The 12th annual US Freeskiing Open went down this weekend in Copper Colorado and Orage athletes Taylor Seaton and JL Ratchel were on site to throw down.
The weather conditions were tough for practice and qualifying the first couple of days. Over a foot of snow fell and the winds were brutal gusting up to 30 mp/h at times!
JL and Taylor both skied well and practiced hard. JL came up a little short in semis and wasn't able to move on. Taylor was stomping his runs and really tweaking his grabs earning him a spot in the finals.
After hurting his heel the first run in finals Taylor kept skiing through the pain and posted even better scores on his final two runs landing a solid 4th place finish, just a few tenths of a point shy of the podium.
Justin Dorey, Matt Philippi and Mike Riddle threw down like never before making this event one of the better pipe comps of the year. Taylor is off to Japan tomorrow for the FIS World Championships where he will hope to reclaim a spot on the podium.
JL Ratchel spent the past week on the road with Toyota and BNQT.com hitting up Mt. Baldy, Mammoth, June, and the final stop of the Winter Dew Tour at Northstar along the way.
Somewhere between LAX and Tahoe
Check out the full story and more photos at bnqt.com and watch all the videos from the road below:
The third and final stop of the Winter Dew Tour rolled through lake Tahoe last weekend bringing together Orage team riders Michelle Parker, TJ Schiller, Matt Margetts, Taylor Seaton, Banks Gilberti and Phil Casabon for three days of slopestyle, halfpipe, and California sunshine.
Matt Margettts
Day one was arrival day and halfpipe practice for Taylor Seaton and Matt Margetts. Taylor came into this stop of the Dew Tour ranked 7th overall and was cleaning a practice run that consistently put him into finals at the last two Tour stops. Margetts, who has been unanimously referred to as “Bubble Boy” by the event announcers after missing finals qualification by one stop in the first two stops of the Dew Tour and X Games, used every available minute of practice time to put his run together.
Pipe qualifiers were divided into two heats, two runs each, with the top nine overall scores advancing to face off against pre-qualified athletes Tanner Hall, Justin Dorey, and Simon Dumont in the finals. Margetts was up first and dropped in with a flat 5 tail, right 900, left 900, 720, and finished it off with a switch 7 putting him in 12th place for the time being. Taylor couldn't put his first run to his feet and dropped down to 23rd with one run remaining. With one last chance to break the bubble Margetts stepped it up in his second run going bigger, cleaner, and ending it with a switch 10 at the bottom earning him a 7th place finish and a spot in Saturday nights final under the lights. Taylor dropped in switch on his second run boosting a switch 7 mute on his first hit followed by a right 5, left 900, right 900, and allyoop 5 at the bottom. Margetts was probably holding his breath a little as Taylors score came in, but despite his efforts Taylor ended up in 12th place and would not advance.
Margett's finally making finals was the talk of the day, but the legacy of Bubble Boy lived on throughout the weekend with the official renaming of the bubble position to “the Margetts Spot.” Sitting in the Margetts Spot is indeed an honor, but still probably not where you want to end. up.
TJ ready to drop in during slopestyle qualifiers
Perfect weather showed up again on Friday for slopestyle qualifiers. The course wasn't as big as some other comps this season but smooth transitions and plenty of options ensured that the focus of the event would be on style and stomped landings rather than big tricks.
Casabon somewhere in the middle of a switch 10 mute
The run started off with an option down rail or down box, into another set with a flat box or cannon rail to choose from.
Michelle on the first rail option
The first jump had two take offs that were about the same size but one had a cheese wedge takeoff and the other shaped more like a true table.
TJ working out some truck driver variations on the table top...
Just past the landing was another slider option with a double kink rail and box leading right into the final two jumps and the finish area. Both rails were a mandatory disaster in order to maintain enough speed to clear the following jump.
Matt Margetts on the last jump
Despite stomping their runs TJ, Banks, and Margetts ended up in 18th, 19th, and 20th, respectively. Casabon had better luck pleasing the judges but only managed to come up in twelfth, and with only the top nine advancing it would not be enough.
Saturday afternoon it was the ladies turn on the slopestyle course and after a quick practice Michelle Parker continued her standout return to the competition scene with a second place finish cleaning the top rail option, a 450 off the flat box into a switch 5, 720, and 540 on the jumps.
Saturday night brought out the biggest crowds of the weekend as thousands of spectators lined up around the halfpipe to watch the main event. The classic Dumont-Hall rivalry was in full effect as the two battled it out for the lead. In the end Tanner Hall walked with the title and Margetts held on to a respectable seventh place finish stomping his run from qualifiers even bigger under the lights.
For more videos and highlights from the rest of Winter Dew Tour check out allisports.com
Even though it was only prelims it was a full on victory for Orage rider Matt Margetts who qualified 7th for Saturday night's halfpipe final. "Bubble Boy", aka Matt Margetts, got stuck with the nickname after missing finals by one spot at the first two stops of the Dew Tour and X Games last month. Don't miss the finals live under the lights Saturday night at 12am EST on USA.
no big deal
Taylor Seaton was throwing down one of the more technical runs of the day with a first hit switch 7 and both left and right 900's, but a shakey landing on his last hit didn't get him the points he needed to advance into Saturdays final.
Watch both their runs and some commentary from Matt Margetts below, and for more videos and highlights from the Winter Dew Tour check out allisports.com
What up, Derek White postin’ up for a quick recap of my season to date. So as soon as park was up and rolling here at Sun Peaks I began relearning all my tricks along with a banger bag of new tricks. The Grandma’s Home-made rail jam, sponsored by Orage was a huge success; I had a great time judging and would like to give props to everyone who came out!
Right after that event was complete, myself and a friend made the drive down to Silver Star for the first 1516 rail comp, also sponsored by Orage.
I placed 3rd at this event which was dope by the way, the course had a great feel to it and it was real nice to catch up with all the Vernon boys that night. Three days later at home, I competed in the new years eve big air, where I had my cab 9, 10 mutes down but failed to finish the comp due to a broken binding, all was good though and I still had a great time helping pump up the crowd for the rest of the boys. A week later I started filming for my Super unknown edit for Level 1 which I am soooo stoked on so keep your eyes open for that, and I will have it online as soon as I can.
Now I am just chillin here at home, finishing high school, and training hard on and off snow for my three major comps coming up in March and April. Well I was going to go and have my bro snap some hot shots for me the other day but I bruised my ribs so this is all I have for your viewing pleasure until my ribs are 100 percent. Enjoy these snaps and keep the season rollin’ in the positive direction! Booyah
This past month has gone by too fast. It's nearly February and I'm constantly reminded how quickly the winter seems to pass by. From Lake Tahoe, Retallack, Mustang Powder, X Games, Vegas, and back to Tahoe...here are a few of my favorite photos I thought I would share.
While at Mustang Powder, for the first week it was nothing but snow. When it finally cleared up, I hadn't seen sun in three weeks. The sun light was foreign to me. It was beautiful. I was with the guys from MSP at this time and we didn't expect the sun to be out. It was a funny scene as we were all trying to figure out what to do in a rush, running around like little kids in a candy store trying a bit of everything before we found the good stuff.
We spent long days and nights looking and building for the picture perfect jumps, lines, and powder. Often riding home to our cabin on our sleds late would allow us to take a moment to relax and enjoy our surroundings.
This day was epic. We found a zone where Abma, Rory, Pettit, and myself could all shred at least three lines each. It was super fun sitting at the bottom and watching everything go down.
I would call Sean little, but he has out grown me. It was rad to ski with him and watch how much he has progressed in the past couple of years. This kid is mind blowing.
Nate Nash was a pleasure to meet. He's one of the filmers for MSP.
The crew one sunny morning. I think we were all thinking the same thing...what are we going to do now that it's sunny? I don't know I guess we could get some lifestyle shots before finding lines.
One of our many scouting missions. It was our last day and the first day that we were allowed into the higher alpine terrain. It was epic up there and we found what we had been looking for the entire trip. From left to right...Nate Nash, Bushy, and Abma.
Boris wasn't allowed inside, but I would sneak him bits of my lunch whenever no one was looking. Not that he needed it, but at least I made a friend.
The trees of the notorious Retallack.
Orage Cat.
Sean Pettit getting some.
Sean and I had to drive from Retallack to Mustang Powder. Due to a man made avalanche that covered the road in 75 feet of snow, our 2 and half hour drive turned into a 10 hour drive. I've learned over the years to expect that while traveling in the interior B.C.
Leaving was kinda crazy. I felt like we were playing Russian Rullet while on the road. There was leftover avy debri everywhere and the roads were less than ideal.
With a lot of team work we got everyone out. Some of the guides were claiming that this was the biggest snow storm they had ever seen in this part of the interior.
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