West, Olenick win ski pipe at JKOM/48 Straight

Jeep King of the Mountain/48 Straight wrapped up here with the ski halfpipe finals and Monster Big Air on Sunday. Colby James West and Peter Olenick both took home $15,000 in prize money after wowing the crowd with technical difficulty, double flips and huge amplitude.
SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Jeep King of the Mountain/48 Straight wrapped up here with the ski halfpipe finals and Monster Big Air on Sunday. Colby James West and Peter Olenick both took home $15,000 in prize money after wowing the crowd with technical difficulty, double flips and huge amplitude.
    West took the halfpipe title with an impressive final set of tricks that mixed technical prowess and style. The winning series was a cork nine, rightside 5, cork seven toe grab, switch 720 mute and 1080 toe grab.
    It was a contests between the veterans such as Olenick, Simon Dumont and West versus some of up-and-comers such as 16-year-old Walter Wood, who showed his skills by throwing a 1080 and placing 7th. "I've looked up to all these guys, the big guns, like Peter Olenick and Simon [Dumont] … to compete next to them and stand next to them, it's like whoa," Wood said.
    Olenick bested JP Solberg — and maverick Simon Dumont — to win the Monster Big Air contest, which was a head-to-head one-hit, biggest amplitude show. Dumont couldn't best Solberg's innovative double flip, so the final came down to Olenick and Solberg who both were throwing doubles. Olenick clinched the win with his signature whiskey flip after Solberg hip checked in the landing. He lost by one point.
    For more on JKOM/48 Straight, check out the 11th issue of Ski Racing magazine, which is coming out soon.