Laax 2021
In these new times running a contest is a blessing, catch up with the Slopestyle results from Laax…
Despite some of the biggest names being absent from the Laax Open 2021 slopestyle constest due to the ongoing health situation, this was still a classic edition.
Women’s Slopestyle: youth vs experience
First up were the ladies. Eight riders, two runs, best run counts. Windy, greybird conditions made things tough at the start, but as the headwind began to drop, the action began to heat up.You might say this was a battle of the generations: 30-year-old Jamie Anderson (USA) was the seasoned veteran, chasing her fifth Laax Open title, while New Zealand’s 19-year-old Zoi Sadowski-Synnott was the talented rookie chasing her first Laax crown.After putting in a solid performance in her first run, Sadowski-Synnott went into the second round in pole position, but Anderson would be dropping last and this put the young gun under huge pressure – nothing’s more dangerous than Jamie Anderson playing catch-up. The pressure seemed to get to the young Kiwi and she fell, leaving the door wide open for Jamie, who doesn’t ever seem to fall. Dropping last, the vet kept it Zen and, like the master she is, turned up the heat a couple of notches to won her fifth Laax Open title.
Women’s Slopestyle Top-3
- Jamie Anderson (USA)
- Zoi Sadowski Synnott (NZL)
- Tess Coady (AUS)
Men’s Slopestyle: every dog has his day
Sweden’s Niklas Mattsson is a true rider’s rider: the kind of snowboarder all the other pros love to watch and don’t understand why he doesn’t win more contests. A lot more contests. In fact, even though he’s 28 and has been on the scene for over a decade, he’d never won a major contest before – despite having a huge arsenal of technical tricks and maybe the most original grabs in the sport.
Which makes it all the more perfect that he finally won his first major contest here in Laax. The Laax Open has always been the kind of contest where rookie talents get discovered and underdogs come out of nowhere to take home the win. In fact, the last time a Swede stood on top of a podium in Laax was all the way back in 2005, when rookie Chris Sörman came out of nowhere to take home the slopestyle title. Don’t you love it when history repeats itself?
Men’s Slopestyle Top-3
- Niklas Mattsson (SWE)
- Leon Vockensperger (GER)
- Marcus Kleveland (NOR)
