7th!

WOW! little late in getting to this, but life has been crazy the last few days.
Stoked i got 7th in the Halfpipe last wednesday night. It was an interesting day for me for sure.
My first qualification run i fell on a cab 9. WHAT? This rachets up the pressure on your second run by a lot. I was confident i'd land my second run but, sometimes you don't. So i had to spend some time accepting that possibility and getting around it and telling my self that i was going to land that 2nd run.
In quals, my run was shaping up to be switch back 5 mute, cab 9 melon, switch method, cab 7 mute, and edning with a frontside 9 stalefish. As i went through the 2nd run it was all good, until i hit a rut going into my last trick. I bailed on the front 9 and stopped the trick at 720. I wasn't going to risk not landing at this point. BUT, i knew the run would score lower than i'd like. 8th place, top 9 go through, and with 10 guys left to go that can beat me, i don't like the odds. To say i was nervous watching my friends drop in and do there runs is an understatement. i wanted to puke.
But i made it through in 9th.
Semis, i changed my run to dropping in forward for a method, front 7 tuck knee indy, cab 9 melon, switch backside 720 mute, to backside 900 mute.
My first run went ok, but had a few mistakes. Again it left me on the bubble to qualify for the finals. uhhh. But with reverse order seeding for this round I got to watch everyone try and make they're way into the top 6. Nobody was able to bump me so I dropped into my second run knowing i was in.
Food at this point was starting to be an issue. I'd eaten at 11am in the morning, it was now 6pm and finals starting soon. It was a strange schedule for the games but i knew about it a head of time and trained pretty hard to be able to ride for hours on end. But really, the schedule sucked. By the end of the comp, six of us had ridden 3 practise sessions and 3 contest rounds with really no time for more than a snack.

FINALS! the crowd was unreal. I was the first guy to drop in and i took a minute prior to my runs to absorb the scene from the top of the pipe. Big crowd, empty perfect pipe. Loved it. I'll have that memory for ever.
My first run was supposed to be method, front 7 tuck knee indy, cab 1080 melon, front 9 stale to back nine mute, but i clipped the lip on the 720. As i took off into the 1080, i knew i didnt have enough speed to get it done so i landed it at 900 and quickly decided to go into my semis run. Not the run i was looking for.
My second run also was not what it was supposed to be. same run as above but was going to end in a backside double cork 900. I had a bobble going into the last hit
which threw me off enough that i didn't think i would be able to get the double so i went for just a backside 9 to end it off. Not quite the runs i was looking for but 7th at the olympics isn't too bad. It was also the best finish ever by a canadian in the guy's pipe event. So i got that going for me for at least 4 years. haha

The crowd was amazing. I don't usually acknowledge much prior to my runs but being at home and having that crowd, i had to get them to make some noise. It was so loud from up top. Never heard anything like it for a snowboard comp. absolutely loved it. When one of my runs in semis was over, i realized that hanging out in front of the judging booth, the crowd couldn't see the riders. So i ran back up just to give them a wave and the response was crazy. The crowd blew up! That was going to happen again for sure. Both my finals runs, i made sure to run back up the pipe a little ways and give the crowd a wave. It was truely amazing. My last run i gave the crowd a little bow. It wasn't an exit bow from contest riding, just a big thank you on my part. It was the night of my life and a big part of that was the crowd response and i wanted to pay them back.
Thank you to everyone for the support, loved every minute of it! and i swear i'll get around to my emails one day soon.
check back after the games, i'll have some photos up and such.
thanks
jl