With an unexpected turn of events during the semifinal and last chance qualifier (LCQ) earlier in the week, Danny Davis snuck his way into the Men’s Snowboard Superpipe Final with the highest score seen but only after Seamus O’Connor bowed out of the LCQ. Davis nailing his run was a sign of great action to come in the final, but it also reminded everyone just how unpredictable the superpipe can be.

As mentioned, this year the Dew Tour Mountain Championships included an LCQ directly following the semifinal that allowed for two more riders to join the initial ten that advanced directly from the semifinal. Each rider earned two runs in the final with only their best score counting toward their overall rank.

Taylor Gold’s winning run

Starting Moment of Momentum:

As he entered the final by way of LCQ, Taylor Gold was lined up to be the first rider to drop in for the final which means he had the longest wait of all to see how he ranked against the rest. Well, fortunately for Gold his first run was a banger and landed him an early score of 90.50 — little did he know that score would hold on until the very end. That’s right, as unpredictable as pipe has proven to be, Gold’s first run was the run to beat for the remainder of the event but it wouldn’t be touched.

Yiwei Zhang’s second place run

Top Tricks:

Yiwei Zhang — The biggest backside air of the day to start things off, frontside double cork 1080, cab double cork 1080, double crippler and a frontside 1080 to end it.

Scotty James — Alley-oop backside rodeo nosegrab, switch air to regular midway down and a cab double cork 1080 to finish.

Brett Esser — Frontside 1260 on his first hit, frontside 1080 midway down and a backside 720 to finish.

Scotty James’ third place run

Winner’s Top Tricks:

Taylor Gold — Method on his first hit, frontside 1260, backside double Michalchuck, air to fakie, cab 1080 into a frontside 1080 to cap his run.

Winner’s Quote:

“I’m blown away! I did not think I was going to win today, I was feeling sketchy in practice, but it all just came together — I’m stoked. When I put up that first score I did not think it was going to hold, I mean I barely made it into the final… It’s amazing. I’ve always wanted to do well [at Dew Tour], I’ve watched the events since they started doing them, and it’s crazy to be in this position. I’m beyond stoked!” — Taylor Gold

Snowboard Superpipe Highlights