“There’s a new champ in Aspen, that’s Nick Goepper!” | X Games Men’s Superpipe

The Format

Using the same format that has been applied across the other disciplines, eight riders battle it out in a two-run playoff with the top four riders advancing to a two-run final. Elsewhere the format has created added pressure to the runs and also helped the contest build to a crescendo. It will be interesting to see if the same applies for pipe, where riders often need as many runs as possible to put one down clean. 

The Playoffs

The 16-year-old Kiwi, Luke Harrold would get the party started with a run consisting of five-out-of-five doubles in all four directions of spinning – the kids these days are getting out of hand. He mirrored switch ally-oop double 900s perfectly but had to squat out the landing of a double cork 1260 meaning he would only score an 81.66.

Next to drop was another young Kiwi, Finley Melville-Ives, who bettered his compatriot, finishing with a beautiful ally-oop double flatspin 900 mute, which was in my opinion the trick of the night. 

Birk Irving went into provisional second place, landing a right double cork 1260 into left double cork 1440 combo and finishing with a switch down-the-pipe double flatspin 900 japan kicked out, getting props from the man who did them so well, Tom Wallisch.

Brendan Mackay crashed out on his run and Aaron Bluck was not able to maintain enough amplitude or hold his grabs long enough to trouble the top spots.

Magma star and one of the best riders to watch in the stunt ditch, Hunter Hess went into first with his unique take on the superpipe. He starts the run off with an impossibly blind switch left double 900 high safety, which he must put to his feet using the force because at no point does he look down the pipe. Back-to-back massive double cork 1260s and his signature misty 540 mute at the bottom saw him take the top spot. It was short lived however as Nick Goepper, who has four X Games gold medals in slopestyle, went into the 90s with a massive run – all four directions, back-to-back double cork 1260s and his unique switch ally-oop bio 900 blunt at the end. Nick is no joke in the pipe now and is making a case to be a favourite in any contest he enters – his grab game is miles ahead of the rest of the field and he has now got the tricks and amplitude to match.

Pole-swinging, three-time X Games gold medalist and hometown hero, Alex Ferreira was next to drop and went into third place with an 88, despite pulling out the first double cork 1620 of the night. Some of his grabs were quite short and overall had less amplitude than Hunter and Nick, but should certainly not be counted out.

In the second run, Luke dropped his pole mid-run, recatching it mid-pole. Somehow he managed to complete his run and locked in a grab with that hand – he should have been rewarded for it but the judges did not see it that way. Finley then added a double cork 1620 to his run but missed the grab and could not improve. He was sitting inside the bubble for the finals but with most of the field left to drop, he was on thin ice. However, a few missed grabs, a crash and plenty of snow snakes caused the whole rest of the field to either pull out of their run or not improve their score and what must have been a nervous wait ended with the 18-year-old Wanaka local making it through to finals.

The Finals

Having made it through to finals, Finley piled pressure on himself by crashing on his first hit, leaving it all up to the second run. 

Qualifying in third, Alex boosted himself into the 90s, starting with a switch right double 1080 japan then launching the first of two double cork 1620s. He landed super low on the second one but must have been spending plenty of time in the gym as he rode it out clean. A signature pole swing out the bottom and his home crowd went wild as the score came in – the bar was well and truly set.

Hunter could not quite overtake Alex with a run that had some very small mistakes and bobbles. His switch right 1080 reverse mute into back-to-back double 1260s maybe falls just below the insane level of technicality that Alex is bringing to the table with two 16s.

Having qualified first, Nick was last to drop and like he has done so many times on the Aspen slopestyle course, he put one down and jumped into first place. He started with switch left double cork 1080 japan, then went massive on his right double cork 1620 safety, backing it up with a left double cork 1260 high mute to right down-the-pipe 1080 blunt finishing with a his switch right bone air blunt. Nick sustained the best amplitude of the day and was pretty flawless top to bottom, capping his blunts and ripping his mutes, getting hooked up a 92.66 – game on.

With everything to play for in the final run Fin couldn’t quite grab long enough again on his double cork 1620 and would have to remain in 4th place – still a great result for the young-gun.

Alex, sitting in second, needed to improve to take down Nick and dropped in with his recognisable intensity. He laced the same run but went for the blunt on his double cork 1620, making that trick infinitely more difficult and stomped to a massive roar of the crowd. 

The home fans waited with baited breat,  urging the judges to bump him into first place, but it was not to be as the score came in just 0.66 points below Nick. On replay, Alex was chasing the blunt grab on the 1620, he did get it, but it was really short, the risk of going for such a difficult grab. That combined with fairly low amplitude on the 1080 tail probably stopped him from overtaking Nick.

Nick Goepper now only had to survive one more rider if he was to make history and win in the superpipe. Hunter was building his run nicely, going over 16 feet out of the pipe on his first 1260 but couldn’t bring the next one back to his feet and crashed out.