Following a full-on powder day, Dew Tour Copper went back into competition mode for a Saturday full of finals. Starting the day off under patchy bluebird skies was Women’s Snowboard Modified Superpipe presented by Toyota, and the ladies left everything they had on the hill for the crowd and judges to fan over.
Dropping in were eight of the world’s best women, and each was allotted three runs with only their best score counting toward the final ranking on the day. In the absence of last year’s champion, Chloe Kim, the defending second, Maddie Mastro, and third place, Queralt Castellet, riders were looking like the ones to beat but after the first runs, it appeared to be up for grabs.
“I’m just going to take it one run at a time,” said Mastro earlier in the week. “We ride this course for a few days and get to do tons of different stuff on it, so it is definitely an option to mix it up if and when we want to.”
Mastro was coming off of a disappointing last-place finish in X Games only two weeks prior to Dew Tour. However, after her first run, it was clear that Mastro was back in form following a five-hit full pull. Opening with a pair of backside alley-oop 360s up top over the channel gap and off the shark fin, Mastro put down a method, crippler and a backside 540 to earn a 90 and the took a clear lead at the end of the first runs.
Then the leaderboard saw a shuffle in the second set of runs when Jiayu Liu earned a 92 after a four-hit top to bottom run. Flowing frontside throughout the entire course, a 360 over the channel set her up to 540 off the shark fin, and then in the pipe, she sent a 720 before finishing strong and a Haakon flip.
During the final runs Queralt came out swinging knowing it was all or nothing if she wanted to find herself back on the podium. Up top Queralt threw out a backside alley-oop 360 over the channel gap before letting a massive method fly off the shark fin, but in the pipe, her back-to-back 900s were only able to garner her a final score of 81.66. Still, it was enough to reclaim third on the podium, respectively.
In the end, it was Liu’s second run score that held on strong for the win, while Mastro rode her first run score out ‘til the end to earn a repeat of second.
“It was super fun!” said Liu laughing after the superpipe event was all over. “I think that is what Dew Tour means. All the features make me really excited. I feel that the most style, how much fun and how smooth you can use all of the features is what counts. It’s not just about doing the hardest tricks.”
Women’s Snowboard Modified Superpipe Results
1.) Jiayu Liu, 92
2.) Maddie Mastro, 90
3.) Queralt Castellet, 81.66
4.) Zoe Kalapos, 80
5.) Brooke D’Hondt, 75
6.) Haruna Matsumoto, 72.33
7.) Sonny Alba, 70.66
8.) Summer Fenton, 31
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