"My attitude was, ‘this sucks, I don't want to be riding halfpipe,'" said Canadian Open halfpipe winner Jed Anderson about his unlikely win. "But it's my hometown and my friends are here, the weather's good today, so I might as well ride. It was pretty sweet just to snowboard in the pipe and win some money. I never usually do that."

Few would've predicted Anderson to be standing atop the podium, $7,500 richer, after beating out seasoned pipe competitors such as Justin Lamoureux (who took second place), Jeff Batchelor (third), and Brad Martin (fifth). The snug-panted Anderson, a recent addition to the Salomon team after spending years on Forum, is known more as a creative rail rider and jumper. He did plenty of pipe comps as a younger rider, but rarely enters them now.

There's a lot of style packed in those tight pants. Jed Anderson.

"I've entered two other pipe contest this year, but I never really try too hard," he said. "But I tried today. It was cool... I don't know if I'd do more. Maybe if there's money involved I'll try again!"

It was a sweet victory for the Calgary local. He rode with remarkable finesse, dropping into huge, linked 720s, then styling out a sick Frontside 3-a trick that few riders can impress with. His upper body was completely still through his runs; he looked like he didn't have a care in the world, which clearly helped him stomp his runs with minimal stress.

Ontario's Palmer Taylor took a similar approach to her winning run, which included a frontside 7 on her first hit, then a frontside 9 further down the pipe. She beat out Sarah Conrad (second place) and Norway's Lisa Wiik (third) for the victory, earning $3,500.

Palmer Taylor, excited about her win.

"I landed a solid run that I wanted to, and then I figured I might as well step it up since I had nothing to lose, so I just went for it," she explained. "Having a solid stomped run under your belt really gives you a boost, and it gave me the confidence to push harder."

Aside from the occasional wind gust, the weather was near-perfect at COP today for the second last day of the Burton Canadian Open. The sun blazed for most of the afternoon, attracting a decent crowd of spectators at the bottom of the pipe. Announcers Daryl Trinidad and Brett Sanford kept everyone entertained, urging people to hit the Coors Light beer garden for a coldie or two, and calling the tricks with accuracy and humour.

T.J. Schneider, dark horse.

"This is the type of guy who fascinates me," commented Trinidad of TJ Schneider during his first run, when he cranked a huge air-to-fakie of the first hit, and proceeded to link up spins and straight airs (including a frontside 9) that left everyone shocked. Like Anderson, few expected TJ to lay down such strong pipe runs. But he did, and he qualified for finals, although he couldn't quite connect his runs to land one without a fall.

Jeff Batchelor, who recently took second place at the FIS world championships in Korea, proved he's a big-league performer, linking up huge nine-to-nines and throwing in last-minute chicken-wing McTwists. Brad Martin landed frontside 1260s in several of his runs, but couldn't push past fifth place in spit of his best efforts. Justin Lamoureux, one of the oldest competitors at 32 years of age, threw down impressive runs. He dropped into Cab 9s on several of his runs, linking them to switch backside 5s.

Justin Lamoureux.

The crowd had high hopes for Dustin Craven, who was fresh off a flight from New York City, having attended the Red Bull Snowscrapers event. But Craven couldn't hold it together to move beyond the semi-finals. Second-place TTR leader Chas Guldemond, who normally sticks to slopestyle, surprised everyone with strong runs that landed him in fourth place. Not enough for the podium, but if he combines it with a big finish in slopestyle tomorrow, it should bump him back to the top of the TTR ranks.

Assuming the weather co-operates tomorrow (and the forecast says it will), slopestyle will wrap up the last day of the Open. Push.ca will be back with another post to drop all the highlights and results, so make sure you check in!

Make sure you check out our gallery from the pipe finals for way more shots.

Also, check out coverage of the Slopestyle Finals.

L to R: Jeff Batchelor, Jed Anderson and Justin Lamoureux.

Halfpipe Finals Men  

1. Jed Anderson
2. Justin Lamoureux
3. Jeff Batchelor
4. Chas Guldemond
5. Charles Reid
6. Brad Martin
7. Ryan Rausch
8. Gerald Austman
9. Christopher Walker
10.  Drew Brighton
11.  Korath Wright
12.  TJ Schneider
13.  Josh Duncan
14.  Trevor Niblett
15.  Daniel Longo
16.  Chad Oliver

L to R: Lisa Wiik, Palmer Taylor and Sarah Conrad.

  Halfpipe Finals Women  

1. Palmer Taylor
2. Sarah Conrad
3. Lisa Wiik
4. Mercedes Nicoll
5. Katie Tsuyuki
6. Alex Duckworth
7. Kimberly Cameron
8. Julianne Brackett