Vans Cup Tahoe: Kass and Hight Dominate the Superpipe

The final day of the Vans Cup was a freakshow. There were monsterous, twisted, ugly, scary, beautiful tricks and they all came out of the ditch. Theoretically we went back to the roots of snowboarding. But this wasn’t an East Coast ice trench and the riders weren’t wearing your traditional day-glo.

After an intense practice session, the women slid into competition mode for the Vans Cup Halfpipe contest. Kjersti Buaas picked up third place by staying on her feet and slipping in an inverted frontside 540. Lindsay Beerman, one of the younger riders, held the grab on back-to-back 540s, which put her in second. Elena Hight distanced herself from the pack with a frontside 900 and a few other spins. She took home $14,000.

The men came out with supernatural air. Andy Finch had the crowd holding their breath with airs easily over 12 feet out of the pipe. As he flew up one wall, his legs compressed, he lost his balance and went sailing 10 feet out upside down. To the relief of everyone watching, he came around, barely missing the deck, and slid down the transition on his back. His amplitude earned him 4th place. Iouri Podladtchikov nailed the biggest 1080 of the day, putting him in 3rd. Louie Vito wanted it bad, connecting two 1080s and two 900s in a single run. Vito placed second. In the end Danny Kass reigned on their parade. His back-to-back spins would be considered sacred in some countries.

The weather was good, the fans were happy, and the prize money was abundant. It all showed in the snowboarding. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, even Molly Aguirre, who injured her foot in the pipe finals. “I had so much fun this weekend,” she said. “I always have fun on this weekend. I just love this halfpipe so much. I’m stoked on the air I did. I don’t know if I've ever done an air that big.” She summed up the riding and the weekend pretty well.

Women's Podium:

1. Elena Hight
2. Lizzy Beerman
3. Kjersti Buaas

Men's Podium:

1. Danny Kass
2. Louie Vito
3. Iouri Podlatchikov

Protec Slam Award – Steve Fisher

Big Hit of the Day

1. Andy Finch
2. Danny Kass
3. Steve Fisher

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