Winter X Games / Super Pipe

Does anyone else feel like the super pipe comp is really boring.I mean they all are doing the same trick all the way down(1080)I would rather see some serious air,then the same old thing run after run after run.

Agreed Jim, the superpipe comp borded me to death same old run every time. Lets see some big tweaked out airs with some sick grabs instead of a ten 80 every time.

i miss the huge alley oop backside rodeo flips shuan white used to do

i actually like what pipe contests have become. it would be one thing if shaun white was throwing the same 1080 three times in a run, but all of them are different. frontside, backside, fakie, inverted, tail grab, double-corked. i almost had to wait for the announcers to tell me it was a 1080 before i could figure it out. i will say, it would have been nice to have andy finch in there for a change of pace. the olympics should be good and pipe will probably be the only event i watch.

speaking of winter x, does that canadian snowmobile guy, robbie malinosky, have any relation to rusty?

If I was the judge I would take away points for repeating the same trick. He did do it frontside and backside, regular and switch. But there was only a few who even did inverts in the whole comp.

I thought the same thing Jeff

It's spelt the same, Malinoski, and he's from Canada. Not to mention they do kinda look similar. I'd bet they are.

(Message edited by loudontn on January 31, 2006)

Same as Jeff. I was amazed. There were not repeated tricks. They went FS, BS, diff grabs, some many variations. This was the first time I had really paid attention to that sport and because of wakeboarding, I can now see the differant tricks.

And yes they Robbie & Rusty are related some way. Uncle or cousin.

I am pretty sure that Robbie and Rusty are brothers, but I could be mistaken. I know that I have read something like that before.

As for the snowboarding, I would prefer to watch slopestyle any day of the week where I can see riders pick different lines and hit different obstacles. Case in point, on the last kicker Shaun White threw a 1080 while Travis Rice attempted a double rodeo. If it was superpipe, both would have been trowing a 10.

I totaly agree Super Pipe SUPER BORING. Did you catch that Moto-x I mean "Back flip" contest. IMO same deal. Only one Jump and everyone did a difrent version of the same trick

BTW: check out www.ridetothehills.com for some cool FMX stuff

i agree with that. the back flip has ruined moto-x. i'm much more impressed and entertained with someone doing a one-handed superman seat grab, even if it's supposedly a lot easier than a flip. oh well, eventually someone will wreck themselves attempting a double back flip, so that should make for good tv

when are they gonna figure out how to put a gyro on a motox bike so they can do tailwhips and barspins

Was thinking the same thing - how slopestyle provides so much more variety than the halfpipe. If I saw it in person it might be different (seeing as how I can't even get above the lip), but dull to watch at home...It did remind me of how much variety is in wakeboarding. We're just missing the helicopter grab (whatever it is with a nose and tail grab together) - though how cool would a helicopter osmosis be!!

I thought that huuuuuge method Shaun was throwing on the first hit of his run looked purdy dang sweet. Anttis' looked good too.

I thought the SP comp was cool. But they should change the format to average the top 2 runs togehter or something. I think consistancy should matter.

I enjoyed the downhill freestyle jumping the best so far Sunday Night. Everything else is kinda boring to me, but some of that is the fact I'm from central Fla. and I have never done or seen the winter stuff.

That is why I really dont like watching judged sports. It seems that these extreme sport athletes are all so good that they are all doing the same stuff. In the Xgames this year I am not seeing anyone who is really pushing the limits of their sports.
I love to ski, wakeboard and ride dirt bikes but would rather watch a video than a competition.

the 1080 looks kind of ugly. Last night I saw a couple of huge nose grabbed, poked, 7s and 9s that looked way better.

Robbie is Rusty's brother. Rusty came out to Aspen to cheer his brother on. I'm actually posting this from Aspen, as I'm out here shooting the X-Games...and I was at the SuperPipe last night. There were some sweet runs, but it can get a bit repetitive. Phil Soven is out here as well, hanging out with the Sobe crew.

WOW, i was wondering that, the look like twins!

mike are you going to post some pics?

www.sportsshooter.com/isler/

There are some there. Can't post everything though...most get sent direct to my client.

I agree with most of you, the superpipe got pretty repetitive. On the otherhand, the LCQ for snowcross last night was a great race.

Nice pics Mike!

I really wanted to see someone gap to the down rail on the big gap jump in the slope style.

Travis Pastrana made a MX bike you could do a bar spin on last X Games but when he landed the first jump the front of the bike broke off. Whoops! Back to the drawing board!

it broke on take off../ he didn't have a chance to land...

(Message edited by wkbrdr on January 31, 2006)

i liked it but i agree a little more selection on tricks ..id like to see more big inverts with grabs and inverted spins with slower rotations..

still a sick comp IMO

on the MX last year somebody did a body varial over the bike which was insane ....the backflip is still cool but you all are right too many people doing it over and over...

If you watched the Ski Slopestyle/Best Trick it is the same way. These guys were all throwing grabbed/poked 1080's that all looked the same. It was boring until the guy tried the Switch Double Back Flip and almost landed it.

the ski slopestyle was full of switch 10's its been that way for a couple years now.....lame that the judges award more points for huck than style.

For skiers big air was a switch 1440 TJ Schiller.

Want something even more lame? No skiing halfpipe in the olympics AGAIN. With guys being able to go 24 ft out of the pipe and do all switch runs this needs to change.

I agree skiers halfpipe should be in the olympics if snowboard halfpipe is. The skiers go way bigger too which is cool to watch. One thing I recently saw is that BoarderCross is in the olympics this year. I think thats way cool as it more embodies snowboard racing as a whole with jumps and turns rather than Super G which is just boring to watch.

Agree with what is said above. Watching Fuel (extreme sports channel on Aussie cable which by the way never seems to have any wakeboarding on) and watching these contests, it is starting to really bore me.

Pipe and big air, guys throwing the same tricks over and over. I used to think that all these athletes whining that they didn't like contests was lame, because they just couldn't perform when it mattered (which I still feel used to be the case), but now it is everyone throwing the same tricks, style out the window and you get rewarded on landing something ugly because you managed to sneak a little 180 in at the end of a horrible spin.

Don't even get me started on FMX. Look I did a backflip, now I did one with one hand in the air, now I did one with one foot off the pegs.

What are the judging criteria for halfpipe and FMX? I was originally of the understanding that a score was derived from Amplitute, Style, Technicality and VARIETY.

regardless of whether you think they repeat tricks, or that repeating tricks is lame, shaun white is the most stylish rider in any board sport, ever. he does all his tricks big and smooth.

I hope wakeboarding comps don't get there. IMO variety, amplitude, style and tech should all count. It would be kind of interesting if the riders had to complete at least one trick from each catagory. In wake it would be one raley trick, one switch trick, a spin and a mobe. And one big air trick judged by how big it is (Lyman style)

I was at a competition where they would draw a trick from a hat before that division started. Each rider had to throw down that trick in their run somewhere. The difficulty level depends on the division. Intermediates may have to jump 2 wakes switch for their trick, the advance a toeside 3 and the outlaw a basic mobe or switch 5.

The idea is to push the riders to keep learning new tricks at the grassroot level. In the pros it would keep things interesting to watch. You would see runs with variety and it would reward riders with the most depth. I don't want to see a wakeboard run with 3 7s and 3 9's in it and maybe one other trick. Granted the difficulty of it but if the judges reward that it will become like snowboarding to watch. Boring. All I need to watch now is one of White's runs and I've seen pretty much everything. There is no waiting to see what another rider will do cause they all do the same 7s 9s and occassional 10.

I don't want to come down negative on snowboarding. It is great and I am glad it is on TV. I love watching boardcross especially. It just made me think how wakeboarding comps could be made more interesting to watch.

mental note: don't become a professional skier. did you guys see all the video clips of these guys killing themselves? simon dumont shattered his pelvis over-shooting the down ramp at an event last year, going from about 80 feet up to flat. tanner hall destroyed both his ankles coming up short on a video shoot. c.r. johnson was in a coma after taking a ski to the head. in wakeboarding you can tear an acl and be out for a year or so, but these guys, all it takes is hitting a knuckle and they may never ski again. crazy

Did you catch the sound bite when Tanner crashed. They showed it a few times and each time the sound was like branches breaking (only it was branches it was his ankles).

that scared the crap out of me. he was screaming "my ankles are broken" even before he stopped rolling

they had a camera right at the landing, thats why it was so loud and disturbing!

You really have to watch this event live and in person to appreciate these athletes. The jumps are frikin huge.

I have the opportunity to watch boarders & fellow plankers ride the jumps and super pipe here in WA all the time. Most of the park crew at the resort is sponsered and are insane. It awes me everytime I watch them. The top of our pipe has to be close to 15ft high. Standing close and watching them fly above my head ROCKS!

jeff.....the jump that tanner hit was a natural gap (chads gap) and registers at over 120 ft.

Due to it not being a manmade jump a snowboarder has never even hit chads (not enough speed on inrun is the only thing holding that back.(

Now mind you, tanner at that photo shoot was the first ever to hit that gap switch...and managed to pull switch 1's, switch 5's, and a switch 9 before coming up short that one time. The inrun speed was 54 mph....

Long ramble cut short, of course there is more risk when going exponentially bigger.

mike, i hate to disappoint you but you're WRONG! If you watch "POP" (Absinthe Films), one of the best snowboard vids out there, t-rice and romain de marchi hit up chad's gap quite a few times..3's, 5'3, 7's, you name it there hitting it..it is the first ever snowboard session at chad's...FYI

oh yeah by the way, they were hitting 150+ ft tricks..

http://www.absinthe-films.com

The gap is between the entrances of two mine shafts. The takeoff is man made, and many snowboarders have hit it. It's named after Alta local Chad Zurinskas, who found the gap and decided it could be jumped. As for criticizing the half pipe comp, keep in mind these boarders are going bigger and bigger every year. The person who throws down clean with the most style usually wins. I'm still a bigger fan of slopestyle for sure, but watching a 1080 thrown 20 feet above the wall is impressive no matter how many people can do it.

justin nice, last year must have been the first year they hit it then.

I agree that it is very immpressive, but boaring to watch over and over again rider after rider. Slopstyle is much better IMO. Its not the riders fault they just do whatever it takes to win for the cash and their sponsers. If they would make it mandatory to throw down certain tricks, I think it would make the superpipe alot better comp to watch. I for shure dont want to take anything away from the riders cause they were throwin it down.

Man I saw that last night too. I was freaked out. That had to really hurt. although I knew something bad was going to happen when he hit the ramp at 50.

Wouldnt you hate to be the photographer shooting that. On the one where the dude broke both of his ankles you could here the camera snapping.

Yeh I like wakeboarding and I dont plan on jumping or being able to jump that high so I think Im good.

I was really confused there for about 5 posts wondering about Chad Sharpe's Gap...

as bad as hall's was, simon dumont is lucky to be alive. he over-shot the landing by a good 50 feet on a HUGE gap. a wakeboarding comparison would be dock-starting from an 80 ft. bridge. his hang time had to be over 5 seconds consisting predominately of rolling the windows up

It just makes me jealous as hell that our local Pocono ski resorts don't have any good half pipes. Snowboard/skate half pipes are a blast!

I was at Perisher last year (ski resort in Australia), unfortunately my knees gave up midd afternoon, so as usual I decided to spend the rest of my day sitting in the pub.

The big air jump was 50m up the hill from the pub and they were running a ski big air comp. To start off it was great, sitting there with a beer on the balcony watching these guys huck huge.

But by the time the finals came around I was bored out of my mind as every single rider was throwing switch 9's with some type of grab. I went back to concentrate on drinking beer and exaggerating stories with my friends.

The problem is not with the athletes, it's with the judging. The pipe judging rewards gymnastic riding (sound familiar?) and, therefore, the riders do what gets the points. I thought the best trick in S. White's arsenal was his opening 20 ft method super tweaked for most of it. I tivo'd it about 10 times. Super big, clean and stylie. Not to say that it shouldn't be mixed up, but I think ungrabbed hucked 1080's should not be so highly rewarded. I think the same thing about wakeboarding. But, obviously not my call. Still fun to watch....

I was there for some of the X and dont care if the 1080 is hucked or not. Id be willing to bet everyone who posted so far on here isnt landing 5's, 9's or let alone 1080's. Style does count but points are leaning, im sure, toward the technical side IE: more rotations= more points. The tv, did watch some of the x on tv at the room also, did not do the superpipe justice at all. To watch these riders do what they were doing was impressive to say the least. Now that being said id compare it to wakeboarding comps where if you want to win youll be throwing the trick that gets the most points IE:motox =backflip. Backflip alone may not be so difficult if youve been practicing in a foam pit for a while but add no hands then landing side sadle with no rear brakes and no run off room. Lets keep in mind these people arent supermen/women they are regular people like us so to say "I am not seeing anyone who is really pushing the limits of their sports", to me, is just totally rediculous. None of these tricks would have been seen just a few years ago in competition.

I didn't read much of this, but those of you that watched super pipe.....Do you think that Mason Aquirre should of won? he placed 2nd

go here http://expn.go.com/expn/index then scroll down to Winter X Motion (watch entire video) Watch shaun's and mason's and post

I mean shaun wins because he stomps a BS 10, which is the most difficult way, but he skeches on at least a few other hits. While Mason stomps everything, but no bs 10

X-games superpipe is boring because they don't promote style at all.