Moments from the Park and Pipe at the Winter Olympics

February 21st, 2018

Mountainwatch | Reggae Ellis

All photos Boen Ferguson

It has been a big week at the winter Olympics with some incredible action and Australian athletes were in the middle of it. After the success of Matt Graham winning silver in the moguls, the attention turned to the halfpipe, big air and slopestyle events. Australia had a number of athletes competing across these divisions with Scotty James, the most successful, taking bronze in the men’s snowboard halfpipe. The action was full-on with some epic performances and Boen Ferguson was there to capture some memorable moments.

Jess Rich ruptured her ACL a few weeks ago while training in Colorado, but she was determined to compete at the Olympics. While the knee injury forced her withdrawal from the slopestyle, Jess was cleared for the Big Air where she performed really well, just missing the finals by one place. If she was 100% fit …. who knows?

Jess Rich, psyched and ready to go before the biggest moment of her career.

Scotty James warming up before the halfpipe qualifying runs. Scotty has had a big season and his recent close battles with Shaun White and Ayumu Hirano have set things up for an enthralling event. These three were on fire from the first round, pushing each other to new levels, making the snowboard halfpipe one of the highlights of the Olympics.

Australia’s Emily Arthur rode really well to qualify for the snowboard final where she finished eighth. A great result at her first Olympics and at only 18-years-old we will be seeing a lot more of her.

America’s Cloe Kim is only 17 years old, but she has already won four X Games gold medals and has now added Olympic gold to her impressive resume. A superstar at home, Cloe’s South Korean heritage made her one of the most popular athletes in PyeongChang, but she had no problems handling the pressure.

The slopestyle park was popular with both skiers and snowboarders. Looking at this it is easy to see why – just seems like it’d be a lot of fun.

Russell Henshaw was another Australian athlete carrying an injury into the winter game, after injuring his knee competing in Mammoth last month. Still, Russ was determined to compete in his second winter Olympics and worked hard to pass the fitness test, paying down two solid runs but missing out on the finals.

Russ Henshaw has been at the forefront of international slopestyle and freeskiing for a long time and has helped push the sport to new levels. Along the way he’s inspired a new generation of Australian kids who are hitting jumps and sliding rails, and have their own Olympic dreams.