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Double pipe launches today

Dale Strode
The Aspen Times

The Red Red Bull Bull Double Double Pipe Pipe contest begins Wednesday Wednesday.

After warming up earlier this week in the double halfpipe at Buttermilk, the official Red Bull Double Pipe competition will launch at noon Wednesday with semifinal rounds for a collection of the world’s best snowboarders.

The Red Bull schedule calls for competition from noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, determining riders to advance to the finals on Thursday.



The Thursday finals will run from 1-3 p.m. at the Winter X Games venue at Buttermilk.

Snowboarders started their practice runs on the combination double pipe/slopestyle course Sunday. In all, 20 athletes representing six countries started.




They will take off in the official competition today.

According to Red Bull, the Red Bull Double Pipe includes three distinct zones.

After the initial competition last year, the course was modified to include a jump, rails and other new features with the double pipe as the main feature.

The upper jump zone features of a step-up jump to help riders control their speed entering the double pipe.

From there, riders can drop into the right superpipe and fly over the center spine or ride all the way through the channel in the center spine to gain speed for hitting the left superpipe.

The channel is punched out of the upper section, allowing riders to sail over the gap.

Halfway down the center spine, it is notched down from 22 feet to approximately 18 feet to allow riders to transfer between the two superpipes.

Along this lower section of the center spine, the walls don’t go completely vertical with a transition/trick angle for riders.

The final skate park-like one consists of two wall rides, two rails and a volcano-shaped feature.

Wednesday, all 20 snowboarders will ride in a two-hour jam sessions during the semifinals.

Judges will rank the top eight riders.

The top eight will move into Thursday’s finals.

For the finals and semifinals, riders will be judge on “overall impression” on a 1-100 point scale, conisdering technical abilities, style, creativity and use of the course features.

Here is the official rider list as provided by Red Bull:

Taylor Gold

Chase Josey

Arthur Longo

Greg Bretz

Gabe Ferguson

Benji Farrow

Christian Haller

Danny Davis

Stale Sandbech

Ben Ferguson

Louie Vito

Nate Johnstone

Scotty James

Ayumu Hirano

Matt Ladley

David Habuetzel

Brett Esser

Taku Hiraoka

Jan Scherrer

Jake Pates

Kent Callister

Olivier Gittler

dstrode@aspentimes.com