Laax, Switzerland – After a few days of difficult weather, organizers cancelled last Thursday’s scheduled finals for men’s and women’s slopestyle at the Burton European Open in Laax due to low visibility. With the semi-finals counting as final results, Norway’s Torstein Horgmo was crowned this year’s slopestyle champion.
Horgmo’s clean and stylish semi-final run consisted of a Boardslide 180 out – Backside 180 on to switch 50-50 to cab 360 out – Switch backside 900 – Frontside 1080 double cork mute – Backside 1080 double cork – Frontside 270 on to switch frontboard to regular – 50-50 to backside air to final Alley-oop 360 nose grab, earning 91.50 points. Canadians Mark McMorris and Sebastien Toutant joined Torstein on the podium, in second and third place, respectively. American Eric Willett finished just off the podium in fourth.
The women were understandably disappointed at not being able to compete, but redeemed their trip to Laax with a few days of blissful powder riding. Burton split the prize purse for Slopestyle amongst all female contestants equally.
With his second place result at the Burton European Open, McMorris moved into the top spot of the World Snowboard Tour Slopestyle ranking with 801.62 points, pushing Finland’s Roope Tonteri into second place. Close behind Tonteri is Norwegian rider Stale Sandbech, hoping to successfully defend his Overall Champion title from last season. Toutant, Norway’s Gjermund Braaten and Finnish rider Peetu Piiroinen all improved upon their top 10 slopestyle standings.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Burton European Open
Laax, Switzerland – Feb. 8, 2013
Men’s Slopestyle
1. Torstein Horgmo, NOR, DC, 91.50
2. Mark McMorris, CAN, BURTON, 83.17
3. Sebastien Toutant, CAN, O`NEILL, 82.33
4. Eric Willett, USA, VANS, 79.19
5. Stale Sandbech, NOR, OAKLEY, 78.00
6. Seth Hill, USA, SIMS, 75.17
7. Peetu Piiroinen, FIN, NIKE, 73.50
8. Aleksander Ostreng, NOR, BURTON 73.00
9. Brage Richenberg, NOR, SALOMON, 72.83
10. Sven Thorgren, SWE, OAKLEY, 72.33
11. Roope Tonteri, FIN, BURTON, 69.17
12. Eric Beauchemin, USA, DC, 69.00