2011 FIS Snowboard World Cup Championships, HP semi-finals and finals

Today the competition has focused on one of the most spectacular evidence in the world of snowboarding: the Half-Pipe.

HP's field is as described by its name: a ski slope in a cylindrical cut in half. The test is based on participants going down a hill and climbing up the other to jump in the air and so demonstrate the tricks they can do. The participants get more points depending on the complication and height they achieve. The riders have to prove themselves twice down the tube, being punctuated by two and half between them.

The competition was under a bright and strong sun which add occasional complications to the riders. After some interesting semi-finals, there was a brief pause to give way to the final.

The final was full of surprises as the favourites were not the ones who finally took the podium. That can be explained by the occasional showy fall by riders which influenced the decision. This was the case of the Chinese girls who suffered a showy fall with no serious injuries though. Only one of them could claim the bronze, that was Jiayu Liu.

The results were as follows:

Men

First prize to Nathan Johnstone (AUS)
Second prize to Iouri Podladtchikov (SWI)
Third prize to Markus Malin (FIN)

Women

First prize to Holly Crawford (AUS)
second prize to Ursina Haller (SUI)
Third prize to Jiayu Liu (CHN)