Ursina Haller, a talented up-and-coming Swiss rider, took the halfpipe title at the O’Neill Evolution competition in Davos, Switzerland yesterday. Haller beat off stiff competition from big names like Cheryl Maas and Sarka Pancochova to win first place in glorious sunshine. Cilka Sadar from Slovakia, who at 18 was the youngest rider in the field, took second place, while Manuela Peska, another talented Swiss ripper, took third.

Haller’s winning run included back-to-back 540s into a stalefish, a backside air and a front 7. Understandably, the Swiss rider was pretty pleased with that. She explained: “I didn’t expect to win. I was hoping for top five or top three – so I am even more stoked with the win!”

As a 6-star TTR contest, the O’Neill Evolution offered 1,000 world ranking points for the winner – a very valuable commodity at this stage in the season. The battle for the top spot on the women’s tour is seriously heating up, with Cheryl Maas’ result moving her up to second place in the rankings. Still holding on to first though is Sarka Pancochova, the Czech chick who has been killing it consistently this season. Her sixth place ensured that she stayed on top.

With many of the girls move across the border for the 6-star Roxy Chicken Jam slopestyle in Austria, which takes place this weekend, this week could turn out to be a decisive one for the women’s TTR title.

Keep an eye out for the results of the men’s halfpipe and slopestyle comps at the O’Neill Evolution, which will be kicking off on Friday and Saturday.