If you haven't heard it yet, I'll inform you now — Danny Kass is the man and he makes it look easy. At just 18 years old, he goes huge each and every time, spinning, flipping, and then some, and today his tall tactics earned him his second consecutive Grand Prix superpipe — hands down — no questions asked. It didn't take the judges long to decide who deserved first. He dwarfed the pack, hitting each side of the trench with style — and nothing went unnoticed.
In the beginning (of the finals,) Kass' first run earned him no points (nada) from the straight air judge (cuz he was upside each time,) but he scored 10 smackers with the amplitude judge since his run was just that buh-buh-big. When Kass got down for his second run, he mixed it all up with corked spins and a 14-foot alley oop that shook all. His display of mad style and abandon pulled the first and only monster roar from the crowd and he ended the event proper, with big check in hand.
Todd Richards (3rd in last night's big air) solidified 2nd with a big Wet Cat and a 900 during his first run (best of two runs counted,) then he squatted on the lip after a McTwist, mid-way through his second session. I guess he was saying he didn't need two runs for a silver, just one crack is all it took.
Late to bed but first to go big was Ross Powers with huge straight airs in the beginning of his two runs, then he sewed the second half of the pipe with a big McTwist and two-and-a-half rotations.
The ladies too left their tracks on the icy walls of the pipe with dizzy spins and a single inversion. Leading the pack was Barrett Christy with a frontside seven that screamed style and pushed her past the rest.
She lay still, then checked her right cheek over, popped up and scooted on just before ski patrol dropped in....
After claiming the last Grand Prix super duper pipe, along with the first Vans Triple Crown trench, Trycia Byrnes had to settle for 2nd today. In 3rd was Kelly Clark who served the tallest methods (by far) at double overhead. Her airs get bigger as the run goes down, as if she's holding back a bit at the top of the pipe....Hmmm — they can only get bigger.
Michelle Taggart went home with the biggest bruise in the pipe — she missed something on her first lip, screeched from well overhead the deck and landed almost flat on her back at pipe bottom! She lay still, then checked her right cheek over, popped up and scooted on just before ski patrol dropped in.
Dat's it from Breckenridge! Next stop is Mammoth and as the name hints, it shall and will be huge. See you in Cali...
— Lucas Kane, MountainZone.com Correspondent
