[McMorris getting all boss on the course to qualify first.]

The trash talking seems to have worked as Mark McMorris qualified in first spot for the X Games 2013 Slopestyle finals in Aspen, with Shaun White sneaking through in 7th. Watch the top 3 runs…

Ahead of this elimination round of X Games slope style, talk had been concentrated on the fact that Shaun White had been trying out the triple in training, while Mark McMorris had been laying his opinions about Shaun’s riding on the line. Well, McMorris stepped up to the plate and knocked a solid, yet for him safe, run out to slide into the finals in first. Shaun, erm, didn’t. But we wouldn’t rule him out just yet as his seventh place was good enough for him to have another stab at it when finals roll around.

[Never discount Peetu Piiroinen when things get serious. He made it through in 2nd with this belter.]

With some names you’d expect to see at the business end of a big contest like this failing to make the cut – notably Torstein Horgmo, Seb Toutant and Sage Kotsenburg – and others (like Halldor Helgason and Ulrik Badertscher) whose mentality is “first or last” coming closer to the latter, it was down to the reliable Peetu Piiroinen to send it into second, followed up by Canadian Max Parrot – fresh from his triple-stomping win at the O’Neill Evolution – in third.

[Max Parrot’s run was good enough for 3rd in the qualifiers. And slopestyle snowboarding has gone bananas.]

The field of 16 riders was thus chopped down to eight who will go at it again in slopestyle finals on Saturday. Here’s the full list of who’s in, and who’s out. Oh, by the way, this video here is way better than all those above. We need more snowboarders like Halldor…

Elimination Results And Scores

1. Mark McMorris: 88.66

2. Peetu Piiroinen: 81.33

3. Max Parrot: 75.66

4. Seppe Smits: 72.00

5. Chas Guldemond: 70.00

6. Aleksander Oestreng: 68.66

7. Shaun White: 67.33

8. Gjermund Braaten: 62.00

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9. Roope Tonteri: 46.66

10. Sebastien Toutant: 43.66

11. Stale Sandbench: 33.33

12. Halldor Helgason: 20.00

13. Torstein Horgmo: 19.66

13. Sage Kotsenburg: 19.66

14. Ulrik Badertscher: 14.00

15. Eric Willett: 10.00