Laax, central Europe’s freestyle capital and the host of the Burton European Open for the 8th consecutive year, really nailed this one. The course was everything you could want to test all-round skills. The mens contest was a battle from start to finish, with every round seeing the technical stakes raised. It was also a Scandinavian showdown of epic proportions. Norwegian Aleksander Ostreng dropped and nailed a solid second run, then turned up the heat to stomp a big, clean, final run to snatch victory. Alek linked a Cab 1-backside 3 off the first rail, backside Rodeo 5 to Cab Rodeo 5 in the rhythm section, a perfect off-axis frontside 10 then a backside 12 melon, rounded off with a sick blunt to switch 50-50 to 180 off the bottom rail. In a contest of this level, where the top 10 guys are all throwing a 12 into the mix, it’s getting harder and harder to distinguish a sick run from a winning run, but everyone seemed happy to see Ostreng on top of the podium. Congrats to Alek on his win!
