Britain’s Sam Pilgrim has won the adidas Slopestyle 2008 freeride event held in the One Big Park SalzburgerLand in Saalbach Hinterglemm, Austria.
Pilgrim was the last rider in a talent packed event to take to the course, and immediately rose to the challenge by producing the best run of the day.
Once the judges determined which riders would advance, the finals began with a crisp scent of anticipation in the air. Everyone was expecting the riders to unleash some additional lines that they might have thought of after the first two rounds of qualifying. Each rider that rolled out of the start ramp did just that, raising the bar to a point where everyone needed to pull out something new to make a dent in the final scoring.
Pilgrim’s winning run included a flip 1-foot X-up on the roll-in jump, followed by a 360 off of the landing of the first obstacle, then a tail whip off the Nacho step-down gap, following with some impressive style over the Alm hip and One Big PAark section. Sam continued to slay the course, 360’ing down the big step-up/step-down box, and ending his winning run with a flip on the first big dirt jump, followed by an absolutely flawless double tailwhip.
Riders were given two runs to qualify for the final, which trimmed the field of fifty riders down to the top fifteen riders of the day. Every rider did their best to put together runs that were packed with stylish tricks and huge hits.
Watch Sam’s winning ride
Results
1. Sam Pilgrim (GBR) 23.00
2. Martin Söderström (SWE) 22.30
3. Pierre-Edouard Ferry (GER) 21.80
4. Lance McDermott (GBR) 19.90
5. Christopher Hatton (FRA) 19.10
6. Jakub Vencl (CZE) 18.90
7. Amir Kabbani (GER) 18.20
8. Niki Leitner (AUT) 18.10
9. Marius Hoppensack (GER) 17.70
10. Phil Sundbaum (USA) 16.80
11. Tomas Zejda (CZE) 15.90
12. Jan Toth (CZE) 11.00
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