The mood was light but the level of riding was heavy, during practice for the Grand Prix I saw more crazy tricks get thrown down then I or John Lennon could ever imagine. When semi finals came around I wasn’t prepared mentally for what I was going to witness… Some of the hardest falls and sickest tricks I have ever seen, Back to Back double corks are common and flat 1080’s are a thing of the past. With 98 riders trying to qualify for Finals then hopefully qualify for the US Olympic team there were only a few stand outs but no doubt in my mind that ANY rider that landed a run would of gotten 1st place just 2 years ago, but the battle remained against Omatic rider Louie Vito and Burton rider Shawn White.. Louie was sitting in first over Shawn after the first run but after round two Shawn snuck in the lead with a solid run including back 9/ double cork 1080, Cab double Flip, F/s 720 into a cab 1080. The competition is intense but there is a clear amount of respect for riders in the air, with every double cork thrown there is an applause and hoot coming from the corral of snowboarders, Stay tuned for the finals tomorrow to see more of Shawn White and Louie Vito battle it out. In addition to the half pipe madness there is the Paul Mitchell progression session, so watch the vid to see Omatic rider Eric Willett test it out for tomorrows expedition. Words/Photos/Video by Zak Shelhamer

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