Korpi and Liu Win Snowboard Halfpipe Contest in Saas-Fee Articles - News - World Cup

Saas-Fee, Switzerland - The Allalin Glacier dressed up as Old Man Winter for Halloween today as Finland’s Janne Korpi and Jiayu Liu from China each survived heavy snowfall and high winds in Saas-Fee to triumph at the second halfpipe contest of the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup 2009.



Weather forced organizers to cancel Wednesday's training, and the originally scheduled Qualification rounds on Thursday, leading to a "one and done" format for today's final. Korpi laid down faultless runs (best 45.9 points) with the combination of BS 1080 and Cap 1080 in the halfpipe of the Allalin Freestyle Park. He left Kohdai Watanabe (44.1) from Japan, and his teammate IIkka-Eemeli Laari (41.9) behind.

Liu dominated the women's contest with 40.7 points, ahead of Japan's Shiho Nakashima (39.7) and Sophie Rodriguez (38.2) from France.

“It was pretty tough in the beginning," Korpi acknowledged. "The view was not that good and it was pretty windy. But after the first hits I got my confidence back and then it was great. And I had good wax on my board, which helped me to speed up in the pipes to do my tricks.”

Watanabe was surprised by his second place result. “It is a great feeling and a very big surprise for me - I had never thought of reaching the podium here in Saas-Fee,” he said at the conclusion of the finals.

Bahamian snowboarder Korath Wright suffered poor visibility, high winds, and no speed. But despite the less than favorable conditions, the rider gave it his best shot.

"It was totally crazy up there today," said Wright. "You really couldn't see five feet in front of you because of the blowing snow, but I gave it a shot. I was pretty far down the start list so when I dropped in there was a ton of snow in the pipe, and I just couldn't get any speed. Now it's time to jump into a nice hot shower and think about soaking up the sun in Nassau."

On the women's side, Liu beamed, “I feel very cool now. It’s great to win a contest like this.”