Classic Michalchuk

Usually the Classic is all about Canadians, but the hype has turned international this year and with it the level of riding and intensity skyrocketing. Maybe they were just there for the vitamin K (Kokanee). So who won? Good question. The focus is so much on fun that the winners remained in the dark until..well, it was dark and the big air ended like five hours later. The 6'4" Gentle Giant from Belmont, Vermont who took the limelight at The US Open this year. The always smiling, ex-hippy, behemoth 720 flatspin extraordinnaire, Abe Teter took the Canadian Classic against this huge crowd of pipe specialists. Fabian Rohrer of Switzerland dropped into second place with consistency with Xaver Hoffman of Germany, making it always look easy and never wavering, pulled down third.

The ladies also had an international battle against France's newest stylist, Dorine Vidal, Finland's Minna Hesso and Martina Tscharner of Switzerland all coming west to find out what the Classic was all about. They all had to bow down to America's Tricia Byrnes. Tricia was showing off her usual consistency and big 720s way out of the pipe today to win it. She held off Whistler's adopted daughter Natasza Zurek who was sticking big mctwists at the top and big stylee methods at the bottom. Natasza is on the rebound from knee surgery and looking stronger than ever. If there is one women to bring boarding into the 21st century. My vote is for Natasza.

Natasza was stoked on all the Euros.

The crowd had amassed to almost five thousand by the time the finals threw down. Michalchuk was complementing his double backs on the bottom with atomic airs up top. They were the type of airs that you say to yourself, "Damn!, if he miscalculates this, he's not landing on the deck, he's landing way out in the woods somewhere." Then he grabs, tweaks and re-enters the pipe with exponential momentum. This gets more than just the crowd frothing. The riders start finding Mike's line and attempting the same out of atmosphere air. It helped bring Trevor Andrew's mctwist easily awe inspiring and atmospheric. Danial Mignault was boosting bigger because of it and Justin Lamoureux was excited he boosted, flipped and landed almost atop of some CBC videographer. Luckily for all involved, he landed on the deck behind him and quickly reentered the pipe as the now scrambling cameraman took his wares elsewhere.

Other instances of brillance were: Nicola Thost's hugeness, regardless; Jesse Fox tossing himself up and almost out for good; Ben Wainwright sticking a run we all knew he was capable of; Tara Teigen saying she misses the competition and is ready to drop on back in; Some style outta Espania by a very large Iker Fernandez; and announcers not afraid to bicker about who gets laid less and why one slept on the bathroom floor. They also had a knack for insulting riders in many languages. Then when one came along they didn't know, like German, they simply mocked their boarding brethren's accent and made implications about his love life, drug use etc.

It ended where everyone wanted it to. Another Michalchuck double back flip for the crowd. Everyone got sweaty in the sun with vitamin K on the brain and hype for the ensuing big Saturday night Classic party only hours away. Let the Big Air begin.

– Hans Prosl, high on vitamin K for The Mountain Zone.

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