By Antonio Olivero Toby Miller couldn’t help it. He wanted to catch a glimpse.
Before the 18-year-old snowboarder from Mammoth Lakes, California dropped in for his third and last run at Saturday, Dec. 8’s Toyota U.S. Grand Prix finals at Copper Mountain Resort, he watched Australian star Scotty James complete his last run. As Miller’s eyes lingered down the halfpipe long enough to see James stomp his final trick, the halfpipe course’s starter actually had to physically pull Miller into the start gate.
“Come on, you need to get to the top,” the starter said to Miller.
“I gotta see him,” Miller replied.
Seconds later, James was awarded a massive score of a 96.75 to jump into first place above Miller’s second-run score of 94.00.
Moments later, Miller washed out on the bottom of the halfpipe after attempting the biggest trick of the day, a soaring double-cork 1440 — four complete 360-degree horizontal rotations complete with two inversions. It was a trick he only decided to attempt after he had the knowledge that James had jumped into first place.
“The second (James) landed it,” Miller said, “I looked at my coaches and I was like, ‘all right, we’re going to try it now.'”
If Miller had landed it, it would have put a resounding exclamation point to conclude a statement week at Copper for Miller. The week’s events rounded out with his back-and-forth duel versus the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist James.
On a day when other top riders, including Eagle-Vail Olympian Jake Pates, struggled to keep speed through the pipe’s flat bottom, Miller’s riding looked smooth and effortless. Even more impressive, Miller attempted and near-flawlessly executed two initial runs through the halfpipe that he hadn’t ever practiced. On his 94.00 run, Miller executed a frontside double-cork 1080 with a mute grab, a cab double-cork 1080 with a mute grab, a frontside 900 with a tail grab, a backside double-cork 1260 with a mute grab and a frontside double-cork 1260 with an Indy grab. In response, James’ winning run consisted of a frontside 1080 with a tail grab, a switch crippler chicken salad, a switch backside double-cork 1080 with a mute grab, a backside double-cork 1260 with a mute grab and a frontside double-cork 1260 with an Indy grab.
“Today was kind of a test, if you will,” Miller said. “Dropping in I had never done it, so to put it down and land it, I was so stoked. I couldn’t be happier and these guys absolutely slammed. They put a fire under me to have to land, so I’m really happy.”
Miller and James battling it out with their 1260-laced runs was complemented on the men’s podium by a particularly stylish and inventive run pieced together by U.S. Olympian Chase Josey of Idaho. Elite snowboarders in the competition and in the crowd came away enthralled with Josey’s creative take on the halfpipe course, opting for difficult, atypical tricks such as a high-amplitude double-Michalchuk with a Japan grab at the end of the pipe. Josey earned that 88.00 and third-place podium spot via a …read more
Via:: Vail Daily