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| Garnier Fructis Pro Challenge |
The Lounge Feature |
The lacklustre Aussie snow season to date has seen a string of major events pull the pin at the last minute, but the snow gods must like big events or hair styling products (or both) as host resort Perisher Blue was able to scramble together enough white fluffy stuff to model a worthy halfpipe and impressive slopestyle course for the Garnier Fructus Pro Challenge.
The event offered up a whopping $100, 000 in prize money over two days of competition, so it’s no wonder plenty of big overseas names rocked up keen to do battle with local shredders for the fattest cash purse ever offered in the Southern Hemisphere. But the locals were never gunna lay down without a fight.
Day one offered up perfect sunny skies for a slopestyle battle royale. Danny Kass obliterated the course with huge rotations and pure style, but local lad Cohen Davies managed to slip in and take second spot ahead of young American freakster Louie Vito. And although Davies was the only Aussie podium finish in the Men’s, there was no shortage of local talent throwing down while the local lasses managed to dominate the Women’s division. American Olympic superstar Gretchen Breiler couldn’t match the one-two punch of Torah Bright and Emily Thomas, who were both busting massively huge backside airs to dominate proceedings. Torah took home the $10,000 on offer for first place and Emily walked away with second, relegating Gretchen to a still mighty respectable third.
Day two and eighteen year-old American upstart Louis Vito threw down a flawless final run in Super Pipe with back to back 900 rotations and a backside 1080 - the first ever on Australian snow - to claim victory in the halfpipe and his second successive Garnier Fructis Pro Challenge. Fellow American Danny Kass finished runner-up in an epic battle - the lead see sawing with Vito throughout the final as they pushed their performances to amazing levels. Kass looked set to out do Vito's run with a series of high 900 rotations, but came unstuck on a backside 1080 spin during the final stages. Aussie Andrew Burton had to be content finding 3rd place.
Vito seemed happy to have earned another $21,000 cash for his win, “The Perisher crew did an incredible job building the Pipe which made us go for the big moves. We (Vito and Kass) pushed each other today and that's what it's all about - going harder and higher for the win - I've had a great time here and full credit to Garnier and the Australian's for putting on such an incredible event."
In the women's, Sydney snowboarder Holly Crawford upstaged a much-anticipated showdown between Bright and Bleiler. Crawford's impressive big beefy airs seemed to please the judges more than the technical stylings of Olympians Bright and Bleiler, who finished in equal second place, but it was a great outcome for Crawford, who last year endured a difficult rehabilitation from an ACL injury and subsequent surgery to repair a separated shoulder. It was also Crawford's biggest-ever win, and the twenty two year old picked up $21,000 to boot – thanks for coming.
All up, an outstanding weekend with plenty of happy, fat-pocketed snowboarders to show for it - no wonder the snow gods let this event sneak through.
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Tags: The Lounge, Sport
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