# Olympic Slopestyle Course First Look



## SBForum Editor (Nov 2, 2015)

Our friends over at KingSnowMag.com just posted this first look of the 2018 Olympic Slopestyle course and it's looking pretty incredible. This photo is by one of the Canadian coaches, Chris Witwicki.

Check out the story for the full gallery of photos:
https://kingsnowmag.com/news/pub:9423/PYEONGCHANG-OLYMPIC-SLOPESTYLE-COURSE--FIRST-LOOK


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## snowman55 (Feb 17, 2012)

SBForum Editor said:


> Our friends over at KingSnowMag.com just posted this first look of the 2018 Olympic Slopestyle course and it's looking pretty incredible. This photo is by one of the Canadian coaches, Chris Witwicki.
> 
> Check out the story for the full gallery of photos:
> https://kingsnowmag.com/news/pub:9423/PYEONGCHANG-OLYMPIC-SLOPESTYLE-COURSE--FIRST-LOOK


Snowboard stuff starts at 7:13 mark.


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## DaveMcI (Aug 19, 2013)

Missionary is only allowed


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Looks awesome but I would not want to take a fall on that shit. Looks like concrete.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

I love the Olympics. Can’t wait. 


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## deagol (Mar 26, 2014)

reminds me of SSX3


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## Snow Hound (Jul 21, 2012)

Katie Omerod has already cracked her wrist during practice. She's tough as though so hopefully can still snag a podium place.


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## bazman (Jan 15, 2017)

Looks super dangerous to me, I hope no-one gets seriously injured or worse.


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## Snow Hound (Jul 21, 2012)

Snow Hound said:


> Katie Omerod has already cracked her wrist during practice. She's tough as though so hopefully can still snag a podium place.





bazman said:


> Looks super dangerous to me, I hope no-one gets seriously injured or worse.


Now she's fractured her ankle and is out of the competition.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Snow Hound said:


> Now she's fractured her ankle and is out of the competition.


Damn. :frown:

But yeah, like I said in my first post, upon first glance I could definitely see people breaking themselves off on that course.


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## Rip154 (Sep 23, 2017)

Building a park like this, and 90% of the riders that could use it to it's full potential aren't there, that's what the olympics is all about. There are some weird elements too, like a rail on top of the hip. Will be cool to watch anyways.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

Isn't every single slope style course when in good conditions practically concrete? Name the last time you heard someone go man I was just getting too much speed over everything or god I needed some more soft pow while hitting that rail. EVERY time you hear of complaints and injuries from pros it's not enough speed, poor and slow snow. And then everyone else is going I'm tired of the spin spin spin ballet snowboarding, and then you get this new inventive course and people are like ohhhh that looks new, must be dangerous uh oh.... There's not a feature there that is unnecessarily or inherently more dangerous than most stuff at any park, it's just an inventive setup. Should be sick and finally fun to watch. And yes people will get hurt, we all have, and none of us are pushing the sport like these guys and gals are. And everyone complaining about people getting hurt have definitely eagerly watched a crash video at some point so.....


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Katie Ormond exploded her calcaneus now. Poor chick... broken wrist then heel


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## Varza (Jan 6, 2013)

It's Katie *Ormerod* :dry:


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Yikes that xray looks nasty. Hope she makes a speedy recovery. 

I saw the course myself. Its gigantic and downright scary. The snow condition is actually pretty good - was arctic cold for nearly a week but yesterday afternoon the temps were in the single digit minus (celsius) and sunny so pretty pleasant. Men’s preliminaries will be held in moderate temps and slight cloud cover. The men’s finals and ladies preliminaries on Sunday 11th will see -10 c/teens f-ish temps and possibly snow.


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## The Shogun (Sep 25, 2016)

The Boardercross course looks like Mario Cart


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## bazman (Jan 15, 2017)

The Shogun said:


> The Boardercross course looks like Mario Cart


This makes me happy


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## Seppuccu (Dec 4, 2012)

deagol said:


> reminds me of SSX3


Those were my thoughts exactly!  It's going to be really interesting. Or nasty.


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## base615 (Aug 10, 2017)

The second big jump is seriously borked. Practically nobody has landed it on this second run.


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## Snow Hound (Jul 21, 2012)

Judging seems a bit borked too. I may be biased but think Jamie Nicholls was a little hard done by.


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Wouldn’t be the Olympics without borked judging. 

SNAFU!


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

The finals tomorrow is going to be super cold and windy, up to 10m/s. Might even snow if the comps are delayed by the wind. 

Heard from the venue manager that the Heat 1 riders rode on a coat of snow and that slowed down some enough to botch the big ramps. 

Its shaping up to be a great final with Parot, McMorris, Kleveland shooting for gold and Red possibly trumping all. But with the forecast I’d settle if if I can avoid freezing to death.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

robotfood99 said:


> Wouldn’t be the Olympics without borked judging.
> 
> SNAFU!


This. It's honestly why my interest in the Olympics has massively declined. That and the fake as fuck "world unity" messaging and relentless product placements and marketing messages.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Red just hammered it for gold. I remember watching this kid at breck and hood doing doubles at like 10 years old...


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## Phedder (Sep 13, 2014)

Argo said:


> Red just hammered it for gold. I remember watching this kid at breck and hood doing doubles at like 10 years old...


Super stoked for him, and that run knocked a Kiwi off the podium. Comes off as one of the most genuine and fun loving guys on the scene right now, bet he's over the moon.


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## [email protected] (Jan 23, 2017)

Congrats Red!!! :grin: That kid can ride!!! Congrats to Parrot and McMorris too!


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Red’s final jump in the final run was ginormously YUGE. I think I have it on video. I’ll post it up later.

Edit - I can’t tell who is who lol O-M-G so f’ggin cold. We’re Kore-eezing over here.


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Here's Red's gold moment from the spectator stand. Sorry about the crappy angle - that's all the IOC gave us. Cold as hell but at least the vibe was hot. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfD16YWhd2B/?taken-by=rob0t99


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## Snow Hound (Jul 21, 2012)

From Terje's Instagram:


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

Snow Hound said:


> From Terje's Instagram:


That's kind of dickish in my opinion. I'm fine with people who would rather pass, but to bash those who are fulfilling a possible life long dream seems lame to me.

It's not like Terje is refusing snowboard money and is living off of foodstamps.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

f00bar said:


> That's kind of dickish in my opinion. I'm fine with people who would rather pass, but to bash those who are fulfilling a possible life long dream seems lame to me.
> 
> It's not like Terje is refusing snowboard money and is living off of foodstamps.


At least understand where he's coming from.

https://snowboardmag.com/stories/the-olympic-issue-terje-haakonsen-interview

Honestly, he's right. The guy boycotted the Olympics in '98 when he was one of the top halfpipe riders in the world. He put his money where his mouth is. I'm sure he cost himself some significant sponsorship money with that move.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

linvillegorge said:


> At least understand where he's coming from.
> 
> https://snowboardmag.com/stories/the-olympic-issue-terje-haakonsen-interview
> 
> Honestly, he's right. The guy boycotted the Olympics in '98 when he was one of the top halfpipe riders in the world. He put his money where his mouth is. I'm sure he cost himself some significant sponsorship money with that move.


I don't have an issue with his point. I also don't think it's very cool to publicly try to belittle those who don't hold his same opinion.

And on top of that not the first time terje has come out with an opinion easily construed as in a homophobic way.

I'm fine with him not going. His choice, I even see his point though don't completely agree with it. But to shit on other peoples dreams, and the olympics are a dream for many many people, that in my mind is a dick move.


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## zc1 (Feb 20, 2017)

I would have loved to see a Canadian take it, but Gerard earned it with a beautiful, clutch run -- best run of the competition (qualifying and final imo). Loved that he took his whole family and some friends with him to Korea as well.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

The Other Than Olympics.... LBS... Same time and no media/TV shitshow >

Friday results Legendary Banked Slalom :: Qualifier Results : Friday

Saturday results Legendary Banked Slalom :: Qualifier Results : Saturday

The final results should post very soon...right now there's the gathering of the tribe at White Salmon 

Legendary Banked Slalom :: Finals Results : Sunday


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

The ladies slopestyle athletes are superheroes. Yesterday after the mens finals, the weather rolled in hard with freaky cold winds and heavy cloud cover. And most of the spectators couldn’t bear the cold so the stands were half empty. Yet they soldiered through the preliminaries. Today’s finals are sunny but super windy and Siberian cold. And they are stomping the same course most men struggled on. 

Respect.

Edit - Apparently yesterday’s preliminaries were cancelled due to high wind after all. I was watching after the men’s event ended but had to bail because the wind and cold became unbearable. I’d say it was the right call to protect the athletes.


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## Phedder (Sep 13, 2014)

This course and conditions are brutal. That 84lb Japanese rider had zero chance of clearing those jumps.


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## fr3nzy (Jan 22, 2018)

robotfood99 said:


> The ladies slopestyle athletes are superheroes. Yesterday after the mens finals, the weather rolled in hard with freaky cold winds and heavy cloud cover. And most of the spectators couldn’t bear the cold so the stands were half empty. Yet they soldiered through the preliminaries. Today’s finals are sunny but super windy and Siberian cold. And they are stomping the same course most men struggled on.
> 
> Respect.


I'm noticing a lot of falls and I'm wondering how much better this would be if they weren't battling so much wind. You can definitely tell the wind is keeping big jumps from happening, but I'm liking that a lot of the women are taking fun/interesting lines on the features.


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## base615 (Aug 10, 2017)

The women's final was a farce. It never should have gone ahead in conditions that unpredictable.


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## mojo maestro (Jan 6, 2009)

The games are a farce.....................fuck IOC...............fucking circle jerk for the privileged...........


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

It is kind of sad that tv scheduling dictates whether an event occurs or not. No reason for the first events in a 2 week competition to be rushed through crappy conditions just because tv schedules need to be met.


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## shredderrr (Jan 31, 2018)

f00bar said:


> I don't have an issue with his point. I also don't think it's very cool to publicly try to belittle those who don't hold his same opinion.
> 
> And on top of that not the first time terje has come out with an opinion easily construed as in a homophobic way.
> 
> I'm fine with him not going. His choice, I even see his point though don't completely agree with it. But to shit on other peoples dreams, and the olympics are a dream for many many people, that in my mind is a dick move.


I don't think he's shitting on other people's dreams. This is what he is talking about

https://www.yahoo.com/news/moral-ab...v-put-womens-snowboarders-risk-110100587.html

I knew someone who worked on the World Cup bid team for Qatar. Large sports bodies are only in this shit for the cash grab and who can bribe them the most. I didnt think about the homophobia aspect, but you could be right, however the picture is about how this sport gets raped by greed. It's a tough spot for athletes to be in who just wanna compete. I am shocked that Burton who sponsors the uniforms and probably paid fucktons resigns him.


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

shredderrr said:


> I am shocked that Burton who sponsors the uniforms and probably paid fucktons resigns him.


He's the perfect anti-establishment cred for Burton. They need him more than he needs them. So in a way its amusing he still associates himself with them. Money works in mysterious ways.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Me thinks Terje's underlying point is "doing it for you or having it done to you." In the beginning a person does it cause they love it, then the money/image plays in to the delusion of ego. And finally most folks make it back to doing it because of the love. Its interesting that every 4 years the polar opposite events occur at the same time...oly vs LBS. People choose their own reality and very few folks have the opportunity to straddle both of these realities on their own terms. Anyway the olys seem to be rather exclusive and restrictive though claiming unity/NWO vs LBS is inclusive, open and loose event for the tribe to gather for heart and soul.


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## shredderrr (Jan 31, 2018)

robotfood99 said:


> He's the perfect anti-establishment cred for Burton. They need him more than he needs them. So in a way its amusing he still associates himself with them. Money works in mysterious ways.


best way this has ever been described


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

In all honesty,... without the inclusion of snowboarding? I had/never would have any interest in the Olympics whatsoever!! 

It's quite interesting to me to read some of the articles posted here about how television coverage & money actually dictates things. 

I mean I always knew it was always about the money at the level of choosing countries/cities to host the games, television coverage & sponsorship etc. But I had no idea about how it worked and infected things down at the level of "who gets chosen to go, who decides what's safe, or that Skiing/Skiers are actually in the position to hold the sport hostage in the way it was described. 

That was an eye opener for me. I saw the first part of the mens event. Now I really wish Id been able to watch the womens to compare. It sounds like it was really brutal. Glad nobody was seriously injured.


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

The men's slopestyle was.... boring.

It didn't feel like they were doing anything extraordinary even though they actually were. 

Most of the stuff they threw down was pretty insane but.... For me the only thing that stood out was Max Parrot's tweak over the little rail section jump and somebody's awesome tail grab spinnitty spin spin.

Everything else was..... more of the same shit with a little variation and hoping not to fall on the crappy jump landings.

The Ayumu Xgame pipe run was incredible. Not sure how the Olympics will compare.

And a 17 yo grabbing gold was great. That's pretty awesome. Hopefully he doesn't do something 17 yr olds would do and gets his medal taken away...


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

How is some guy getting raped by a money man homophobic?

Same as the joke with Todd Richards :rotfl::rotfl:
How was that homophobic?

So Terje chooses to be kind of vocal against the Olympics.

Does he not have that right?


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

robotfood99 said:


> He's the perfect anti-establishment cred for Burton. They need him more than he needs them. So in a way its amusing he still associates himself with them. Money works in mysterious ways.


A lot of truth to this.


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## benjinyc (Feb 24, 2017)

The moral abomination of the Olympics and how money and TV put women's snowboarders at risk


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

benjinyc said:


> The moral abomination of the Olympics and how money and TV put women's snowboarders at risk


They cancelled an alpine skiing event and threw the female slopestyle snowboarders to the wolves because they needed something to put on TV. The FIS doesn't give a fuck about making snowboarding look bad or potentially putting snowboarders at risk to protect skiers. They're a skiing organization first and foremost. If sacrifices ever have to be made between skiers and riders, the riders will be the ones to come out on the short end of that stick every single time.


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

robotfood99 said:


> He's the perfect anti-establishment cred for Burton. They need him more than he needs them. So in a way its amusing he still associates himself with them. Money works in mysterious ways.


I don't see it that way at all.
I think the opposite: looks like this is more of a thing HE needs. Most of the riders in the Olympics were on Burton boards. So either the riders really want it, or B is encouraging their riders to do Olympics stuff.

Obviously, both Burton and Terje want to be in a 'relationship', otherwise they....... wouldn't.

As for money....... Terje would be very dumb to do this for money. Without knowing figure.... I am 100% certain Mark McMorris is making a lot more $ than Terje, just as a result/exposure from the olympics.

In my opinion....... I see this simply as Terje thinking the Olympics are whack and not being shy about expressing his opinion. As simple as that. Maybe he gets a buzz from being anti-establishmentarian....... but he could just get a mohawk i guess. To be honest, most of the good riders do not participate, so in a way... they're with him. Even if they dont voice it.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Who are these better riders everyone keeps talking about? If its just movie parts you watch and get an opinion from then it's skewed. They get numerous times to attempt it for video. Put them in competition format and it's a different animal.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Argo said:


> Who are these better riders everyone keeps talking about? If its just movie parts you watch and get an opinion from then it's skewed. They get numerous times to attempt it for video. Put them in competition format and it's a different animal.


"Better" is probably inaccurate, but the Olympics' format certainly doesn't produce the deepest field possible. The fact that you have to qualify for you country's team to get in definitely means that there are going to be riders left off countries' teams that have a deep talent pool while lesser riders from other countries are in the competition simply because they're riding for a country with a shallower talent pool.


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## Rip154 (Sep 23, 2017)

The olympics have turned into a money, booze, power, luxurygrab and whatever else the old pigs spend money on and get bribed around the world 24/7. Disliking the olympics is more about the abuse of these men who wont let snowboarders run snowboarding because they are afraid to lose their privileged positions, than the dreams athletes have to be part of a special event that should be everything it pretends to be. It should have been more of an ideal organisation where everyone pitch in and unite. Need to get rid of this rotten system thats been building up for years. They shouldnt be allowed to make shittons of money off snowboarding and not give anything back. Of course they have more than enough excuses and ruling techniques to tell you otherwise.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

It also means that they all have the opportunity to compete, win and get points to qualify. 

People not liking it doesn't mean it doesn't work.


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## benjinyc (Feb 24, 2017)

Argo said:


> Who are these better riders everyone keeps talking about? If its just movie parts you watch and get an opinion from then it's skewed. They get numerous times to attempt it for video. Put them in competition format and it's a different animal.


If you look at Snowboarding Magazine and Transworld Snowboarding for their riders poll....you don't really see many 'contest' riders nominated (voted on by industry peers) 

as for 'numerous times to attempt it' - i think that favors slopestyle, big air, and halfpipe (especially the later 2 events) since they have regulation sizes that don't change contest to contest. Did you see the qualifying and finals runs for the olympics, every rider did the same rail and jumps on each of their runs, with the exception of Mark McMorris (btw only olympian who was nominated in the poll) who tried to throw in a 1660 on his last run when he fell back a podium spot.

Most of those backcountry video parts are in variable conditions, off-piste. I am def curious how a slopestyle (or halfpipe) rider would do in the Freeride World Tour (no practice runs, all natural features, avalanche conditions) and vice versa

I'm not totally hating on the Olympics, i think it's cool to showcase a lot of those sports that don't get highlighted to the public a lot. If snowboarding weren't a part of it, we'd still be okay, some might say that we'd be better off. Now the olympics wants to include surfing and skateboarding...haha


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## Snow Hound (Jul 21, 2012)

@Argo do you even like know what The Freeride World Tour is bro?


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

It's totally different styles of riding. 

Most FWT riders can't do anything that the slope riders can do either... a lot of video backcountry guys can't do the one run competition fwt stuff either. 

I respect each discipline more and more every time I ride more days, try more shit, meet more people.... 

Not scooters or inline skates though, fuck that


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Snow Hound said:


> @Argo do you even like know what The Freeride World Tour is bro?


I'm guessing your saying this in jest....


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## benjinyc (Feb 24, 2017)

a lot of the FWT were slopestyle riders (e.g Travis Rice, Gigi Rüf) - but of various reasons (probably age?) transitioned over 

it seems like contest riding gravitates towards the younger kids every year - i guess because it's becoming more like gymnastics?


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

Look at the ratings for the Olympics and the ratings for Winter X Games and I think whether you like the format or games in general it becomes clear why they are important for the sport.

I seem to be in an ever shrinking minority but every 4 years I enjoy watching things I'd never normally watch. I'll even watch the figure skating. Some fond memories of a simpler time when the family would sit around the TV to watch Brian Boitano and Orser battle it out, the whole Tanya Harding debacle, and the announcers trying avoid the question of whether Tomba was banging Katerina Witt.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

benjinyc said:


> a lot of the FWT were slopestyle riders (e.g Travis Rice, Gigi Rüf) - but of various reasons (probably age?) transitioned over
> 
> it seems like contest riding gravitates towards the younger kids every year - i guess because it's becoming more like gymnastics?


They are not fwt riders per se, they are wildcards brought in by sponsors to help get more viewership. They did not come through the ranks from fwq2 and fwq4 to get to fwt. Their spot was granted to them through the sponsor wildcard programs. 

My son is ranked 10th in region 2 ( western hemisphere ) out of hundreds for fwq 4star at 18 years old, so his first year. I have travelled with him for years to fwq, fwt, ussa, usasa, etc etc all over the world coming up through junior stuff. 

I know and have seen alot of great slopestyle riders try fwt/fwq and fail big. Some do good but it really depends on their background. Travis has ridden for decades now in big terrain, he is good at it, same for gigi. Travis was a big air guy mainly for competition. Kids from small mountains that only ride park, pipe and slope courses will literally get to a venue and back out of the competition. Gigi has had trouble getting a fwt run without a fall... 

Someone like ben or gabe ferg are used to riding variable steeper real mountains with all conditions, they just happen to be good at pipe. 

The contest kids just seem younger now because your older. They are a little younger but not much. As the stuff gets bigger and more legitimate, theres more training for younger kids but the minimum for trying to be in the olympics is 15 at the start of the qualification season.


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## benjinyc (Feb 24, 2017)

ratings wise, winter x is on cable tv not network broadcasting

the olympics needs snowboarding more than snowboarding needs the olympics. i don't think anyone disagrees with this


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Meh, shit tons of people would watch the Olympics with or without snowboarding because it's shoved down their throats with massive marketing campaigns with a heavy dose of nationalism on the side.


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## Varza (Jan 6, 2013)

benjinyc said:


> ratings wise, winter x is on cable tv not network broadcasting
> 
> the olympics needs snowboarding more than snowboarding needs the olympics. i don't think anyone disagrees with this


At least some skateboarders feel the same way about their sport...


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## benjinyc (Feb 24, 2017)

Varza said:


> At least some skateboarders feel the same way about their sport...


ha, at least they dont have a ski federation run their sport like snowboarding


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

Wait a second, Tomba was banging Katerina Witt?


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

Scalpelman said:


> Wait a second, Tomba was banging Katerina Witt?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I don't remember the whole story. But he basically said after one of his wins in an interview that the first thing he was going to do was buy a ferrari and bang Katerina, though not quite in those words it was obvious what he wanted to do.

I became a bit of a running joke for the rest of the games.


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

F1EA said:


> I don't see it that way at all.
> I think the opposite: looks like this is more of a thing HE needs. Most of the riders in the Olympics were on Burton boards. So either the riders really want it, or B is encouraging their riders to do Olympics stuff.
> 
> Obviously, both Burton and Terje want to be in a 'relationship', otherwise they....... wouldn't.
> ...


Jake Burton is here in PyeongChang hanging with the athletes and organizers. Huge black Burton logo'd vans dart here and there. I don't see many other brand presence here, which is just how IOC wants it, but Jake's personality and dedication shows. 

Terje and Burton are practically joined at the hips and its cool that they are sticking with each other despite the FIS/IOC shitshow. But like you mentioned, they wouldn't if they didn't see their relationship as mutually beneficial. Terje's anti-FIS/IOC stance doesn't hamper Burton's ties to US snowboarding because Jake himself is the brand ambassador. And Terje's cult hero status with the purists make him a valuable brand ambassador to that front. So they have strong brand representation to both the corporate and purist sides. Pretty genius, I'd say. Money just follows. I didn't mean that Terje was selling out or anything.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

I'm glad NBC is taking a more toned down approach to the commentating than the X Games. I really want to throw stuff at the tv and yell shut the fuck up during the x games and their trying to whoop every run up. This is a nice calm explanation of what's going on and I've actually enjoyed tonights half pipe.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

f00bar said:


> I don't remember the whole story. But he basically said after one of his wins in an interview that the first thing he was going to do was buy a ferrari and bang Katerina, though not quite in those words it was obvious what he wanted to do.
> 
> I became a bit of a running joke for the rest of the games.


It's fairly well known that at the Olympics....all have won and must have STD's.


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

f00bar said:


> I don't remember the whole story. But he basically said after one of his wins in an interview that the first thing he was going to do was buy a ferrari and bang Katerina, though not quite in those words it was obvious what he wanted to do.
> 
> I became a bit of a running joke for the rest of the games.


Tomba the party animal slowing down at last - Telegraph

...shortly before the Lillehammer Olympics, when asked whether he preferred the charms of Witt or her American rivals Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, Tomba replied: "All three together."


"I admit I used to have a wild time with three women until 5am. Now I am in training, it is five women until 3am..."


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

robotfood99 said:


> Jake Burton is here in PyeongChang hanging with the athletes and organizers. Huge black Burton logo'd vans dart here and there. I don't see many other brand presence here, which is just how IOC wants it, but Jake's personality and dedication shows.
> 
> Terje and Burton are practically joined at the hips and its cool that they are sticking with each other despite the FIS/IOC shitshow. But like you mentioned, they wouldn't if they didn't see their relationship as mutually beneficial. Terje's anti-FIS/IOC stance doesn't hamper Burton's ties to US snowboarding because Jake himself is the brand ambassador. And Terje's cult hero status with the purists make him a valuable brand ambassador to that front. So they have strong brand representation to both the corporate and purist sides. Pretty genius, I'd say. Money just follows. I didn't mean that Terje was selling out or anything.


Ah I thought you meant Terje took his stance for money. Burton has a big team, so they have plenty riders on all corners of the spectrum.

Anyways, Terje wouldn't be a good US snowboarding ambassador for the Olympics... as he is Norwegian 

Pretty sure on the eyes of the FIS Terje is just a small pimple. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the FIS, snowboarding in general is but a small little blip they're milking, until the fad dies off. They are definitely cunts; but politics aside, if the riders want to compete, then so be it.


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## ctoma (Aug 9, 2011)

The artist formerly known as the Flying Tomato threw down a big run. Old Shaun still has amazing skills and still acts like a douche. Just my opinion.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

ctoma said:


> The artist formerly known as the Flying Tomato threw down a big run. Old Shaun still has amazing skills and still acts like a douche. Just my opinion.


I didn't really see the douche part. One thing he does come across is very polished for the interviews. But that's what happens when you are in the game so long and get the exposure. Kind of felt bad for Chloe, her post gold interview was kind of cringe worthy, like a deer in the head lights. Not her fault, just the opposite end of the spectrum with knowing how to deal with a situation like that than White.


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## benjinyc (Feb 24, 2017)

f00bar said:


> I didn't really see the douche part. One thing he does come across is very polished for the interviews. But that's what happens when you are in the game so long and get the exposure. Kind of felt bad for Chloe, her post gold interview was kind of cringe worthy, like a deer in the head lights. Not her fault, just the opposite end of the spectrum with knowing how to deal with a situation like that than White.


looks like he isn't sponsored by Oakley (had Anon goggles on) and doesn't have his own pro model from Burton (tbh, i've never seen any of his boards here)


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

ctoma said:


> The artist formerly known as the Flying Tomato threw down a big run. Old Shaun still has amazing skills and still acts like a douche. Just my opinion.




I was starting to like the all white astronaut uniform but Mr. White can’t rock his namesake color. 

Come to think of it, it looks great on ladies but meh on guys. Red looked like he was in a baby jumpsuit. 

We got a great three-way shootout. It was actually fun to watch and nail-biting even. The finals are gonna be awesome!

PSA: local weather at the finals will be mild temps (low minus c/20s f) and wind (4m/s) but 70% chance of snow


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## benjinyc (Feb 24, 2017)

*Red Gerard's dilemma, embrace the Olympic Stage or leave it for the backcountry*

TL;DR snowboarders don't need the olympics to make a living



> Red Gerard's dilemma, embrace the Olympic Stage or leave it for the backcountry
> 
> At 17 years old, with one gold medal already in hand, Red Gerard could become one of the more recognizable American athletes at future Olympics. He could have a career like that of fellow snowboarder Shaun White, the two-time halfpipe gold medalist appearing in his fourth Olympics at the age of 31.
> 
> ...


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

I don't understand the mindset of believing the Olympics are some sort of dedicated road forced to go down, especially for snowboarding and skiing which has their own healthy competition circuits.

As the article seems to mention you don't eve really need to think about them until a year or so before when you need to start showing up to qualifiers.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

benjinyc said:


> TL;DR snowboarders don't need the olympics to make a living


It's awesome to hear that snowboarders can make just as good of a living if not better by doing actual real snowboarding instead of contest spin to win stuff.


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## WasabiCanuck (Apr 29, 2015)

How sick are the Team Canada snowboard jackets!?! I want one so bad.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

WasabiCanuck said:


> How sick are the Team Canada snowboard jackets!?! I want one so bad.


That looks like something out of a bad '90s ski movie. The jacket/sweater that the douche ski instructor would wear while he's being all uppity and then the ski bum beats him in the race and takes his girl at the end of the movie.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

linvillegorge said:


> That looks like something out of a bad '90s ski movie. The jacket/sweater that the douche ski instructor would wear while he's being all uppity and then the ski bum beats him in the race and takes his girl at the end of the movie.


My grandma knit this jacket and I have to wear it every xmas when she visits!


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

The Canadian jackets look stupid.
The USA whole outfits look awful and ridiculous.

I have enjoyed watching the Olympics so far.


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## ctoma (Aug 9, 2011)

linvillegorge said:


> That looks like something out of a bad '90s ski movie. The jacket/sweater that the douche ski instructor would wear while he's being all uppity and then the ski bum beats him in the race and takes his girl at the end of the movie.


That's almost the storyline from Better Off Dead...


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

WasabiCanuck said:


> How sick are the Team Canada snowboard jackets!?! I want one so bad.


Awful.

You gotta appreciate the Native art folkloric theme, but who the hell snowboards/skis on a knitted jacket????

I like the red black and white tamed down outfits though.

The US Nasa suit is horrendous as well. Probably worse because it fits all terribly. I guess the whole space race is a big thing for the US, but that's so 70's and Russia is an ally now. Isn't it?


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Yeah, the Canadian sweater jacket sucks, but the U.S. space suits are even worse. By a long shot.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

Recap so far

Uniforms suck, pretty much across the board. 
Slopestyle course turned out fantastic, conditions unfortunately ruined it. Riders were given chances to be creative, many chose not to, as a result scores were poor in the mens event.
US Dominates
White is still God in the pipe and its going to be an amazing finals
You have to either be a seasoned veteran (White and Anderson) or a young gun (Chloe Kim Red Gerard) to compete

Mens pipe finals will be epic beyond all reason


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I might have to watch the halfpipe finals. Other than bits and pieces of the slopestyle qualifying round, I haven't watched a bit of the Olympics.


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## muzzyahoy (Nov 19, 2016)

lab49232 said:


> Recap so far
> 
> 
> White is still God in the pipe and its going to be an amazing finals
> ...


If only the judging was on point.
White grabbing his heel cup and getting a 98.25. I don't care how much you're spinning, that shouldn't be leading, should be an automatic 5 point deduction. Same for knee grabs to bring your spins around.
Scotty James' run was way more technical, Hurano's amplitude is off the charts. 
White will get left in the dust when those two throw their full bag of tricks.
Ben Ferg should win just based on style alone (God I love Air to Fakie's!!)


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

muzzyahoy said:


> If only the judging was on point.
> White grabbing his heel cup and getting a 98.25. I don't care how much you're spinning, that shouldn't be leading, should be an automatic 5 point deduction. Same for knee grabs to bring your spins around.
> Scotty James' run was way more technical, Hurano's amplitude is off the charts.
> White will get left in the dust when those two throw their full bag of tricks.
> Ben Ferg should win just based on style alone (God I love Air to Fakie's!!)


I honestly wonder if the judges can even spot some of this stuff. I wonder if they're provided with video monitors or if they're having to just sit there and watch it live to make their call. If you're watching live it's gonna be really damn hard to tell that guy is grabbing his heel cup instead of the board while he's spinning like a top 100 feet away while you're looking into the lights.


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

lab49232 said:


> *You have to either be a seasoned veteran (White and Anderson) or a young gun (Chloe Kim Red Gerard) to compete*


Isn't that pretty much true in every sport though?

Chloe Kim is so far above any of the other women that it wasn't a contest. I said to my wife after her first run "_well, this contest is over_" and that wasn't even Kim's best stuff. She's throwing back-to-back 1080s with a grab while the other girls are throwing sloppy 1080s flailing their arms and she's going inverted when none of the other girls are. That wasn't even close.

I guess the same could have been said about Jamie Anderson in the women's slopestyle, I didn't think any of them had a chance at catching her.

The men's slopestyle was a lot closer. IMO, Mark McMorris would have won slopestyle had he landed his last jump.

We'll watch the men's half pipe, recorded the qualifying last night and I'll probably catch up on that too.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

muzzyahoy said:


> If only the judging was on point.
> White grabbing his heel cup and getting a 98.25. I don't care how much you're spinning, that shouldn't be leading, should be an automatic 5 point deduction. Same for knee grabs to bring your spins around.
> Scotty James' run was way more technical, Hurano's amplitude is off the charts.
> White will get left in the dust when those two throw their full bag of tricks.
> Ben Ferg should win just based on style alone (God I love Air to Fakie's!!)


There's not a person with eyeballs who didnt watch White's run and instantly go "that was hands down the best run by anyone" He knew it, crowd knew it, other competitors knew it. All scores were a little high in my opinion but White makes it look like he's not trying and its effortless and that's why judges love him. Oh and he goes every bit as big as anyone. I do think Hurano and James can both easily beat him but let's not pretend that White is so far behind them, everyone was throwing 90% of what they had by the end of qualifying, I've never seen a qualfying round that intense at any event. It was as big as X-Games final.


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

linvillegorge said:


> I honestly wonder if the judges can even spot some of this stuff. I wonder if they're provided with video monitors or if they're having to just sit there and watch it live to make their call. If you're watching live it's gonna be really damn hard to tell that guy is grabbing his heel cup instead of the board while he's spinning like a top 100 feet away while you're looking into the lights.


The commenters said during the men's slopestyle that the judges are able to watch in slow-mo. I would assume half pipe is the same way. Still, judging is subjective. I personally thought Arielle Gold and Kelly Clark both had better runs than Liu Jiayu who got the silver.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

lab49232 said:


> Recap so far
> You have to either be a seasoned veteran (White and Anderson) or a young gun (Chloe Kim Red Gerard) to compete
> 
> Mens pipe finals will be epic beyond all reason


I think there's an economic factor to this. The seasoned are seasoned because they were always good and can scrape a living out of it. The young can do it because they don't have a ton of debt and likely wealthy enough parents to support their aspirations. The middle of the road decide in their early 20s that eating raman sucks and move on when mom and dad from the previous sentence decide to no longer fund their failure children.


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## muzzyahoy (Nov 19, 2016)

I would agree with you guys on the subjectiveness, but when you start your run with back to back 12's as opposed to backside air's or massive methods, the risk of crashing and totally ruining your run should be rewarded. The fact Shaun is doing the same run he was doing 4 years ago should be held against him too.
IMO


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

muzzyahoy said:


> I would agree with you guys on the subjectiveness, but when you start your run with back to back 12's as opposed to backside air's or massive methods, the risk of crashing and totally ruining your run should be rewarded. The fact Shaun is doing the same run he was doing 4 years ago should be held against him too.
> IMO


Ummmm you obviously haven't watched like.... anything.... First off he wasn't even competing for the last few years, he'd retired and only came back to be in the Olympics. Second his staple use to be the worlds largest and most tweaked out 20 foot high method on his first hit. He switched to a massive 10 to start now which he just started doing at the US Grand Prix a few weeks ago. The double mctwist 12 is ridiculous and I'd love to see him throwing double cork 1440s 4 years ago.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

White gets gold again... great run.


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

Damn, he threw it down.

Super run. Went huge. Even mixed in a stylish tweak with not much of a spin to spice things up.

Would have been good either way, if he got Gold or Silver. Both guys were deserving. Ayumu was cleaner, Shaun went bigger.


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

muzzyahoy said:


> I would agree with you guys on the subjectiveness, but when you start your run with back to back 12's as opposed to backside air's or massive methods, the risk of crashing and totally ruining your run should be rewarded. The fact Shaun is doing the same run he was doing 4 years ago should be held against him too.
> IMO


U wot m8


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I missed it. Oh well.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

Would be nice if did a side by side of the 2 runs. They were both great. Going last has its advantages. Not that anybody took it easy in the prelims, but White definitely out paced them all in them giving him that extra edge.

Plus he has unicorn jizz wax.


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Ayumu’s second run might possibly have been the better run, but he fell in his last run. Shaun stomped the 14-14 in the last run. For max effect. And its interesting that the American judge gave him the lowest score of 96, while other judges all gave him higher scores.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

Haters gonna hate. It was close but White was the best rider of the night and I don't think that's debatable. The two best runs were very close but White went SOOOOOO big and people keep saying Hirano goes the biggest. The future belongs to Hirano and James but White got a much deserved gold. There's nothing Hirano did White didn't and White went bigger and just looks so effortless, that can't be understated. Big air there's no window rolling, there's no twisting to force spins, it all looks just natural. The only reason to be upset is to hate excellence and face it Shaun has been the most amazing rider in our lives and done more for the sport than any. If he hadn't been rolling in the money while doing so people would love him but money is not evil. And then him bawling like a baby after, he knows and appreciates what happened, the emotion and effort was real. But again haters gonna hate. And yes if you haven't watched you should, it was stylish, HUGE and technical as all. May have enjoyed X-Games final more, not sure but definitely top 3 comps I have ever witnessed in the pipe.


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## ctoma (Aug 9, 2011)

f00bar said:


> Would be nice if did a side by side of the 2 runs. They were both great. Going last has its advantages. Not that anybody took it easy in the prelims, but White definitely out paced them all in them giving him that extra edge.
> 
> *Plus he has unicorn jizz wax.*


The unicorn jizz wax gave him the edge he needed to beat Hirano and that pretty girl James (why was a chick competing with the fellas? She had a really pretty mouth...).

After seeing White fly as high as he did I am running out today to buy some unicorn wax. May even look into buying my own unicorn for an endless supply of the stuff.

White won his 3rd gold medal but he's still a douche. Ask the drummer from his band. Haters hate sexual predators.


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## mojo maestro (Jan 6, 2009)

Hey Shaun...............quit stepping on and dragging.....my flag around................


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## Seppuccu (Dec 4, 2012)

lab49232 said:


> Haters gonna hate. It was close but White was the best rider of the night and I don't think that's debatable. The two best runs were very close but White went SOOOOOO big and people keep saying Hirano goes the biggest. The future belongs to Hirano and James but White got a much deserved gold. There's nothing Hirano did White didn't and White went bigger and just looks so effortless, that can't be understated. Big air there's no window rolling, there's no twisting to force spins, it all looks just natural. The only reason to be upset is to hate excellence and face it Shaun has been the most amazing rider in our lives and done more for the sport than any. If he hadn't been rolling in the money while doing so people would love him but money is not evil. And then him bawling like a baby after, he knows and appreciates what happened, the emotion and effort was real. But again haters gonna hate. And yes if you haven't watched you should, it was stylish, HUGE and technical as all. May have enjoyed X-Games final more, not sure but definitely top 3 comps I have ever witnessed in the pipe.


It's not the size that matters, it'show you swing it.


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## kalev (Dec 17, 2013)

Shaun White - the Tom Brady of snowboarding


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

lab49232 said:


> Haters gonna hate. It was close but White was the best rider of the night and I don't think that's debatable. The two best runs were very close but White went SOOOOOO big and people keep saying Hirano goes the biggest. The future belongs to Hirano and James but White got a much deserved gold. There's nothing Hirano did White didn't and White went bigger and just looks so effortless, that can't be understated. Big air there's no window rolling, there's no twisting to force spins, it all looks just natural. The only reason to be upset is to hate excellence and face it Shaun has been the most amazing rider in our lives and done more for the sport than any. If he hadn't been rolling in the money while doing so people would love him but money is not evil. And then him bawling like a baby after, he knows and appreciates what happened, the emotion and effort was real. But again haters gonna hate. And yes if you haven't watched you should, it was stylish, HUGE and technical as all. May have enjoyed X-Games final more, not sure but definitely top 3 comps I have ever witnessed in the pipe.


Most amazing HALFPIPE rider. That's a very key distinction to make. He's the top rider in the marquee event for people who pay attention to snowboarding once every four years but the halfpipe is a tiny part of snowboarding as a whole. I definitely wouldn't say that White is the most amazing complete rider of our lives.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

linvillegorge said:


> Most amazing HALFPIPE rider. That's a very key distinction to make. He's the top rider in the marquee event for people who pay attention to snowboarding once every four years but the halfpipe is a tiny part of snowboarding as a whole. I definitely wouldn't say that White is the most amazing complete rider of our lives.


Pretty sure that was obvious with the 'of the night' part. The hate is strong in you >


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

lab49232 said:


> Shaun has been the most amazing rider in our lives


Poor f00bar is struggling, so let me make a little more directed quoting effort to help him out.


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## kalev (Dec 17, 2013)

linvillegorge said:


> Most amazing HALFPIPE rider. That's a very key distinction to make. He's the top rider in the marquee event for people who pay attention to snowboarding once every four years but the halfpipe is a tiny part of snowboarding as a whole. I definitely wouldn't say that White is the most amazing complete rider of our lives.


One of the Canadian announcers called him "the most legendary snowboarder of all time" 

Cringe worthy


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## Seppuccu (Dec 4, 2012)

It seems like the New World is having a low snow year.


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

kalev said:


> One of the Canadian announcers called him "the most legendary snowboarder of all time"
> 
> Cringe worthy


Who's more popular and has more world-wide recognition?
Who has won more or done better in the largest competition(s)?

I get it, spin-to-win isn't what most of us are into. Personally, I much prefer watching something like the Freeride World Tour. But, I can also appreciate the skill and greatness of Shaun White.

He's got to be the best/most dominant half pipe rider of all time (all time is also not all that long). Of course there are better free riders, better slopestyle riders, etc.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

kalev said:


> One of the Canadian announcers called him "the most legendary snowboarder of all time"
> 
> Cringe worthy


It's pretty accurate though. Ask a non-snowboarder to name a snowboarder and I guarantee you that virtually all of them will say Shaun White.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

linvillegorge said:


> Poor f00bar is struggling, so let me make a little more directed quoting effort to help him out.


The first sentence sets the setting and context for the rest of the paragraph. Just like defining an acronym once, or a full name.

Unless you read from the bottom up it's quite clear. Or should every mention of his riding be followed by a 'between the times of 8-10pm in the halfpipe in South Korea'?

Not to worry though, the #metoo people are going to take him down where the competition couldn't.


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## kalev (Dec 17, 2013)

linvillegorge said:


> It's pretty accurate though. Ask a non-snowboarder to name a snowboarder and I guarantee you that virtually all of them will say Shaun White.


Sure, if that's your definition of most legendary of all-time 



Jcb890 said:


> He's got to be the best/most dominant half pipe rider of all time (all time is also not all that long). Of course there are better free riders, better slopestyle riders, etc.


Completely agree with that statement 

Anyway - don't want to get into a whole debate about SW, I get it - it's subjective. Some people love him, some think he's a douche. I respect his talent, but tend to fall into the later category


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

f00bar said:


> The first sentence sets the setting and context for the rest of the paragraph. Just like defining an acronym once, or a full name.
> 
> Unless you read from the bottom up it's quite clear. Or should every mention of his riding be followed by a 'between the times of 8-10pm in the halfpipe in South Korea'?
> 
> Not to worry though, the #metoo people are going to take him down where the competition couldn't.


Just stop, dude. He made a very clear statement that he considered Shaun White to be the most amazing rider of our lifetimes. In no way is that statement solely pertaining to this Olympic Games. You're just being dense at this point.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

kalev said:


> Sure, if that's your definition of most legendary of all-time


It's a pretty well accepted definition of legendary. From Merriam-Webster:

Definition of legendary
1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of legend or a legend legendary creatures of the sea
2 : *well-known*, famous a legendary football player


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

kalev said:


> Anyway - don't want to get into a whole debate about SW, I get it - it's subjective. Some people love him, some think he's a douche. I respect his talent, but tend to fall into the later category


I've never met the guy so I really don't have an opinion of him as a person. As a halfpipe rider, I'd don't even think there's an argument. He's the best of all-time.

But as an all-around snowboarder? I also don't think there's an argument there either. He simply hasn't done enough in the sport outside of the stunt ditch to even be in the argument. Now, I totally understand why. It's the marquee event in the most commercialized contests. It was absolutely his best path to take in terms of maximizing his value. He's probably made by far more money, probably by several magnitudes, than any other professional snowboarder ever.


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## kalev (Dec 17, 2013)

linvillegorge said:


> But as an all-around snowboarder? I also don't think there's an argument there either. He simply hasn't done enough in the sport outside of the stunt ditch to even be in the argument. Now, I totally understand why. It's the marquee event in the most commercialized contests. It was absolutely his best path to take in terms of maximizing his value. He's probably made by far more money, probably by several magnitudes, than any other professional snowboarder ever.


Agreed 

And this ....


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

Here's the thing..... There's no rules to snowboarding.

Shaun White decided he wanted to ride that stunt ditch and make very big jumps while spinning around. He's pretty good at it and has won a bunch of prizes, which is what HE set out to do for himself. I think that's a success.

Nobody is forcing the 'core' crew to go spin around, just as nobody is forcing the spinners to go hit the backcountry. They can all go do whatever the hell they want. I would much rather watch the 'core' guys do pretty seemingly mellow stuff... but... gotta respect the spinners. Those damn jump landings are icy as fuck and those pipe edges will get ya.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

The whole context of the message was OBVIOUSLY all in relation to the night and halfpipe. That caveat was stated earlier in the post, sorry I didn't constantly keep adding "IN halfpipe" every time, figured we could understand context, but that hate for White blocks that I guess. But you know I obviously meant he's the best boardercross racer too! 

Seriously come on. White is the best halfpipe rider and one of the best if not best action sports athletes ever (I don't include motorized sports people for this). He may not be great at slopestyle anymore but lets not forget there was one point where for a few years he was winning gold in Halfpipe, in slopestyle and in skateboard vert, oh how we forget. But again haters gonna hate. Let's hate the guy responsible for bringing the most money and attention to our sport to allow it to progress. There's more legendary riders in the industry among industry people, but while it won't be popular among people here, he's done far more for the sport than Terje even, though obviously Terje can run laps around him in any natural terrain. Love him or hate him it's just the truth.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

lab49232 said:


> The whole context of the message was OBVIOUSLY all in relation to the night and halfpipe. That caveat was stated earlier in the post, sorry I didn't constantly keep adding "IN halfpipe" every time, figured we could understand context, but that hate for White blocks that I guess. But you know I obviously meant he's the best boardercross racer too!


Sorry I misunderstood what you were saying, but honestly, you did a very poor job of conveying what you just said in your original post. Stop blaming that on this imaginary "hate". You typed what you typed. You made an all encompassing statement that was in no way limited to halpipe riding.



lab49232 said:


> Seriously come on. White is the best halfpipe rider and one of the best if not best action sports athletes ever (I don't include motorized sports people for this). He may not be great at slopestyle anymore but lets not forget there was one point where for a few years he was winning gold in Halfpipe, in slopestyle and in skateboard vert, oh how we forget. But again haters gonna hate. Let's hate the guy responsible for bringing the most money and attention to our sport to allow it to progress. There's more legendary riders in the industry among industry people, but while it won't be popular among people here, he's done far more for the sport than Terje even, though obviously Terje can run laps around him in any natural terrain. Love him or hate him it's just the truth.


I've already said he's the best halfpipe rider of all time, no question. LOL! You're obsessed with these "haters". I don't think Shaun White cares what snowboarders on a message board think about him one way or the other. He's probably too busy counting his money and polishing his medals. But, keep coming to his defense if you must (even when I haven't really said anything bad about the guy), oh great white knight of lore. LOL!


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## benjinyc (Feb 24, 2017)

lab49232 said:


> he's done far more for the sport than Terje even, though obviously Terje can run laps around him in any natural terrain. Love him or hate him it's just the truth.


different generations. snowboarding was so different back during Terje's years. No social media, no olympics (winter xgames wasn't even a thing yet). Only major contests were the U.S. Open, Air and Style, and the LBS. If it wasn't for Terje's generation, there'd be no Olympics. Shaun White would still kill it...I remember his winning run over Travis Rice at the Winter X Slopestyle a decade ago.

I've read that the major criticism about him (from within the industry) wasn't about his talent/skills (no one debates that)...that Shaun was only interested in promoting Shaun.


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## Varza (Jan 6, 2013)

benjinyc said:


> different generations. snowboarding was so different back during Terje's years. No social media, no olympics (winter xgames wasn't even a thing yet). Only major contests were the U.S. Open, Air and Style, and the LBS. If it wasn't for Terje's generation, there'd be no Olympics. Shaun White would still kill it...I remember his winning run over Travis Rice at the Winter X Slopestyle a decade ago.
> 
> I've read that the major criticism about him (from within the industry) wasn't about his talent/skills (no one debates that)...that *Shaun was only interested in promoting Shaun.*


Ain't nuttin' wrong wiff dat, iz thar?


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## BuckarooBanzai (Feb 2, 2017)

SW is simply doing what Lance Armstrong and, for a while, what Tiger Woods did. They focused on the events with the most money, the most coverage, and built a brand for themselves outside of actually doing the sport. Granted, Lance needed a little help to be at the level he was (I'd argue that ALL riders did in that era), but they were smart enough to leverage their abilities in their prime to maximize their business success... long after they decide to retire. Jordan makes RIDICULOUS money each year off the Jordan brand he worked so hard with Nike to build. It's smart and honestly, why wouldn't you?


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

OMG boardcross is a massacre... pretty scary injuries in almost every race.

And Ruroc still looks as stupid as ever.


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## benjinyc (Feb 24, 2017)

they should have a "snowboard combined" event - you compete in each discipline (slope, big air, halfpipe, xcross) for an overall snowboard title 

i guess if you wanted to, you could throw in parallel slalom too


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## MMSlasher (Mar 18, 2016)

mojo maestro said:


> Hey Shaun...............quit stepping on and dragging.....my flag around................


I'm glad others have noticed. My pops and I looked at each other and were like, "come on Shawn". But I can see how he got caught up in the moment and didn't realize it.


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## WasabiCanuck (Apr 29, 2015)

F1EA said:


> Awful.
> 
> You gotta appreciate the Native art folkloric theme, but who the hell snowboards/skis on a knitted jacket????
> 
> ...





linvillegorge said:


> Yeah, the Canadian sweater jacket sucks, but the U.S. space suits are even worse. By a long shot.


Ya maybe they look good to me just cuz the USA ones are so bad. IDK maybe I like the Canadian ones cuz they are different. I think I will just get the actual knitted wool sweater instead of the fake snowboard jacket. :shrug:


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

I can't hate on the US one too bad as we make and I work on the real deal suits. While far from great I think it did manage to present itself on the slopes much better than the original promo shots that made it look like something you'd buy from Spirits for Halloween.

There's no questioning the iconic image of the US eva suit as a symbol of the US and more importantly in todays world is pretty non divisive which I think it a big reason Burton chose it. Tough to bring politics into its choice.

All that said I think the US traditional red white and blue in the right combos can be pretty stunning if done right.


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## snowman55 (Feb 17, 2012)

He's probably 10-11 years old here. I can see why he won the gold.


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## GuelphNoob (Oct 31, 2013)

WasabiCanuck said:


> Ya maybe they look good to me just cuz the USA ones are so bad. IDK maybe I like the Canadian ones cuz they are different. I think I will just get the actual knitted wool sweater instead of the fake snowboard jacket. :shrug:


Much preferred the UA Canada gear from Sochi to this strange wool monstrosity.


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## snowangel99 (Mar 11, 2016)

I seem to be the only one who loves the Canadian jackets!:thumbsup: I think they are unique and very cool. I would def wear one proudly. Colour blocking and stripes are boring and dated. Fashion is about being unique and new and hip and these jackets were that IMHO. 

I am really looking forward to big air this week. I was surprised they have to walk up the stairs with their boards. Why no elevator?!

1998 was the first year snowboarding started in the Olympics and most people were overjoyed that it finally became recognized as an Olympic sport. You people are never happy.:blahblah:


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

snowangel99 said:


> I seem to be the only one who loves the Canadian jackets!:thumbsup: I think they are unique and very cool. I would def wear one proudly. Colour blocking and stripes are boring and dated. Fashion is about being *unique and new* and hip and these jackets were that IMHO.
> 
> I am really looking forward to big air this week. I was surprised they have to walk up the stairs with their boards. Why no elevator?!
> 
> 1998 was the first year snowboarding started in the Olympics and most people were overjoyed that it finally became recognized as an Olympic sport. You people are never happy.:blahblah:


What is unique and new about those sweater/jackets? It looks like that awful sweater your mom always tried to get your dad to wear around the holidays back when you were a kid.


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Since this thread is on threads atm,

I think the best US uniform so far were the goretex jeans. Its as American as it gets and supremely marketable. The Space X/Tesla stunt almost made the space suit cool, but still meh. 

Wonder why they haven’t done a military uniform theme yet. Although, for this particular year, marching in with military uniforms might have sent a very awkward message. 

On to big air. Let’s hope the heavy sweater doesn’t weigh down the Canadians too much and the space suits send US spinners to the moon!


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## snowangel99 (Mar 11, 2016)

I am wearing my Canadian wooly sweater today just for you guys. And its cute dang you. I love those jackets!!!!!!

We have friends with a kid on the Canadian hockey team. They are paying 10k a night for hotel for the family!!!! CRAY!!!!! But he scored a goal so his dad was ecstatic.

I was surprised Red flew back to the US last week. I don't think may athletes are going back and forth.

Once again, hockey and snowboarding are for the rich.


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Big Air Finals!


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## SnowDragon (Apr 23, 2012)

Does anyone know why there are so many competitors riding Nitro boards?

I understand a lot of Burton boards (the Burton juggernaut), but what's up with the popularity of Nitro among competitors?


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## Phedder (Sep 13, 2014)

SnowDragon said:


> Does anyone know why there are so many competitors riding Nitro boards?
> 
> I understand a lot of Burton boards (the Burton juggernaut), but what's up with the popularity of Nitro among competitors?


Because there's a lot of really good riders sponsored by Nitro. It's that simple.

The 2019 Beast all their male pros are riding is one of the best graphics for next year, coupled with being an obviously very capable freestyle board it should sell very very well.


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## zc1 (Feb 20, 2017)

Good boards, good eye for talent, accessible, ground level marketing. Pretty good recipe for success. Nitro won me over this year. Knut Eliasson came to town and gave a presentation on the 2018 lineup at one of the local shops here a few months back...never seen Downing or anyone else of "importance" from any of the other big brands here. Why would they come here? No idea. But Knut did. I bought my first Nitro board this year. It won't be the last.


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## muzzyahoy (Nov 19, 2016)

Watch Nitro’s Bio movie on RedBull TV and you’ll see why. Been around for almost 30 years, have stayed totally grass roots, never tried to get too big and had nothing but a love of snowboarding being their driving force..... and they make killer product.
Don’t know if Burton could say the same thing....


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Ran into Chris Corning walking up during practice, on the other side of the fence but like inches away. I called him out, he saw me and yelled “Yeah! Represent!” Because I looked like this:


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## robotfood99 (Mar 19, 2016)

Seb Toot’s BS 1620 (2nd run):
https://instagram.com/p/BflQRRvBRyJ/

My fav of the day, Mack’s Bloody Dracula 1440 (2nd run):
https://instagram.com/p/Bfk5EsuBsGv/

Chris Corning hucking HUGE (3rd run):
https://instagram.com/p/BflRnd5hI89/


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## WasabiCanuck (Apr 29, 2015)

snowangel99 said:


> I am wearing my Canadian wooly sweater today just for you guys. And its cute dang you. I love those jackets!!!!!!


I think those sweaters are a Canadian thing. They looks sweet to us Canucks but maybe not anyone else and that's ok. It comes from our Aboriginal cultural roots, we call that wool sweater a "siwash" here in Saskatchewan. A Cree word I think. Anyway they look good and have cool cultural root. To each their own but I love them both, the sweater and the jacket.


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