Upsets and Surprises in Men’s Freeski Superpipe Finals

The men’s freeski superpipe final was full of upsets and surprises with Gus Kenworthy taking the lead in his first-ever Dew Tour final, and France’s Kevin Rolland coming back from eleventh place to take the win in the end.

Kenworthy was the first to drop in and he set the bar from the start after his huge left 9, switch 7, alley oop flatspin and a big double at the end to score 87.75.

Kenworthy’s only threat for the entire first round came in the form of Simon Dumont’s first run, which scored an 86.75, to put Dumont in second. A bit of a hand drag caused a points deduction, but Dumont’s 12 and right 9 into a whiskey flip was proof he could come back in his second run and take it all.

Kevin Rolland

Rolland fell on his first run after an alley oop flatspin and he came back with back-to-back doubles in his second to take the lead with a 92.50.

“I was so scared at the top because I crashed on my first run, but my second run was cool so it makes me feel confident for the next contest,” Rolland said.

His winning run went like this: double flair mute grab, alley oop flatspin, switch 7, double flair and double cork 12 at the end.

“I’m so good in my mind now,” Rolland said. “It’s just incredible for me. Now my goal is to win the Dew Cup and I have to try my best to get it.”

The only two skiers left to ride after Rolland were Justin Dorey, who ended up falling midway, and Dumont, who lost a ski on the last hit and finished third with the 86.75.

“I went into my second run contemplating switch 7 and switch 10 and at the last second I decided to go switch 10, but it was a little too late and my ski blew off,” Dumont said. “But you know what, the guy I’m really, really happy for is Gus Kenworthy. He’s on my Empire team and he slayed it.”

Kenworthy just made it into finals and he threw down hard in his first run to finish in second with the 87.75.

“I came out here and I had no expectations,” Kenworthy said. ” I squeaked in here and I was the bubble boy and I knew in order to get a good score I just had to go balls to the wall and do the best thing I possibly could and the judges rewarded accordingly and I’m just so stoked.”