Wintry conditions didn’t deter the best snowboarders in the world from throwing their best manoeuvres for the The Mile High by Carlton Dry at Perisher finishing yesterday.

Due to the finals being cancelled because of weather the standings from the qualification day of the event are the final World Snowboard Tour results.

Darcy Sharpe (CAN) posted the highest score in the men’s division ahead of his compatriot Tyler Nicholson (CAN) and the Scandinavian style king Sven Thorgren (SWE). While in the women’s, Australia’s Jess Rich (AUS) led the way in front of Elena Maria Koenz (SUI) and Yuka Fujimori (JAP).

Jess Rich (AUS) also took out the award for Most Style which could be awarded to either a male or female competitor. Her run was a real standout in the women's division showing a relaxed style to technically difficult tricks. 

Marcus Kleveland (NOR) took out the award for Most Technical with his almost impossible to follow cab 540 to nollie misty flip 720 on the butter box. 

Each year The Mile High by Carlton Dry brings the top-ranked male and female snowboarders to Perisher to compete for critical World Snowboard Tour (WST) points.

As the first WST International-category slopestyle event of the year, multiple Winter Olympians and X Games medallists have been training in Perisher’s world-class terrain park for the last couple of weeks.

Canadian Winter Olympian and dual X Games gold medallist, Max Parrot, is just one of the snowboarding superstars in town for the Mile High.

“Why would you want to come to Australia? Because Perisher is the best park in the northern hemisphere summer! It’s such a great place. The park is really good. Perisher’s Terrain Park Manager, Charles Beckinsale, is the builder, and he’s also the builder in Whistler, which is also a really good park. So we know that every year when we come here we’re going to have some really great features. It’s really good to train and prepare for our winter.”

But while the snow gods have blessed the Snowy Mountains with a late winter dump, it has made conditions difficult for the international and local riders to land their best runs. With just a day remaining in the contest window, the competitors were keen to kick-off the event and a decision was made to run the semi-finals on the top three jib features and the first jump. Unfortunately the weather didn't allow the full course to be used and also the final day was cancelled due to weather.

“It’s a little unfortunate that the weather is like this today because we had a really good practice day on Sunday,” Max Parrot continued. “The course is really creative – there’s a lot of transitions - and the rails and jumps are a good size, so it’s a really cool course.”

“I’m really excited to be sitting in first with this field that’s here, and the way the conditions were,” Darcy Sharpe said after the day’s competition. “For everybody who did compete, I think we all had a good time. It was cool kind of hanging at the top of the course – it was really laid back vibes and when it’s like this you just got to go out there and have fun. That’s the only way to get by, really.”

Local rider, Jess Rich, had even more motivation to impress the judges today: “This time last year I was actually too injured to ride in this event, so I’m stoked to come back and do really well, especially against this field of international riders. These girls come out and they’re all so good, and it’s really good to see where you fit on that international scale.”

Results:

Men’s Results:

1st   Darcy Sharpe (CAN)  $5000

2nd   Tyler Nicholson (CAN)  $3000

3rd   Sven Thorgren (SWE)  $1500

Women’s Results:

1st   Jess Rich (AUS)  $2000

2nd   Elena Maria Koenz (SUI) $1500

3rd   Yuka Fujimori (JAP) $1000

MOST STYLE AWARD - JESS RICH (AUS)  $2000

MOST CREATIVITY AWARD - MARCUS KLEVELAND  $1000

(COMBINED MENS AND WOMENS – WINNERS CAN BE EITHER)

The Perisher Terrain Park is designed and constructed by Perisher’s international team of builders managed by Charles Beckinsale. Torstein Horgmo (NOR) contributes to The Mile High course design from a rider's perspective.

Any inquiries: info@australianslopestyletour.com