Surprising no one, Shaun White is the top qualifier for the Men’s Snowboarding Halfpipe Final

Late Monday night, the field of 30 men in snowboarding halfpipe was narrowed down to 12 who will advance to the final at 8:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

If you went straight into watching the men’s snowboarding halfpipe qualifiers following the women’s halfpipe final, you were no doubt struck by the difference in the two events.

While American women’s halfpipe gold medalist Chloe Kim was the only woman to land two 1080s in her final run, the very first run of the men’s qualifiers saw Japan’s Yuto Totsuka land four different kinds of 1080s.

Yeah, this halfpipe event is going to be wild. The full schedule can be found here.

Men’s Snowboarding Halfpipe Qualifying Results

1. Shaun White, USA, 98.50
2.  Scotty James, Australia, 96.75
3. Ayumu Hirano, Japan, 95.25
4. Ben Ferguson, USA, 91
5. Raibu Katayama, Japan, 90.75
6. Jan Scherrer, Switzerland, 84
7. Chase Josey, USA, 83.75
8. Jake Pates, USA, 82.25
9. Patrick Burgener, Switzerland, 82
10. Yuto Totsuka, Japan, 80
11. Peetu Piiroinen, Finland, 77.50
12. Kent Callister, Australia, 77

Men’s Halfpipe Highlights

We started off with a bang when Totsuka threw down the hammer with four different kinds of 1080s on the first run of the night.

Japan’s Ayumu Hirano established himself as a challenger to two-time gold medalist Shaun White with an 87.50 on his first run:

Hirano won silver in the pipe in the 2014 Sochi Games, white White came in fourth, just off the podium. One reason Hirano could take the event in 2018? He has back-to-back double cork 1440s in his repertoire. That’s something White, and other riders, are looking to add to their runs this year but may not be able to pull off.

The United States’ Ben Ferguson took the lead from Hirano late in the first round of qualifiers, earning a 91 thanks to a huge run filled with combos and insane air:

Australia’s Scotty James threw down a switch 1260 with some huge air in his first qualification run, good for an 89, but the announcers suspected he was holding back. It’s very possible James has a 1440 in his repertoire and is waiting for the final to bust it out.

White followed on James’ heels, and while he didn’t show us any 1440s, his highly technical run impressed the judges enough to earn him a 93.25 and take over the high score in the first round. White’s eye-popping and clean combo included a frontside 1080, a backside (cab) 1080, a frontside 540, and the double McTwist, the latter being a trick White first landed at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Korea’s Lee Kwang-ki sent his hometown crowd of viewers into a tizzy on his first run when he dropped a frontside 1440 into his qualification routine. Undoubtedly, the other riders are saving that trick for the final, but Kwang-ki wasn’t messing around. The announcers expressed surprise that Kwang-Ki only received a 75, given how bold he went from the outset, and in fact he missed qualifying by a mere .75 points.

In the second round, Hirano once again challenged White, pulling back into first place with a score of 95.25. But White threw down the hammer as only he can do, pulling in a 98.50, pretty damn close to a perfect 100.

In qualifiers.

Make sure to watch these 12 incredible athletes do their thing in the men’s halfpipe final on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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