OWIA/Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) snowboarder Scotty James has finished third in the Men’s Super Pipe Final at the X-Games in Aspen, Colorado, USA.

The 2015 World Champion, competing in his fourth X-Games, put in an impressive performance in his first run.

With a huge crowd looking on, the sole Australian in the field had an average jump height of 14ft 10 inches, that impressed the judges and spectators.

James narrowly missed second spot by just two points, which was taken by Ben Ferguson of the United States, with Matt Ladley, also of the United States winning gold.

Unfortunately dual Olympic medallist and OWIA/NSWIS supported athlete Torah Bright was unable to compete after suffering a concussion.

Image: Scotty James at X-Games Photo: © Peter Morning Photography

OWIA/NSWIS slopestyle skier Russ Henshaw has finished fourth in the Men’s World Cup/Grand Prix Slopestyle Skiing event at Mammoth Mountain, California.

Henshaw was in third place at the completion of the first run, and looked set for a podium finish until Oystein Braaten of Norway, on the very last run of the finals, scored an 86.40.

This was enough to relegate Henshaw to fourth, with a best score of 85.60.

The event was finally able to get underway after less than ideal conditions over the past few days, which resulted in postponements.
 
Slopestyle Snowboard
Competing in the Women’s Slopestyle World Cup event, seventeen year old NSWIS athlete Mahalah Mullins set a new personal best in finishing ninth.

Mullins has been training in Colorado as she continues her preparations ahead of next month’s Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, and her ninth placing at Mammoth is an ideal tune-up.

In the men’s event, NSWIS athlete Angus Waddington finished in 31st place.

IMAGE: The slopestyle course @ Mammoth © Russ Henshaw Instagram

Dual Olympic medallist and OWIA/NSWIS supported athlete Torah Bright has finished second at the Halfpipe event at the Laax Open in Switzerland.

Bright advanced to the final after winning her semi-final with a score of 87.00.

In the final, Arielle Gold of the United States put in a great performance, scoring 90.12, with Bright scoring 84.12 and third place went to Hikaru Oe of Japan.

Fellow OWIA athletes Scotty James and Kent Callister, as well as NSWIS athlete Matthew Cox, both reached the semi-final stage in the men’s event.

Image: The top-3 women in Laax © Torah Bright Instagram

Good luck tonight to OWIA athletes Torah Bright, Scotty James, Kent Callister and NSWIS athlete Matthew Cox who will all be competing in the semi-finals of the Halfpipe at the Laax Open in Switzerland.

As seeded athletes, Dual Olympic Medalist Bright, World Champion James, and Olympic Finalist Callister, automatically qualified for the semis.

Matthew Cox finished an impressive third in his qualifying heat to also progress and will join James in the second semi final heat.

The top-6 from each of the men’s heats will make the 12 in the final. Bright will need to finish in the top 6 to qualify for the ladies final.

Being an open event, the Laax open offers all riders an opportunity to participate in this international contest.

The event runs from 18th to 24th January.

IMAGE: Kent Callister flying high in Laax © Kent Callister Instagram