Burton US Open

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Ten male and six female competitors advanced from Thursday’s halpipe semifinals to ride during the final day of the Burton US Open 2016 in front of a thick and excitable crowd in Vail, Colorado.

Today’s finals brought out unprecedented riding from both the usual suspects and riders who would’ve had to poach to end up in the US Open pipe just last year. 14-year-old Judd Henkes, who finished in fourth place, seemingly came out of nowhere and grabbed a huge piece of the spotlight and the heart of the crowd at the Open. Had Judd’s run included a double, it’s safe to say we would have seen him stand on his first US Open podium today.

Women’s finals kicked off shortly after 11, and last year’s second place winner, Chloe Kim, landed in the top spot on her first run, where she remained for the duration of the event. Chloe wasn’t happy with her first run, however, and her victory lap demonstrated just what the 15-year-old is capable of. Chloe’s third run kicked off with a massive backside air, into back-to-back 10s, followed by a frontside 5. Second place finisher, Xuetong Cai, put down stylish and technical runs, boosting air-to-fakies on the first hit, into a Cab 7, front 9, back 5 and front 7, sequentially. Kelly Clark earned her third place spot on her second run which started with a frontside tuck-knee into a back 5, front 10 and cab 7, followed by a crippler.

Afternoon sun baked the south wall of the superpipe as the men’s finalists and the occasional poacher took to the 22-foot monster at the base of Vail Mountain. Fourth to drop, Taku Hiraoka’s first run put him in the lead until Shaun White dropped and authoritatively took the lead with a run beginning with a massive backside air, followed by a front double 10, Cab double 10 and inverted front 5 to setup for a back 12 into a lofty front 7. Ben Ferguson’s first two runs were incredible — except for slight scrubs at the end of each. On his third, Ben tightened it up and put down a flawless run that kicked off with a front 7 Japan, leading into a Cab double 10, followed by a double crippler and back 9, and ending with a double 10. Taku Hiraoka was able to better his first-run score on his final run but it wasn’t quite enough to bump him up from third, where he finished.

Another year of the US Open comes to an end this evening as Griz takes to the stage to close down a week of sun, slush and snowboarding here in Vail, Colorado.

Women’s halfpipe final results

RankNameScore
1.Chloe Kim89.37
2.Xuetong Cai82.99
3.Kelly Clark79.00
4.Arielle Gold75.87
5.Hannah Teter68.62
6.Elena Hight46.99

Men’s halfpipe final results

RankNameScore
1.Shaun White95.62
2. Ben Ferguson88.62
3.Taku Hiraoka88.25n
4. Matt Ladley84.25
5. Judd Henkes77.12
6.Brandon Davis76.87
7.Greg Bretz75.75
8.Scotty James70.49n
9.Ayumu Nedefuji68.25
10.Raibu Katayama63.99

See also: Burton US Open 2016: Kyle Mack and Jamie Anderson land atop the slopestyle podium