The highlight of the LAAX OPEN 2022 was the Superpipe night finale under floodlights. The start list was full of superstars, but the spotlight was undoubtedly on Shaun White here.
Earlier this season the 35-year-old announced that if he managed to land a spot on the USA Olympic team, this would mark the end of his professional career in snowboarding.
Prior to this weekend, Shaun hadn’t yet secured his spot on the Olympic Halfpipe team and had to score higher than his fellow teammates to make it out to compete at his 5th Olympic Games. And, with the crowd cheering him on, Shaun White placed third on the podium above his US teammates with a score of 84.00.
Shaun kicked off his run with a frontside double cork 1080 stalefish, into a cab dub 1080 stalefish, then his iconic “Skyhook” aka frontside 540 stalefish, then a backside dub 1260 weddle, and finally a fronstide dub 1260 stalefish to finish things off – all launched as high as to the moon.
Second place for the men went to Switzerland’s own Jan Scherrer, who came through with a second run that featured a frontside dub 1440 indy to cab dub 1080 weddle combo in the middle of the run, and alley-oop frontside 900 nose grab to finish things off for a score of 90.00 and his first career Laax podium.
But it was Japanese Ayumu Hirano who took home the win. Leading things off with a frontside double cork 1440 indy that may have been the highest-boosted trick of the night, he then stomped an insanely clean cab dub 1440 weddle, then a frontside dub 1260 indy, then a backside dub 1260 weddle, and finally a frontside dub 1080 truck driver that would score him 93.25.
