This past weekend's Men's Snowboard SuperPipe final at the first ever Winter X Games Europe could have been the best pipe contest of the year.
The event attracted some of the best freestyle skiers and snowboarders on the planet to Tignes, France and entertained the huge crowds who gathered for three days of incredible action. The highlight of the entire games was the men's snowboard halfpipe final.
The lineup was an impressive who's who of progressive snowboarders and there was an expectant buzz of excitement as a number of Olympic riders took to the hill.
The final winner was Iour Podlatchikov (iPod), with Matheiu Crepel of France in second and America's Louie Vito in third place. iPod's run was technical, clean and big on style and amplitude but the stand out for the night was definitely Louie Vito's run. Although it only took third place he opened with three doubles back-to-back-to-back. That is the first time that trick has ever been done in a contest! Spinning on two axis at once with two full flips, Vito made history by being the first person to ever open a run with three back to back to back tricks like this. The fact that Vito's score -- a 92.33 -- didn't beat Crepel's, was upsetting. The crowd went wild but the judges didn't seem to be as impressed and only gave him the bronze.
Click here to watch Louie's medal run
At the media conference following the event Vito said, "After I fell on the first one, I was over trying to do a mellow run and just went for it. I was stoked. I don't think three in a row has ever been done before and to do it in a contest was great! In the end you're trying to please four people and if the run you like doesn't please them there's nothing you can do. I was really glad I landed that run and that's about all you can say."
The buzz within the industry has been on how crazy the halfpipe riding has progressed in the past 18 months. Heck, the progression of riding in this contest alone, just took another leap forward since last month's Olympics!
Next week's U.S. Open should be a treat.