American slopestyle skiers borrow Gerard’s big move
America’s Olympic slopestyle skiers saw something they liked in snowboarder Red Gerard’s gold medal run Sunday.
The quarterpipe kicker. Gerard was the only finalist to hit the sideways move on the second jump, and judges rewarded that creative approach.
“We are looking at that pretty closely, and there are a couple of our guys who want to hit it,” said the U.S. slopestyle coach Skogen Sprang. “It’s different, it’s hard and it’s progressive. It’s more difficult.”
The quarterpipe jumps — a pair of steep ramps built into the sides of the second jump’s main kicker that launches skiers and snowboarders a bit sideways — can steal some speed on takeoff. That could be a problem for carrying momentum into the third and final jump, where the skiers will spin their biggest trick.
So things have to line up just right. The wind can’t be too strong to slow the skiers even more. The snow has to be fast. If a trick off the quarterpipe ends up being too slow, skiers will choose the straight jump.
“That feature definitely seems super appealing,” said Utah’s Alex Hall, a first-time Olympian who hit the quarterpipe jump at last month’s X Games. “Right when I saw the course, that was one of the first things that jumped out at me, and I definitely want to try to hit that.”
Quarterpipe and transition takeoffs are recent additions to slopestyle courses, offering athletes options beyond the fullsteam-ahead straight jumps. Slopestyle snowboarders and skiers got a taste of the South Korean slopestyle course in Olympic test events in 2016 and those quarterpipe hits on the second jump were some of the first ever in competition.
The female skiers, who sometimes appreciate a takeoff nearer to a jump’s transition when weather prevents them from reaching maximum speed for the hits, are eyeing those quarterpipe hits.
“It definitely appeals to me. It’s definitely a cool feature to do something new and exciting on,” said Vermont’s Caroline Claire. “It gets the wheels turning. I think it’s one of the creative options of this course that is going to be really interesting, and it’s a great opportunity for people to stand out.”
It certainly worked for Gerard. He struggled a bit on his first two runs with that particular hit, but he stuck with it and landed a clean double-cork 1080 off the quarterpipe jump. If he had hit the straight jump, he might have been able to squeeze an extra rotation into the trick and carried more speed into the third jump, where he stomped a triple-cork 1440, which was clean, but not the biggest of the contest. Judges seemed to appreciate his creativity.
Olympic judges are adamant on cleanliness. If the hardest trick in the contest included even the slightest hand drag, it’s unlikely the athlete will find the podium. So if the quarterpipe can’t be stomped clean, it’s not going to be a part of an athlete’s run.
“That’s part of our job, to help find that balance where you know what’s difficult enough but is also going to be consistent enough to do flawlessly,” said Sprang. “It’s all about no mistakes.”
Nick Goepper, the thricegolden X Games slopestyle skier who won bronze in his sport’s Olympic debut in Sochi in 2014, loves the quarterpipe hit. If he can make it work with conditions and maintaining speed into the final money booter, he has a plan to make himself stand out on that hit, just like Gerard did.
“I don’t think anyone has hit the quarterpipe going backward, going switch,” he said. “I’d like to try to do that. I’m looking forward to differentiating myself, and that quarterpipe could work well.”
Note: Ski slopestyle women’s qualifying and finals competitions begin at 10 a.m. Saturday in South Korea, which is 6 p.m. Friday in Colorado. Men’s qualifying and finals competitions begin at 10 a.m. Sunday in South Korea, which is 6 p.m. Saturday in Colorado.