Shaun White, fifteen times X-Games winner and Olympic gold medalist in 2006 and 2010, will compete in the half-pipe contest at the LAAX OPEN 2016. Two weeks later, on 6 February, he’ll be back in the Alps again. This time, though, as a businessman at the legendary Opel Air + Style in Innsbruck, which is organized by Shaun White Enterprises. After rather sparse appearances in recent years, the 29-year-old American has decided to take part in selected half-pipe contests this winter – and to win them, as he did in the Dew Tour stop in mid-December 2015. With the LAAX OPEN 2016, he has made a challenging choice in his next target. His last appearance in LAAX was in 2009, when he was crowned Overall Winner at the Burton European Open 2009 but this time he will have a hard row to hoe.
Pipe Winner 2015 Iouri Podladtchikov. Photo: © BEO/Laemmerhirt
Apart from other top riders Iouri Podladtchikov (last half-pipe winner), Ayumu Hirano (silver) and Taku Hiraoka (bronze), the US Danny Davis (2015 X-Games winner), the Australian Scotty James (2015 World Champion) or the two Europeans Arthur Longo (2nd at the 2015 US Open) and David Hablützel will for sure go for gold. The world’s largest half-pipe (with its dream dimensions 22-200-6.9 – 22 meters wide, 200 meters long, and with 6.9-metre-high walls) promises a lot of air and the event never disappointed. And Shaun will ride the new superpipe on Crap Sogn Gion for the first time....... Don't miss it!
Source: http://www.open.laax.com
