The Sunday Nippon Open halfpipe finals at Alts Bandai resort in Japan were dramatic as hell to watch thanks in part to sunny skies and an enthusiastic crowd. Riders were all smiles and turning it on full blast with insane runs, tons of amplitude (especially from the Japanese riders) … and lots of big falls. Shaun White knew who he was competing against going into this contest: his teammate Danny Davis. After wrecking in his first two runs, Danny came back when the pressure was at it’s strongest and nailed his run. The speed that these riders are spinning at is dizzying. Danny dropped right into a front 1080, to a Cab 10, to an Alley Oop, backside 9, to a front 9. But Shaun held onto first place nailing all three runs and only upping the difficulty level each time. He just unwound down the pipe ending on his last run with a front 5, back 9, front 9, front 10, to a super sick looking inverted Cab 1080 on the last hit. He decided this wasn’t the right kind of pipe to unleash his backside 10 on. Ryo Aono was tied with Mason after the second run, he bumped Mason into fourth with a powerful and super smooth run going full force into a method on the first hit, linking up back to back nines, a front 10, and a cab 7 and then getting the hell out of the pipe.
The women’s podium was determined in the first heat. Torah Bright was seven points ahead of her nearest competitor Yayoi after her first run. She nailed it with a backside five on her first hit leading into a huge air to fakie tailgrab, going Cab 7 to frontside five, ending up with a backside air and backside 360. In later runs she linked up a backside 3 to Cab five to seal the deal on her last two hits. She was untouchable. Yayoi Tamura held onto second with consistent amplitude linking up fronts 7s and fives … but man, super sick air time. Manuela Pesko did a completely different run each time but she couldn’t find the magic combo to put her ahead of Yayoi.
What’s next for these riders? Most are stoked to head back to Tahoe and Mammoth where there’s finally snow and then the Van’s Cup at Northstar-at-Tahoe next weekend. Shaun is taking a couple of tropical days time out to give his ankle some rest before the US Open. What we’re trying to do the math on right now is whether Shaun’s first and second place finishes put him in a position to possibly take the Global Open Series title at the US Open … or is someone else lurking with better standings from the New Zealand and semi-snowed-out European Opens? The top men’s and women’s riders will each receive $100,000, the largest title payout in snowboard history! Come see the action the weekend of March 16-18 at Stratton Mountain, Vermont or just check back here at twsnow.com. Sayonara from Japan.
Men’s Pipe Results
1. Shaun White
2. Danny Davis
3. Ryo Aono
Women’s Pipe Results
1. Torah Bright
2. Yayoi Tamura
3. Manuela Pesko
