Image courtesy of WSC

The slopestyle semifinals of the 2012 World Snowboarding Championships took place Thursday, February 16 under clear skies. 10 competitors from both men and women’s advanced to Saturday’s finals.

The slopestyle course is one of the top setups that many of these riders have encountered. The first feature is a three rail setup with the option of a down-flat-down rail, a round bar, or a down-flat round bar. Following that is the selection of a pole jam or a gap-to-flat rail. The first jump is a 50 meter step-down with a snow block in the middle. Next is a 40 meter channel jump, which allows riders the choice of transferring between jumps or hitting it straight on. The fifth element is an up-down rail or flat rail, which is followed by the final hit: a pristine 40 meter jump.

Competitors were amped to drop-in and throw-down their best in the semi-finals and that they did. The finals are loaded with top slopestyle talent, which should lead to some of the most progressive contest snowboarding that we’ve seen. To see who will duke it out come Saturday, check the results below.

Women’s
Heat 1:
1. Spencer O’Brien
2. Enni Rukajaervi
3. Jordie Karlinski

Heat 2:
1. Jamie Anderson
2. Cheryl Maas
3. Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas

Lucky Losers:
1. Urska Pribosic
2. Megan Ginter
3. Ty Walker
4. Shelly Gottlieb

Men’s
Heat 1:
1. Roope Tanteri FI 85.5
2. Sebastien Toutant CA 85.3
3. Seppe Smits BE 83.4

Heat 2:
1. Chas Guldemond US 81.6
2. Aleksander Ãstreng NO 75.4
3. Mark McMorris CA 74.2

Lucky Losers:
1. Sven Thorgren SE 76.6
2. Eric Willett US 73.8
3. Eric Beauchemin US 73.6
4. Ville Uotila FI 68.9