On a course where the possible number of rotations is exceeded only by the number of baguettes in spectators' hands, the field of eight riders in Thursday's Men's Slopestyle finals had to work hard for their money.

How does one prepare for a run with eight features? "You don't `" said Sage Kotsenburg, the 16-year-old who, along with winning the silver medal today, won the 2010 overall Dew Tour title in his rookie pro season. "But we sat in our hotel rooms for two hours last night, drawing runs, trying to figure out what we were going to do."

"It's insane. I've never hit a course with six jumps before. At the top you have to tell yourself what you're doing, otherwise you just get lost. There's a lot of thinking that goes into it," said Thursday's winner, Eric Willett, who already had one Winter X silver medal under his feet this year.


Eric Willett getting it done in Tignes, France. © Dave Lehl

The homework paid off for the top two Americans. Willett's winning run included a half Cab 5-0 to backside 180 on the "Railway to Heaven," Cab 9, back 7, front double cork 10, arguably the most textbook backside rodeo in snowboarding today, switch back 9, 50/50 on the "Shark Tank" rail and a double back rodeo. "I feel amazing. I was so bummed this morning because I couldn't do anything in practice, so to come out and stick the run that I wanted is awesome."

Rounding out the podium was Slovenia's Marko Grilc. Travis Rice, Chas Guldemond and IPod all had super technical runs, but scrubbed on their landings.

Men's Snowboard Slopestyle finals results

1. Eric Willett, 91.00
2. Sage Kostenburg, 85.33
3. Marko Grilc, 83.66
4. Stephan Maurer, 82.66
5. Chas Guldemond, 70.66
6. Christian Haller, 67.66
7. Travis Rice, 50.33
8. Iouri Podlatchikov, 49.33

The UK's Tyler Chorlton finished with a score of 61.00 in the qualifiers and placed equal 13th. Good work there.


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