So the second round of qualifiers has ended, and the finalists for tomorrow are confirmed (see results below). The sun was out on Lake Zurich today and the course warmed up pretty quick, meaning that the riders were struggling to get the same kind of amplitude as last nights round. Nonetheless the level of riding here was once again ridiculous, and the competitors were certainly not shying away from the big tricks, as is evident by the number of crashes. Both Jossi Wells and Jacob Wester crashed out on their tech runs, going for double corks in spite of the lack of air time, even Jon Olsson had a slip up on his first style jump – it’s good to know it happens to everyone once in a while. Jon fans will be pleased to know that he composed himself for his next two jumps, banging out a textbook kangaroo and a flat 5 double grab and taking the third spot in the process.

The afternoon kicked off with a local boy, Nicolas Vuignier, and as with last night, the style round was dominated by 540’s and tweaked out grabs; Bow and Arrows, Guitars, high mutes, true tails, and criticals were all present, and pretty correct as well.

The tech round was where it started to get a little interesting. With the conditions as they were, riders were left with the option of going all out, with the increased risk of something going wrong, or toning it down a bit and banking on others not being able to make their trick. Benedikt Mayr was the first to fall foul of the slower run in, just missing the landing on his first attempt at a double cork 12 (he later managed to correct it, but missed out on the top four), this was followed by another double cork crash by Jossi Wells, and then Jacob. Three big name crashes in the tech round and suddenly everyone was having to rethink their strategy, except for Tom Wallisch and Sammy Carlson of course, both of whom didn’t put a foot wrong all day. Props to Rory Bushfield, who took it upon himself to entertain the crowd with a casual double backflip.

The final round was nervy, with Jon, Jacob, Jossi, and Mayr all needing to land their jumps to even have a chance. Jon and Bene both managed to put the gear down, but Jossi and Jacob both missed out. Meanwhile Fridtjof Fredricsson played the tactical game, throwing down a perfect corked 1080 nose-mute. The gamble paid off and he bagged a place in the final, joining Tom Wallisch, Sammy Carlson, and Jon Olsson.

While the level of riding may not have been to yesterdays standard due to the conditions, this round seemed more of an interesting contest, with people actually having to work on a strategy rather than just throw down their best tricks. It’s looking like we might have a pretty amazing final on our hands tomorrow, we’ll be back then to let you know how it goes.

More freestyle-ch Ski >>

1 Wallisch, Tom USA 164.50
2 Carlson, Sammy USA 159.75
3 Olsson, Jon SWE 148.25
4 Fredricsson, Fridtjof NOR 145.00
5 Hlawitschka, Thomas GER 125.25
6 Mayr, Benedikt GER 124.50
7 Vuignier, Nicolas SUI 121.00
8 Bushfield, Rory CAN 107.25
9 Wells, Josiah NZL 106.25
10 Wester, Jacob SWE 75.75

Rider List for Final in no particular order:

Tom Wallisch
Sammy Carlson
Jon Olsson
Fridtjof Fredricsson
TJ Schiller
Andreas Hatveit
Elias Ambühl
Laurent Favre

For more info see www.freestyle.ch