First of all, two halfpipes in one weekend is not the greatest idea to strike any contest promoter in recent history, and truth be told it wasn’t the America Snowboard Tour planner’s idea--it came from US Snowboarding.

There is an upside too holding two halfpipes in one weekend: everyone has double the chances of going home a winner. And Jeff Brushie was able to capitalize on that upside quite well.

With a rather dismal twentieth place finish in halfpipe number one as motivation, Jeff Brushie pulled together his energy and slotted fellow Vermonter Adam Petraska in the head-to-head finals. Petraska was solid at the top of the pipe, but under-rotated a McTwist near the bottom and handed the win to Brushie.

To get to the finals Brushie narrowly defeated Bjorn Leines in the first round, then escaped a super-boosty Abe Teter in the semis. Teter was consistently nailing the highest front and backside airs of the day.

Brushie’s win is his second title on the 1996-97 season as he won the tour’s first event at Hunter Mountain, New York in December. In the consolation heat, Jamil Khan defeated Abe Teeter to take third place for the second day in a row.

"I like the knock-out format," Brushie said. "It really makes the competition interesting because you never know what will happen in the early rounds. And in the later rounds you have to be perfect to win."

She got first on Friday and third today. Not a bad weekend for Trycia Byrnes.

In the women’s event 1995-96 North American Halfpipe Champion, Aurelie Sayres topped Sweden’s Jennie Waara to claim her first title of the 1996-97 season. Sayres also finished second in Friday’s halfpipe competition.

In the women’s consolation heat, Friday’s halfpipe champion Tricia Byrnes beat Jaime MacLeod to take third place.

The AST Tour is set to conclude Sunday with a Snowboard Cross competition at 10 a.m.

Halfpipe # 2 Final Results (2-22-97)

Snow Summit Halfpipe Numero Uno (2-21-97)
Halfpipe # 1 Final Results (2-21-97)

Photos

Party Scene