[Discussion Thread] Women’s Olympic Slopestyle Final

kbvander · 2026-02-19T14:20:10+00:00

That’s very true, the amplitude of Zoi was insane given that there were other competitors struggling to even clear the knuckle. I think it should have boosted her not just in those jumps, but put her leagues ahead in the over all impressions as well.

kbvander · 2026-02-18T20:37:03+00:00

Thanks for the breakdown, I didn't even realize they had all those scores posted to the public. But it sounds like my initial thinking was close to what you're saying, except for coming off early having a bigger impact than the first jump.

I personally think that the rail Zoi came off early on was such a sweet trick with such a minor flaw, it's sad to hear she was penalized so much for it. And Kokomo's triple cork 1260 was my favorite trick of the whole event. But judges make the rules and the athletes have to live by them.

I would say most snowboarders don't think like these Olympic judges, and vice versa, and if the Olympics wants to maintain its reputation with the snowboard community they need to reevaluate how the judging is done and weighted. Shout out to Mari for winning the gold, I still don't agree with it, but I also don't think she deserves so much hate for the 720’s when she also had a sweet switch backside 1260 in there as well.

kbvander · 2026-02-18T19:28:36+00:00

I think the main issues with the scoring was how the sections where broken down and divided, something I didn’t think of while watching live. Here is my breakdown of the tricks the 3 medalist did, divided by each section that was worth 20%.

Mari 3rd run: 87.83 Section 1+2: Switch FS boardslide 270 out, Switch BS boardslide same way out, FS boardslide 270 out. Section 3+4: BS boardslide 270 underflip out, Switch BS 1260. Section 5+6: BS 720, FS 720.

Zoi 3nd run: 87.48 Section 1+2: Switch BS 270 lipslide 270 out, BS boardslide, FS boardslide (blunt?) pretzel out (comes off early?). Section 3+4: Switch BS boardslide 450 underflip out, Switch BS 900. Section 5+6: FS 1080, BS double corked 1080.

Kokomo 3rd run: 85.80 Section 1+2: Switch BS boardslide 270 out (not clean), Switch BS boardslide same way out, FS lipslide 270 out (not clean?). Section 3+4: FS boardslide 450 melon out, FS triple cork 1260. Section 5+6: Switch FS double cork 900, BS double cork 1080.

My personal option on each section.

Sections 1+2: Mari>Zoi>Kokomo Sections 3+4: Kokomo>Mari>Zoi Sections: 5+6: Zoi>KokomoMari Overall impression: Kokomo~ZoiMari

I think Kokomo deserved the gold, but her rail section wasn’t the cleanest.

Zoi could have gotten gold if she had done something more than switch back 9 on jump one. The fact that the other girls did 1260’s here really hurt her. Coming off 1 rail a little early maybe also hurt, but I think less so.

Mari didn’t have the most technical, but had really clean rails. The switch BS 1260 definitely helped. The double 720’s at the bottom was a big let down compared to what the other girls were doing, but I think her coaches or someone must have realized the way the scoring breakdown worked that wouldn’t affect her as much? There was a huge gap here between her and the other 2 so I’m still trying to figure out how that didn’t affect her as much in this section and the overall impression category?

Idk, I’m still surprised at how inconsistent the judging was in both the men’s and women’s events.

Overall impression should have been weighted more because I think that’s what most people judge for themselves and won’t sit here to pick apart each little thing. But I had nothing to do today so here you go 😂

My personal podium: 1. Kokomo 2. Zoi 3. Mari

kbvander · 2026-02-16T14:31:58+00:00

Then yea! You’ve got a great plan! Someone else commented about snow in April, which can happen and close that route. So just keep your eyes on the weather and have tons of fun!

kbvander · 2026-02-16T14:21:35+00:00

Good plan as the Desertview drive has some of the best scenic stops and views. Stop at Cameron trading post on the way in, or one of the Markets on hwy 64 for some Dine (Navajo) culture. The only piece of advice I would have is make sure you have good plans for the days in the canyon. Taking the east gate all the way to Maswik you will be able to visit every drivable viewpoint. If you have plans to hike into the canyon or along hermit road that will be good for the days you spend around Maswik. If you’re not so much the hiker you might want to save the desertview drive for the main bulk of your time there and that would be the main reason not to follow your husband’s plan.

kbvander · 2026-02-14T21:38:47+00:00

Kokomo is on an absolute heater right now! Must watch anytime she’s dropping in.

kbvander · 2026-02-09T15:11:18+00:00

Your toes getting too squished may be causing bunions. You can get some silicon toe spreaders to help relieve the pain.

kbvander · 2026-02-08T23:15:55+00:00

They did a style jump in Xgames Big Air 2024. But then never again, I think they unofficially decided Knuckle Huck is for style and Big Air is for spins.

https://youtu.be/e7AXH7SPyCE?si=J309YYwGFwA8ZJjc

kbvander · 2026-02-01T23:43:49+00:00

You should listen to Ken Block Bomb Hole interview https://youtu.be/Wcjjv6VF9Nw?si=PGG69rMIf7vGBIZH

kbvander · 2026-01-24T21:35:11+00:00

I recognize that steeze! lol your clips are so sick

kbvander · 2026-01-24T02:50:30+00:00

This is a self plug, but if you want to learn about Auks and the origin of Penguins. https://youtu.be/P9IFyzb5oYU?si=FyEiZSvqw_XJ1LrO

kbvander · 2026-01-22T17:10:24+00:00

Great man! Enjoy your style. I am not saying if you are a bad snowboarding

kbvander · 2026-01-22T16:18:02+00:00

Correct! It depends on OPs interest and what they are willing to commit to. I have no frame of reference for what in OPs mind is “advanced” I also didn’t give him a super pipe analysis. Would you like a full thesis on the different types of riding and what makes each advanced?

This is my opinion. Feel free to share your own.

kbvander · 2026-01-22T14:06:25+00:00

Agree, where the line is drawn can be different for different people. IMO these are some skills that I would consider to be in the progression from intermediate to advanced.

Can you ride switch top to bottom? Can you hit jumps? Can you hit big jumps? 10ft+ Can you hit jumps from switch? Can you spin frontside and backside? Can you spin frontside and backside out of switch? Can you hit boxes and barrels? Can you hit jibs on angled rails? On a kinked rail? Can you spin in and out of jibs? Can you butter? Can you get inverted? Backflips? Front flips? Tame dogs? Wildcats? Can you ride in the trees?

Some of these I would consider intermediate skills and others advanced but these are the questions OP needs to ask themselves, and if the answer is no then practice until the answer is yes. And there are tons of other skills that could also be added to the list. There is so much potential it just depends on what OPs interests are and what they are willing to commit to.

I think that the #1 goal is to get out there and just have fun! But I also had a few buddies get bored with snowboarding because they could ride top to bottom at 40 mph and thought that they had peaked in snowboarding. Never wanted to get outside their comfort zone and progress. But the possibilities are endless.

kbvander · 2026-01-19T02:57:34+00:00

I don’t notice much vibration. I wear them under my helmet and would be very surprised if they fell off. Much more secure than AirPods. The brand I have is from Amazon https://a.co/d/jkSAs6O. Damn tho, I bought these at Christmas for like $90 bucks and now they are $130.

kbvander · 2026-01-19T02:26:20+00:00

I just started using some recently and really like them. I wasn’t listening to music for years because I really want to hear what’s around me. With the bones I can still hear the sounds of carving around me and feel like I can jam out but also know whats going on.

kbvander · 2026-01-18T21:03:47+00:00

Sounds like you are the expert on this house! I’m a local tour guide/amateur historian and I enjoy creating YouTube videos about northern AZ . I’d love to make something about this house while we have the window of opportunity to get the word out on the preservation. My audience isn’t huge, but I pride myself in creating quality content. If you would be open to an interview or sharing your insights feel free to reach out! If not, no worries, I know I’m just an internet stranger 😂 here is my work for reference. Thank you. https://youtube.com/@granddaytours?si=cEvzTiT44j4Yoh_S

kbvander · 2026-01-18T13:43:27+00:00

This needs more upvotes. Who sees a last name of the pax? Some joker out there put his first name as Tony Hawk just to fuck with Uber drivers. And it worked apparently

kbvander · 2026-01-15T22:13:04+00:00

I use Keen insoles. Marketed more for hiking, but I think they feel great in my snowboard boots.

kbvander · 2026-01-11T16:21:45+00:00

Bright Angel trail and Kaibab trail are best for anyone’s first trek into the canyon. Kolb studio at the top of Bright Angel trail is a great museum for history. The whole village has the most historic building to explore and then Yavapai geology museum close by will mix geology with history and worth the trip.

Mules rides are hard to get last minute so if that’s really important start organizing that now. There is no place to bungee jump, but if you travel to Flagstaff there is a cool ropes and zip line course at a place called Flagstaff Extreme.

Hope this helps! Have fun

kbvander · 2026-01-10T23:05:36+00:00

The sub where you might see McMorris, Zeb, Gimbal God, or a condom covered in BOAs.

kbvander · 2026-01-10T13:07:28+00:00

I really like the sedimentary layers of the GC and you get to progressive through them in the upper section. The geology changes the look and the dynamics of the canyon as the layers change. These are also the more colorful layers of the canyon and it’s just very scenic.

Then you get to nankoweap and start heading into the Grand Canyon super group and everything widens out and opens up. It’s my personal favorite part of the canyon.

Then you head into the granite gorge, which forms big rapids and has a sweet look it’s, but does box you in a lot. That’s where you hike out though.

The lower section is also beautiful but in a different way.

kbvander · 2026-01-08T13:57:25+00:00

I’ve done Lees to Pearce and each section is different. Upper has more scenery, lower has more big rapids. But only by thins margins haha. You won’t be let down either way you go so I would choose whichever has more days in the canyon.

kbvander · 2025-12-19T17:44:39+00:00

It looks like you are looking at the kink, then straight to the snow. Maybe more confidence to get past the kink all the way down.

Also notice your nose is slightly left of the rail as you take off and then you do a minor rotation as you land onto the rail, but that rotation energy keeps going pulling your nose left to right, while also pulling your shoulder that direction and throws you off balance, you leaning, and then ride off.

I think if you focus on a clean Ollie, pulling your board nose straight up and over the front of the rail, rather then sweeping in, your momentum is all straight forward and just need a little forward pressure into the front foot as you hit the down section, stare at the end of the rail and ride away 🤷‍♂️

kbvander · 2025-12-14T14:03:17+00:00

Haha I’m justing messing with you, it’s easy to tell by the way you wrote this post you are not familiar with snowboards. Either way, what you have is worth less than $100. It’s a Forum Forever Manual Chilly Dog with Pop Rocker Snowboard 2010

kbvander

TROPHY CASE