Lovely and dusty here now, it’s almost as if it never rained.

The most unique line of the day – a trials style nosepick 360 off the top of the wall ride. Shame he popped a rib on landing.

Alright, this was more like it! After the slightly mundane events of yesterday, I put a lot of hope in the qualifying stage of the slopestyle competition, and I wasn’t disappointed. The qualifying round is typically the one opportunity the young hopefuls of the world get to show the assembled judges, sponsors and teams that they have what it takes to rub shoulders with the established pros.

The day was divided into three heats of riders – they got two runs each, and that was it. All it took was a mistimed landing here, a sudden gust of wind blowing off course there, and the rider’s dreams could be dashed. Chatting to a couple of riders I’ve spent some time with previously, they had exactly that happen – months of preparation undone in just seconds. Never mind, there’s always next year.

By the end of the day, over 70 riders had given it their all, and 15 riders had been chosen to join the pre-qualified pros (who chose to spend most of the day heckling) in the finals on Saturday. It should make for a good show – most of the riders were saving their very best tricks for then, plus the enormous Gap-O-Tron drop will be open for a show-stopping finale. It’s going to be great.

Top jumping tip #110: If you can’t see the landing, move your bike out of the way.

Eric Porter blew his rear tire so hard it sounded like a gunshot.

Sterling Lorence gets his most urgent call yet – his wife was in the bike shop, picking up his bike, when her waters broke.

This season’s must-have accessory – facial scars.

He’d only built the bike the day before – now that’s faith in your mechanic’ing skills.

Andreu Lacondeguy spends a good portion of his life upside down.

The mandatory start is enough to make most riders think twice about dropping in.

Ooh, that’s going to leave a mark.

All pics: Dan Barham