First off, congrats to Valentino and Brooke! Our apologies for all the skiing, but we had to watch the whole thing to get to Valentino Guseli’s new world record height for the largest air out of a hip. As well as Brooke D’Hondt’s world record air which it looks like isn’t even highlighted in this video? We kind of scrubbed through but we didn’t see it specifically called out (on second scrub we think we found it but they didn’t give the height reading like they did for the men). Jay Rawe was also pretty insane hitting the thing in a sit ski which we like to call a sit-forward snowboard.
But all in all, Valentino and Brooke went psycho on the hip out in Switzerland and grabbed unofficial world records (we haven’t seen them verified anywhere beside Red Bull) which sound way more impressive in feet than meters. And looking through the press photos, a handful of other riders out there went pretty damn high as well! Valentino went 37.7 ft up in the air, breaking a previous record held by Christian Haller by a few inches and Brooke D’Hondt’s set the first-ever standard at 23.9 ft on the women’s side. People in the comments of the announcement cited Terje’s 32 ft air back at Arctic Challenge as a popular window into this world record race, and the obvious halfpipe world record battle between Kaishu and Valentino that is ongoing (and currently held by Kaishu from the 2022 Olympics which ended up as a cover for this magazine) as well. Going for world records in snowboarding is a pretty interesting venture. It is a muddy world because hips, jumps, cliffs, quarterpipes, and halfpipes are all technically different types of airs so claiming one as the largest air without the qualifier doesn’t really play. And if we are talking a game of inches, the precise measurements and method needs to be pretty standardized and accepted. Valentino’s feat is no less impressive, and I am just speaking as a fan, but it needs a qualifier.
If Red Bull wants to be tossing records out like candy and claiming them, it would be much cooler if they set up an event where multiple QUALIFIED riders from all over could go for it and push each other instead of handing the opportunity to just a few. Maybe that is why Kaishu’s resonated so much in the world of snowboarding. Not only was it reached during an Olympic finals where it was a pursuit outside of going for gold, it was a playing field that plenty of riders had the opportunity to hit and a standard superpipe (if that is a thing) that plenty of pros hit all the time. Technically, Arthur Longo flies home from the mountain on a paraglider some days out in France and he is like a mile in the air, so would that qualify as the biggest air ever done on a board (with the help of a chute?).
Once again, not taking anything away from the accomplishment. Valentino would probably still beat every rider if the top 100 were all there to hit the same feature knowing how competitive and talented the young Australian is. The most important thing is that these riders are going absolutely massive and seemingly enjoying it. We are all enjoying it. Hunting records down doesn’t exactly line up with the perceived culture of snowboarding, but we are all beneficiaries of the riders pushing the limit. No questions asked. With no Superpark for the North American snowboarding world to focus on in the spring to see mindboggling builds and elite talent, the long-established Nines park build across the pond has provided solid clips year after year. It is exciting to see some of the big names still putting on a show late in the season after a lackluster start to winter this year. We need it! At least until there is no snow left for any of us.
