Laax Open 2017: Iouri Podlatchikov and Chloe Kim Top Halfpipe Semi Finals - Whitelines Snowboarding

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Laax Open 2017: Iouri Podlatchikov and Chloe Kim Top Halfpipe Semi Finals

Iouri Podladtchikov and Chloe Kim come out on top in the Laax Open 2017 halfpipe semi finals.

This year’s Laax Open is quickly turning into one of the sunniest in recent memory, with another picture-perfect bluebird day for the halfpipe semi finals. 24 men and 12 women battled it out for a spot in Saturday’s finals, and we were treated to some truly phenomenal riding from both sexes.

Iouri Podladtchikov, was on top form today, combining technical tricks with solid amplitude. Can he keep it together for finals? Photo: Sam Oetiker

Iouri Podladtchikov posted the highest score of the day in the men’s competition, with a run that included a huge backside air, frontside 900 tailgrab, and back to back frontside and cab double cork 1080s.

Hitsch Haller - owners of one of the sexiest backside airs in snowboarding. Photo: Sam Oetiker
Swiss rookie Elias Allenspach with a sick stalefish first hit. Photo: Sam Oetiker

Chloe Kim will be the rider to beat going into finals, posting a near perfect score of 98.25 with a run that featured a giant backside air, frontside 1080 tailgrab, cab 540 melon, switch backside 540 and cab 720 melon.

The Laax Superpipe in all its glory… Photo: Sam Oetiker

Christian Haller may not have made it through to finals today, but his first hit – a huge backside air poked out to absolute perfection, was definitely one of the highlights. Ben Ferguson, the top seeded rider from the qualification stages was also in full-send mode, making 20 foot hits look effortless.

We're pretty sure this is Finnish veteran Janne Korpi, who put down one of his best runs of the past 3 years today! Photo: Sam Oetiker
Queralt Castellet, was one of the only European females in today's final and she did us proud, making it through to finals! Photo: Sam Oetiker

We’re looking forward to Saturday’s finals – can Iouri Podladtchikov top yet another halfpipe podium, and can anyone challenge Chloe Kim?

Chloe Kim and her monster first hit backside air – can she be stopped in finals? Photo: Sam Oetiker

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