Aspen/Snowmass Open Superpipe: Philippi Wins Pipe With Amplitude

On the final day of the inaugural Aspen/Snowmass Open, beautiful, sunny weather appeared again for the second day of the run making for a great day in the Superpipe.

After the two Semifinal heats in the morning, the Finals field of 10 was set take off in the pipe. With temperatures ranging around 40 degrees F and a glaring sun baking the left side of the 525-ft. long Superpipe, skiers were presented with a fast wall on the right and a soft, forgiving wall on the left. Despite the changing pipe conditions, skiers did not disappoint as they all boosted high out of the ditch and threw technical spins and even a few switch tricks near the bottom.

Leading the charge, though, was the high-flying Matt Philippi, who earned himself a 1st place finish in the inaugural event. Philippi's second of two runs saw him throw the highest 900 of the day, a huge alley-oop, a clean 1080, and a switch 540 to cap it off for the best pipe run of the day.

Philippi narrowly defeated the local boy, Peter Olenick, who ended up in 2nd place capping off a great weekend for him. Olenick's first run included a 900, 540, and 1080 in consecutive fashion. All his tricks were super clean and included stylie grabs, but he did not have as much amplitude as Philippi.

"It would have been nice to come out with two wins," said Olenick alluding to his Slopestyle victory the day before, "but I skied really well today and had fun."

The other skier matching Philippi's amplitude was 3rd place finisher, Brent Abrams. After barely making it into the Finals, Abrams excited the crowd with big airs and one of the best 1080s of the day at the bottom of the pipe.

An added highlight that generated the most excitement of the event was Scott Hibbert's double back flip attempt at the bottom of the pipe. Hibbert sketched out on the landing of his 2 nd trick up top in the pipe, so he proceeded to stir the crowd by skiing all the way down the pipe and attempting a double back flip but coming up short by decking the pipe with his chin—yes, his chin. He skied away though with a smile on his face as the thrilled crowd cheered in appreciation for his stimulating attempt. -John Stifter