Chas Guldemond Spins to Win in Snowbasin
By: Nick Lipton – How did Chas Guldemond not puke after his winning run? He drops in, hits the A-frame with a nosepress 180 switch nosepress, sends a cab 270 frontboard down the double kink. Spun a lot more off the first two jumps before throwing a 1260 off the third and then sends a lofty 360 off the up rail. That’s practically 40 seconds of solid spinning.
Questions aside Chas killed it today. His 1440 attempt was solid, just a bit washed out, and his 5050 stiffy salute was hilarious and apparently heartfelt, “That was to all my fans in America and across the world.”
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals Results
1. Chas Guldemond
2. Tyler Flanagan
3. Sage Kotsenburg
While Chas obviously enjoyed his win, he’s aware of what it took to get there, and what the 16 year-old contingent thinks about it. “Tyler’s trying to psych me out…” but he still won, proving there are plenty of tricks that can win at Dew Tour. The young guns weren’t far behind though, and Tyler likes it that way, “Me and Sage are really good friends and it feels awesome having us both on the podium.”
Most 16 year-old snowboarders watch the Dew Tour. Tyler Flanagan and Sage Kotsenburg own it. In Breckenridge they went one and two, today it was two and three with Tyler in 2nd and Sage in 3rd. Eric Willet, who was 3rd in Breck, just missed a second visit to the podium as well landing in 4th.
In short, the eight riders who haven’t seen the podium this winter better bring the heat, especially with Tyler and Sage learning new tricks daily. Today Tyler was throwing switch back 9s, double corks and 10s, but in Vermont Tyler promises you’ll see something new, “I’ve got to learn those 1260s before I even go out there. I gotta learn the 12, that’s what it’s going to take to win that Dew Cup.” Sage, who spins 10s and doublecorks easily, has plans too, “I was thinking cab doublecorks? Maybe cab 1260 doublecorks?”
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals at Snowbasin from AlliSports on Vimeo.
For the eight riders sitting under the podium today not named Eric Willet, this Final was a wake-up call. Everyone has the 900, and 1080s only score big when back-to-back or doublecorked. Andreas Wiig, after 1080s and backside rodeo 9s, found himself in 5th. Fellow superstar and spin machine Torstein Horgmo took 6th. Falls kept him mellow, but the tricks he did land didn’t have the crowd or judges appeal they used to.
Below Torstein sat six riders who ride like the devil, but will need to land on their feet to podium in Vermont. Ulrik Badertscher, the craziest man on Dew Tour, could win any contest at any time if he could just land a banger run, but so far no dice. Brandon Reis and Madison Ellsworth better step it up too.
In 8th and 9th these two kids can rip, but it takes more than a stock 1080 to stand out these days. Yale Cousino (10th) had an amazing truck driver 1080, but couldn’t complete a run. Watching Yale yank that board with both hands was pretty rad though. Nick Poohachoff and Sam Hulbert (11th and 12th) have solid trick arsenals, but today they just couldn’t get it done and ended up at the bottom of the pack.
This was a rough Final. Almost everyone fell second run and the contrast between trick selection finally became apparent. What’s possible has been altered, and like what’s happening with the Superpipe kids, Slopestyle riders are going to need to adapt to the new degree of insanity. Each of today’s riders have the skill to win, but for now it’s time to start rolling the dice or looking for a new job.
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