when Darren, Cam, Grant, or Niki were riding with small fullys. Really amazing.

The competition schedule was pretty tight, everything in one day, training, qualis, and finals. Qualis and final runs were ridden at night, pretty sick to watch.

Qualis were tough. All riders were riding good and ripping. Jamie Goldman was, as always, super solid. Strong and consistent. Bearclaw and Cam McCaul super technical, Yannick flying high in the air, Martin throwing already double whips, Amir breaking wheels and coming back even stronger after, Sam Pilgrim and Reynolds flying around around with style…

All that you can expect from a international slopestyle. The crowd came in force and was really enjoying the show. Cheering riders were they were riding and asking for pics and autographs on their way up to the start.

When finals starts, Martin was leading the pack in front of Yannick. But as you know, qualis are one story, but finals are another one. All riders were stepping up their riding, and you could really feel the pressure. Especially because nearly all qualifiers were possible winners or podiums…

First final run saw Yannick sending an extensive run. I mean extensive, because it was really all about amplitude, high in the air, really high. Martin couldn’t complete his first final run, adding some more pressure on his shoulder. Sam Pilgrim went down with front flip, backflip no hander, and so on…Amir throw some nice 3-6whips but the big surprise went from Linus. Quiet and calm, chilled as always, Linus manage to clean two really nice final runs, landing perfectly flip-whips at the end of both…Martin endured a technical problem on his 2nd run and saw the podium fadding away…even if he went for a double whip on the last jump with a broken wheel….resulting on a massive crash. Same for Yannick, a huge 3-6whip ended with a tube blowing up…and he couldn’t finish his run too…Sam cleaned another perfect 2nd run and went straight to the higher step of the podium. Linus finished on a really well deserved 2nd place and Yannick took the 3rd one. Amir and Darren were finishing the podium.

Amir-Superseater

Yannick-Flipdrop.

Sam Pilgrim – fliptable.

Final Results :

1. Sam Pilgrim  (GBR)
2. Linus Sjöholm (SWE)
3. Yannick Granieri (FRA)
4. Amir Kabbani (GER)
5. Darren Berrecloth (CAN)
6. Cameron McCaul (USA)
7. Jamie Goldman (USA)
8. Sam Reynolds (GBR)
9. Grant Fielder (GBR)
10. Niki Leitner (AUT)
11. Martin Söderström (SWE)
12. Jakub Vencl (CZE)