Yesterdays men halfpipe qualification was quite surprising. After a good training the day before and even a good warm up yesterday some of the really favorites failed to make it into the finals. Was it bad luck, nervousness or something else, we would never find it out. E.g. Xaver Hoffmann and Trevor Andrews not even got a second run because they bailed really hard in their runs. But most surprising was the out of Mike Michalchuck who didn't get along with the pipe yesterday. Landing almost every trick in the flat, he didn't got that many points. Only one guy was as good as ever -
Daniel Franck. Although the halfpipe wasn't easy to ride, he adapted his run according to the conditions and showed an excellent performance, including a clean executed and very high 720 stalefish grab and a huge haakon flip. So he got first after qualification easily. Olympic gold medallist Gian Simmen failed to get in the finals after his first run. So he had to risk everything in his second - and it worked out well. A good backside 540 indy grab, a 720 and good motion airs made him first in the second qualification run. Doug Attkinson and his team will reshape the halfpipe for today's girls qualification and of course the big nightfinals. Due the riders can risk everything at the finals, because only 2 out of 3 runs count, we can expect a lot for today's night final.