The men’s and women’s halfpipe qualifications finished up under the fourth consecutive day of bluebird skies at the Burton European Open in Laax, Switzerland. Today’s qualifications was a good mix of old school riders like Lesley McKenna (GBR) and Xaver Hoffmann (GER) teaching new school riders how its done by qualifying first and second respectively.


Lesley McKenna © LammerhirtIn the women’s qualification rounds, 50 riders vied for 13 spots to compete against top halfpipe riders including Kelly Clark (USA), Sina Candrian (SUI) and Jamie Anderson (USA). In the end, former pro rider and current Roxy coach Lesley McKenna showed she still has what it takes to compete by qualifying first. Lesley’s top run included a huge backside air, frontside 720, Cab 360, frontside air tailgrab. Lesley is one of a handful of riders at the 10th annual BEO who competed at the first BEO back in Innsbruck in 1999.

The men’s qualifications also included some blasts from the past like former Burton pro rider Xaver Hoffman (GER), who qualified second in heat two of the qualifications. Forty men competed for 11 spots to test their skills against halfpipe heavyweights like Shaun White (USA), Kevin Pearce (USA), Danny Davis (USA), Antti Autti (FIN) and current BGOS Champion Peetu Piiroinen (FIN). Ilkka-Eemeli Laari (FIN) qualified first in heat one with a run that included a huge frontside air, backside 5 mute grab, frontside inverted 720 frontside grab, Cab 1080, frontside 1080 japan air finishing things off with an epic pipe slash. Stale Sandbech (NOR), who came in first in yesterday’s slopestyle qualifiers, also took the top spot in heat two of the men’s halfpipe qualifiers. Stale’s amplitude on all his tricks impressed the judges, and his winning run included a frontside 540 double grab, tailgrab, frontside 720, Cab 720 and frontside air.

The action at the BEO heats up on Wednesday, January 14 when top invited riders take to the halfpipe to compete against qualified riders in the semi-finals competition.

Be sure to watch live coverage from the BEO on www.Go211.com starting on Wednesday, January 14. Scheduled European webcast times are below.

www.Go211.com BEO Halfpipe Semi-Finals Webcast:
Wednesday, January 14

Morning Show 9:30 – 10:00 (CET)
Halfpipe Semi-finals: Men 10:00 – 11:15 (CET)
Halfpipe Semi-finals: Wome 12:45 – 13:45 (CET)
End Show 13:45 – 14:00 (CET)
Replay of entire webcast 17:00 (CET)

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