{"id":2455202,"date":"2020-02-29T22:50:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T05:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/totsuka-wins-modified-halfpipe-at-open\/"},"modified":"2020-02-29T22:50:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T05:50:00","slug":"japans-yuto-totsuka-wins-modified-halfpipe-contest-at-burton-us-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/japans-yuto-totsuka-wins-modified-halfpipe-contest-at-burton-us-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s Yuto Totsuka wins modified halfpipe contest at Burton US Open"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8769438810007\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-321836-323\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Barry Eckhaus | Special to the Daily | Yuto Totsuka performs a McTwist en route to his first place finish Saturday at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships in Vail. It was Totsuka's first-ever win at snowboarding's longest running competition.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Yuto Totsuka performs a McTwist en route to his first place finish Saturday at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships in Vail. It was Totsuka&#8217;s first-ever win at snowboarding&#8217;s longest running competition.<\/strong><br \/>Barry Eckhaus | Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Yuto Totsuka performs a McTwist en route to his first place finish Saturday at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships in Vail. It was Totsuka's first-ever win at snowboarding's longest running competition.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-1-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Barry Eckhaus | Special to the Daily | Swiss snowboarder Jan Scherrer gets air in the mini-pipe at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on Saturday in Vail. Scherrer finished second.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Swiss snowboarder Jan Scherrer gets air in the mini-pipe at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on Saturday in Vail. Scherrer finished second.<\/strong><br \/>Barry Eckhaus | Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-1-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Swiss snowboarder Jan Scherrer gets air in the mini-pipe at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on Saturday in Vail. Scherrer finished second.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-2-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\" | Poachers head down the halfpipe after the 2nd run in the Men's Halfpipe Finals in Honer of Jake Burton.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Poachers head down the halfpipe after the 2nd run in the Men&#8217;s Halfpipe Finals in Honer of Jake Burton.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-2-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Poachers head down the halfpipe after the 2nd run in the Men's Halfpipe Finals in Honer of Jake Burton.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-3-683x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\" | Jan Scherrer takes 2rd in the Burton US Open Halfpipe Finals.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Jan Scherrer takes 2rd in the Burton US Open Halfpipe Finals.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-3-683x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Jan Scherrer takes 2rd in the Burton US Open Halfpipe Finals.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-4-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Barry Eckhaus | Special to the Daily | Halfpipe snowboarding legend Shaun White takes an \" poached or unauthorized run through the halfpipe in vail at burton us open on saturday. while white was not part of competition he took a couple runs honor jake carpenter. class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Halfpipe snowboarding legend Shaun White takes an &#8220;poached&#8221; or unauthorized run through the halfpipe in Vail at the 2020 Burton US Open on Saturday. While White was not part of the competition, he took a couple of runs through the halfpipe in honor of Jake Burton Carpenter.<\/strong><br \/>Barry Eckhaus | Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-4-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Halfpipe snowboarding legend Shaun White takes an \" poached or unauthorized run through the halfpipe in vail at burton us open on saturday. while white was not part of competition he took a couple runs honor jake carpenter.><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-5-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\" | Scotty James wins 3rd place in the Halfpipe Finals.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Scotty James wins 3rd place in the Halfpipe Finals.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-5-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Scotty James wins 3rd place in the Halfpipe Finals.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-6-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-6-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Barry Eckhaus | Special to the Daily | Land 'O Pates\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Land &#8216;O Pates<\/strong><br \/>Barry Eckhaus | Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-6-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Land 'O Pates\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-7-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-7-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\" | Eagle resident Jake Pates excites the hometown crowd with a buttery manuver during the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on Saturday. Pates finished sixth in the modified halfpipe competition.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Eagle resident Jake Pates excites the hometown crowd with a buttery manuver during the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on Saturday. Pates finished sixth in the modified halfpipe competition.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-7-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Eagle resident Jake Pates excites the hometown crowd with a buttery manuver during the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on Saturday. Pates finished sixth in the modified halfpipe competition.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-8-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-8-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\" | Jan Scherrer pops off the moddified portion of the halfpipe. Scherrer finished 2rd in the Men's Halfpipe competition\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Jan Scherrer pops off the moddified portion of the halfpipe. Scherrer finished 2rd in the Men&#8217;s Halfpipe competition<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-8-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Jan Scherrer pops off the moddified portion of the halfpipe. Scherrer finished 2rd in the Men's Halfpipe competition\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-9-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-9-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\" | Jan Scherrer pops off the moddified portion of the halfpipe. Scherrer finished 2rd in the Men's Halfpipe competition.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Jan Scherrer pops off the moddified portion of the halfpipe. Scherrer finished 2rd in the Men&#8217;s Halfpipe competition.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BurtonHPMensFinals-VDN-030120-4-9-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Jan Scherrer pops off the moddified portion of the halfpipe. Scherrer finished 2rd in the Men's Halfpipe competition.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/totsuka-wins-modified-halfpipe-at-open\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/totsuka-wins-modified-halfpipe-at-open\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">VAIL \u2014 Japan\u2019s Yuto Totsuka earned his first-ever Burton US Open win on Saturday, and Switzerland\u2019s Jan Scherrer landed the first-ever alley-oop 900 in a modern snowboarding contest to finish second.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">An alley-oop spin takes the rider back up the halfpipe, and can be especially difficult to perfect as the normal rotation sends the rider down the pipe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Defending champion Scotty James finished third to share the podium with Scherrer for the first time in more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">James said that while he was disappointed with his third-place finish, he was impressed with the level of snowboarding from Totsuka and Scherrer. Totsuka landed a switch backside 1260, a switch frontside 1260, and a frontside 1440 in the contest. While the switch backside rotation was once rarely seen in the halfpipe, James has helped to make it a must-include rotation in any winning run, and on Saturday, Scherrer reminded everyone that alley-oop rotations add four more possibilities to the halfpipe, as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">James said he was with Scherrer when he landed the alley-oop 900 for the first time, during a practice session in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt was one of the best things I had ever seen,\u201d James said. \u201cThat\u2019s up there with the switch backside, it\u2019s terrifying, and to do it the way Jan did it today, absolute credit to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Evolution of tricks<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While no one in attendance had ever seen an alley-oop 900 landed in a modern halfpipe contest, Scherrer said he has seen fellow Swiss snowboarder Markus Keller land one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe were shooting for a movie,\u201d Scherrer said. \u201cHe did it like eight years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Scherrer said the trick is something you\u2019re more likely to see a skier attempt in the 22-foot halfpipe. In 2017, halfpipe skier Taylor Seaton became the first athlete to ever land back-to-back alley-oop 900s during a contest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe hardest part about doing bigger alley-oop spins is you can\u2019t stop the rotation afterward,\u201d Scherrer said. \u201cThere\u2019s probably more skiers doing it because they have two edges, so they can kind of stop rotation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In a text message, Seaton guessed, correctly, that Scherrer had performed the trick on his last hit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt was better to do it at the end,\u201d Scherrer confessed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Nevertheless, \u201cI\u2019m so impressed,\u201d Seaton wrote. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine doing an oop 9 and landing with only one edge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">James said he would like to see snowboarding\u2019s progression go the direction of more alley-oop and switch backside spins. The gold and silver medal runs from the 2018 Olympics did not contain switch backside or alley-oop rotation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think the evolution of tricks is heading in a healthy direction,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jlaconte@vaildaily.com\">jlaconte@vaildaily.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/totsuka-wins-modified-halfpipe-at-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yuto Totsuka performs a McTwist en route to his first place finish Saturday at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships in Vail. It was Totsuka&#8217;s first-ever win at snowboarding&#8217;s longest running competition.Barry Eckhaus | Special to the Daily Swiss snowboarder Jan Scherrer gets air in the mini-pipe at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2455202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 12:57:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}