Laax, January 18, 2020. The LAAX OPEN 2020 ended today with the absolute highlight. After sunset, the long-awaited night final in the halfpipe was on the agenda. Under floodlights, thousands of spectators along the LAAX Superpipe at Crap Sogn Gion watched the world's best halfpipe riders live in action. In an exciting final, Spain's Queralt Castellet and Australia's Scotty James came out on top. In addition to the prestigious LAAX OPEN 2020 halfpipe title, they can also look forward to receiving the trophy and CHF 25,000 in prize money each.
Just before the first rider entered the world's largest halfpipe, light snow began to fall, creating a magical atmosphere at the foot of the GALAAXY mountain station. In the women's competition, the only remaining European rider, Queralt Castellet from Spain, took a clear lead with her first run. She started with a high lien air, followed by a backside 900 mute, frontside 900 melon, air to fakie, and a switch backside 540 mute as her final trick. In the second run, no other woman in the strong field of competitors was able to match her score. The two Chinese riders, Xuetong Cai and Jiayu Liu, also put in incredibly strong runs and were delighted to take second and third place.
For Queralt, it was her first victory at the LAAX OPEN, having already finished third in 2018 and second in 2019. After her victory run, she said, overwhelmed: "I'm thrilled, a big dream has come true today. LAAX is my favorite snowboard resort with the best pipe. I'm speechless!" Japan's Haruna Matsumoto took a huge risk, landing a frontside 1080 in the second run before unfortunately stumbling on her next trick. She is currently the only woman on the World Cup circuit who has mastered this trick.
In the men's final, all eyes were on last year's LAAX OPEN winner Scotty James. He had won the last eight competitions he had taken part in. And he dominated again today. His first run catapulted him into unbeatable territory. He started last in the first round and delivered a perfect run consisting of a switch backside 1260 Indy, a cab 1080 mute frontside 900 nose, a backside double 1260 mute, and a spectacular frontside 1440 stalefish on the last hit.
Scotty led the strong field of riders, followed by Yuto Totsuka in second place, who delivered a phenomenal first run with a frontside double 1440, a first in a halfpipe competition. All the other riders had to take full risks in the second run to improve their scores. But no one managed to beat Scotty and Yuto. But who would complete the podium? It was Taylor Gold, twelfth after the first run, who came through in the end. He also impressed the audience and judges with a trick that had never been seen before in a halfpipe competition: a double chuck 1080 melon to Indy, which catapulted him into third place. As in the previous year, Scotty James was the last rider in the final and was therefore able to really enjoy his victory lap, including high-fives for the fans at the edge of the pipe. "I'm totally happy because I knew it was going to be really tough to beat Yuto today. I was ready to step it up a notch in the second run. I don't take anything for granted, but having a victory lap like this is especially nice. Thank you to all the spectators who were here today, it really means a lot to me," said Scotty after his victory.
Once again, Switzerland's Jan Scherrer finished fourth at the LAAX OPEN in 2020. The immense cheers from the crowd compensated him for narrowly missing out on the podium. The 2014 Olympic champion, Iouri Podladtchikov, celebrated a great success after his injury in mid-February, finishing fifth.
The LAAX OPEN TAG TEAM Crossover Slopestyle Session introduced a new event format at midday. At the top of the slopestyle course, teams of snowboarders and freeskiers put on a varied and captivating freestyle show. Six teams of three riders each gave free rein to their creativity on the features. The true spirit of freestyle sports was perfectly illustrated in this showcase: fun and enjoyment while riding together with friends and like-minded people! Team SERENITY with Fabio Studer (ski), Maxi Preissinger (snowboard), and local hero Xeno Lehnherr (ski) won the first TAG TEAM title.
For decades, LAAX has been all about freestyle, and today everyone could feel that spirit once again. So it's no surprise that LAAX is the favorite resort of many riders from all over the world. Spectacular snowboarding action combined with a party in the hangar at Crap Sogn Gion, followed by live music at the rocksresort performed by Berlin electro-pop band MIA, made this day unforgettable. There is already enormous anticipation for the next edition of Europe's biggest snowboarding event in 2021!
