I've been feeling nostalgic and going through some of my favorite pipe runs from years past. These are my top 3 and I challenge anyone to find better runs than 1 and 2.
1. Duncan Adams - Dew Tour 2011
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/922873/One-of-the-best-pipe-runs-ever---Duncan-Adams-2011
This is the crème de la crème of pipe runs. Beautiful, technical, and dripping in steeze. Dunc has made quite the name for himself the last decade with nutty lines but in a distant past he was somewhat of a pipe jock. I can't think of anyone else I've seen lace a zero in the pipe and to do it in a comp run is just *chefs kiss*
2. Joffrey Pollet-Villard - X-Games 2013
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/922513/X-Games-Aspen-2013-Joffrey-Pollet-Villard-Run-3-Men-s-Ski-Superpipe-Final
The year was 2013, Barack Obama had just begun his second term, and the eyes of the world were upon Aspen, Colorado. Out of nowhere some French kid no one had ever heard of shows up and boosted the largest flat 5 the world has ever seen. Just as Duncan's run was a masterclass in style, this run from Joffrey is the pinnacle of going huge. I maintain that had he dub-12ed the 9 on his 4th hit it would have been good enough the podium. This is the kind of run that gets me going in my nether regions and I long for the kids to strap rockets to their skis once again and enter the stratosphere. Excuse the potato video quality and enjoy this work of art.
3. Torin Yater-Wallace - Euro X-Games 2013
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1041314/Torin-Yater-Wallace-wins-men-s-Ski-Superpipe
In the same contest that saw Joffrey enter low earth orbit Torin and David Wise were having a heavy weight battle to determine who stood on top of the podium. While he ultimately ended up 2nd that fateful January night, a month or so later he dialed it in and walked away with his second X-Games gold. The second flip in the lead off dub 12 and the giant alley-oop dub are what really does sets this run apart for me. Torin was one of my absolute favorite skiers to watch in the pipe and its truly a shame that injuries kept us from seeing him reach his full potential.
Honorable Mention: Nico Porteous - 2018 Olympics
https://www.nbcolympics.com/videos/pyeongchang-2018-porteous-shocks-self-halfpipe-bronze
Absolute dummy, fuck-it chuck-it run. Nico, who at the time I just knew of as the little kid ref in the Wells brother SLVSH game, shows up to the biggest stage and laid it all out and brought a medal home to NZ. Much like how Torin's bronze in 2011 served as a changing of the guard, this run made sure the whole world knew who the 16 year old kiwi was. And then the mad lad went and backed it up with a gold in China this winter.
These are the absolute, definitive, inarguable, best 4 pipe runs ever laid down. What are the rest of the top 10?
