Kim and Totsuka triumphant in Laax Open halfpipe finale
Jan 23, 2021·Snowboard Park & Pipe
The Laax Open 2021 FIS Snowboard World Cup came to a close on Saturday night with an intense halfpipe competition going down under the Laax lights. And while for the first time ever the shoulders of the pristine Laax pipe were empty of fans, the world’s best pipe riders still put on a dramatic show, with Chloe Kim (USA) making a triumphant return to competition by taking the women’s win, and with Yuto Totsuka putting down an all-or-nothing second run that may have been the best in halfpipe history to take his first Laax Open victory.
While the lack of spectators felt somewhat eerie at an event that is typically one of the most heavily attended in snowboarding, the fact that the 2021 Laax Open was even able to take place at all was a testament to the tireless work of the organising team in Laax and the comprehensive safety system put in place. With the rider, teams, staff and officials on hand all fully buying in to this new (and hopefully temporary) normal, the 2020/21 FIS Snowboard slopestyle and halfpipe World Cups were finally able to see some action, and for that we should all be thankful.
Kim back with a vengeance to take her third Laax Open title
On the women’s side of things the world finally got to witness the eagerly anticipated return to competition of Chloe Kim, nearly two years since the last time she put on a bib.
As one might expect from anybody trying to ascend back to the top of mountain after spending so long away from even the foothills, top qualifier Kim showed some nerves on her first run of finals, scrubbing the landing on her second-hit frontside 1080 and leaving her fate up to her second run.
Instead, it was 16 year-old Japanese rider Mitsuki Ono who was sitting in top spot after the first run, as she kicked things off with back-to-back 720s and capped her run with a super-stylish 900 tail for a score of 76.50.
With Ono’s teammates Sena Tomita and Haruna Matsumoto also stomping from top to bottom in run one, it was Japan sitting 1-2-3 heading into the second and final run of the women’s competition.
With none of the first five riders to drop in able to improve upon their first run scores - including last year’s Laax Open winner Queralt Castellet, who fell on her second hit in both her runs - it came down to Kim and her final drop-in to try to disrupt a Japanese sweep of the podium.
Which, of course, is exactly what she did, stomping a clean and cool top-to-bottom that kicked off with a huge backside air, into her signature frontside 1080 tail grab, then a cab 720 weddle, into a frontside 900 tail, and finally a classic McTwist to finish things off.
“I’m so excited,” Kim said, smiling beneath her mask, “That 30 minute wait in between run one and run two was so nerve-wracking, but I was just visualizing over and over and talking to my coaches, and definitely just staying positive the whole time and I really think that helped me.
“I’ve been competing since I was nine years old so you kind of figure things out in competitions. Tonight I wanted to try a new trick in my second run, but at the end of the day landing is more important. I wanted to put something down and I told myself I didn’t need to go as big as I was going in practice or during my first run, so I just wanted to slow it down a bit and make sure I was doing things perfectly instead of really big and a little sketchy.”
Still, Japan would fair exceptionally as a nation on Saturday in Laax, in the women’s competition scoring the first two podiums of the four their team would earn on the evening, with Ono in second and Matsumoto in third.
Totsuka stomps one of the most technical runs of all-time for men’s victory
Over on the men’s side of things the storybook moments from throughout the night were numerous, notable, and very, very nice, as the top riders in the world went to town on one of the world’s top pipes.
Andre Hoeflich’s first-hit switch backside air was as much art as it was snowboarding, while Valentino Guseli’s first-hit frontside air was perhaps better categorized as a satellite launch, with the 15 year-old easily six metres above the lip of the pipe at his apex.
Taylor Gold (USA) stomped his signature “Chuck Taylor” double Michalchuk 1080 but couldn’t ride out of his last hit clean, just like top Swiss hope Jan Scherrer very nearly pulled off what would have been a heroic feat of stomping an outstanding run in finals after crashing hard in training, but washed out of his final hit alley-oop 720.
But those are just the footnotes. At the end of the day it came down to 19 year-old Totsuka to make good on his wishes from last season at the Laax Open, when he famously announced “I want to beat Scotty James” in his pre-drop in hype clip.
While Totsuka wasn’t able to do so at last year’s Laax Open, it’s probably important to note that he did get the best of James’ at the final competition of the 2019/20 season at the Burton US Open. However, there in Vail James’ didn’t put on his best performance and ended up in third, whereas Saturday night in Laax, James was sitting atop the leaderboard with a score of 93.75 when Totsuka dropped in on his final run.
And what a run it was. Coming out absolutely blasting with a massive frontside 1440 frontside grab, Totsuka then went into a brand-new combo for him - a switch frontside double cork 1260 frontside grab into a switch backside 1080 weddle. Greasing that, he proceeded to stomp a backside 1260 weddle where he didn’t even flinch as the nose of his board nicked the coping on the way around on the final 180, before finishing things off with a frontside double cork 1260 that he fit so perfectly into the final metre of of transition that it was difficult to comprehend just how close he was to disaster.
“I’m so happy to make this run with the double cork 12 into the switch backside 1080,” Tobita said from the finish area, “This is the first time I’ve made this combo in my life, and I’m just so happy. This pipe is so good and to win here means a lot to me.”
James’ run was nothing to sneeze at, with his signature opening combo of a switch backside 1260 into a switch frontside 1080 kicking things off, but his mid-run frontside 540 showed there may have been a bit of rust at play after such a long layoff, a fact which James acknowledged in his post-competition interview.
“I’m getting my amplitude and execution back and just feeling good snowboarding,” James said, “I mean, it’s been a long time since I’ve really been in the pipe but those Japanese guys, while I was sitting home on the couch in quarantine in Australia not able to go anywhere, they had a halfpipe and they were working hard. So I’m really excited (with second place). I’ve got a smile under my mask.”
Third place and the fourth Japanese podium of the night went to Totsuka’s teammate Ruka Hirano, who spun 1080’s three ways and threw in frontside and backside 1260s, but was held back slightly by lower amplitude and less grab variation then Totsuka and James.
Women podium runs:
Chloe Kim (USA) - Backside air, frontside 1080 tail, cab 720 weddle, front 900 tail, mctwist indy
Mitsuki Ono (JPN) - Frontside 720 frontside grab, cab 720 weddle, frontside 540 tail, backside 540 weddle, frontside 900 tail
Sena Tomita (JPN) - Frontside 900 melon, backside 540 mute, frontside 720 frontside grab, switch frontside 720 indy, frontside 540 stale
Men podium runs:
Yuto Totsuka (JPN) - frontside 1440 frontside grab, switch frontside 1260 frontside grab, switch backside 1080 weddle, backside double 1260 weddle, frontside double 1260 frontside grab
Scotty James (AUS) - Switch backside 1260 weddle, switch frontside double 1080 frontside grab, frontside 540 stale, backside 1260 weddle, frontside 1260 stale,
Ruka Hirano (JPN) - Switch backside double 1080 weddle, backside 1260 weddle, frontside double 1080 frontside grab, switch frontside double 1080 weddle, frontside 1260 frontside grab
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