King of Style

Words & photos by Alexander Runhellen

Many of skiing’s elite made their way to Stockholm, Sweden yesterday to fight about for crown of King of Style, presented by Peak Performance. It’s been three years since the first King of Style competion began in the massive Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, and this year the weather couldn’t be have been better; bluebird, and just a few clouds.

Aleksander Aurdal

LJ Strenio

This year the whole setup was a touch smaller which made the landing a bit shorter. Last year Norwegian PK Hunder was crowned King of Style, but he unfortunately couldn't defend his crown due to his injuries from JOSS at the end of last season. Despite the absence of last year's champion, it was still one hell of a show. In the finals the riders had three runs with the best run counting.

Jacob Wester

Local legends Jacob Wester and Jon Olsson both crashed (to the surprise of all), while Swedish newcomer Simon Ericson, LJ Strenio and of course, Tom Wallisch, all threw down some stylish maneuvers.

Simon Ericson

Tom Wallisch

But in the end it came down to a hectic fight between Phil Casabon, Sammy Carlson and Andreas Hatveit. Casabon was in the lead after the first run with his switch 1080 that was dripping with style, while Sammy did an awesome double cork 1080 with an a la Sammy Carlson mute (translation: poke).

Phil Casabon

In the second run Hatveit executed a perfect double cork 1080 double mute and received 286 points that pushed him into first place.

Andreas Hatveit

And despite their best efforts, Casabon and Carlson failed to better the Norwegian's score, causing Hatveit to win the competion before his third and final run, which he thew another double cork on to show that he is indeed the King of Style.

Results

1) Andreas Hatveit - 286
2) Phil Casabon - 283
3) Sammy Carlson - 280
4) Pekka Hyysalo - 272
5) Jon Olsson - 270
6) Elias Ambuhl - 262
7) Simon Dumont -254
8) Patrick Hollaus -252
9) Tom Wallisch - 240
10) Simon Ericson - 201
11) LJ Strenio - 160
12) Jacob Wester -134