Luca Harrington wins X Games Slopestyle gold as an alternate

Tormod Frostad had to pull out, having broken his arm during the Knuckle Huck, giving up his place to Luca Harrington who set the tone immediately by dropping an insane rail run which included a three swap back swap front 270 on the rainbow to down tube. He backed it up by finishing with a switch triple 1620 on the money booter. It was clear from the outset that this contest was going to go off.

Joystick rider and the other rookie in the field, Konnor Ralph was next to drop and also laced a clean, technical and exciting run – linking back to back 1620s into a forward triple 1800 on the final 70-foot jump. At this point, I was unsure that I could take watching another 28 runs like these. The rest of run one however, mercifully saw some mistakes, until the dependably consistent Andri Ragettli went into second with an unsurprisingly flawless display of slopestyle skiing.

Mac Forehand was the first to break into the 90s however with a 1620, 1440, triple 1620 combo on the jumps. He has the ability to land like he has never taken off and can make big spins look almost too easy. His switch cork 630 continuing back 270 on the rainbow rail was a standout and saw him take a deserved lead. 

Straight off the bat in run two everyone in my living room hit the roof. Luca greased his run even better, linking the double 1080 bringback to 900 japan and the switch triple 1620 esco that has brought him so much success on the Big Air circuit this year. He stomped the 16 past the bottom line and had three international freeski judges out their chairs and spilling beer on the living room carpet – even Kristen Beat down in the finish area jumped out of her skin when Luca celebrated his score. The judges in Aspen agreed with the judges that were now mopping up beer and slammed Luca into first.

The rest of run two saw most riders overcooking it in a bid to break into the extremely high bubble. Evan McEachran teased us with a tech clinic, doing both ways three swaps on the rails and then linked back-to-back 1800s at the bottom. He left the second one in the microwave way too long though and exploded like a pack of rice in the transition – glad to see him walk away unhurt.

Matej dropped his run again on the rails, but honestly would’ve had to do something really special to make it to the next round. Colby Stevenson and Max Moffat made too many small errors to burst the bubble while Alex Hall also crashed, leaving many of the more creative chefs on the outside looking in.

The Finals

Having made it through to finals with a run that could easily challenge the top spot once cleaned up, Birk Rudd undercooked his switch 1440 and got acquainted with the knuckle. The inconsistent light was clearly playing a factor and Konnor lost himself during his triple and crashed out. Commentator Tom Wallisch remarked that he could only imagine what it would be like to lose yourself during a triple 1800 – presumably because he’s never lost himself in the air, ever.

Mac put down the first clean run in finals executing everything to perfection, just missing out on the 90 scores. Andri did as Andri does and landed his run without error. He is the ultimate competitor, replacing his 1800 at the bottom for the safer 1620. You can say what you like about his skiing – the panel on the sofa next to me certainly did – but you cannot fault his runs, he ticks every box and he has to be rewarded and rewarded he was, scoring a 90.33.

Luca, having been first to drop earlier in the day as an alternate, was now dropping last in the finals. For the third time of asking, Luca stomped his run perfectly, holding the esco grab for longer than the flight time to Colombia and just like the cartel’s planes, landed in the parking lot to mass celebrations. Luca couldn’t believe it when the score came in and moved him into a commanding lead with one run to go.