King Hans Mindnich and Queen Piper Kunst at the awards ceremony on Friday night. Photo: Red Bull
It’s official, Hans Mindnich and Piper Kunst are your King and Queen of Corbet’s, voted in by their fellow competitors, after demonstrating flow and control in variable conditions at Jackson Hole.
Kunst of South Park Colorado showed up strong to her first Kings and Queens event. “I looked at Corbet’s Couloir about four years ago,” said Piper before the competition, “and was just like damn I wish this was open. And that’s the only experience I’ve ever had with Corbet’s. But the excitement and the level of ability was totally my speed, and watching everybody huck it really resonated with me.”
They say to “trust your gut,” and Piper’s initial feelings about Corbet’s rang true as she was more than ready to take on the couloir in the variable conditions that were available. She skied with speed and control both runs through the couloir, landing a huge backflip off the bottom kicker on her first run, and a solid 360 on her second.
Second place on the ladies side went to Juliette Willmann, a skier out of Chamonix, France, who has been a staple on the Freeride World Tour for the past few years, while Molly Armanino from South Lake Tahoe ended third.
Hans Mindnich, after coming in second the past two years finally cracked the top podium spot, a well-deserved win for his controlled and technical riding this year. “This year for Kings and Queens conditions were variable to say the least,” Mindnich said via Instagram. “I managed to get through without falling, and locked in the crown. Still on cloud 9!” His second run saw him stomp a massive backside dub 1080 off of the bottom jump, and like the man said he didn’t fall once in either run. Impressive, to say the least.
Second place for the men was taken by Olympian and X-Games medalist Yuki Kadono out of Hyogo, Japan, who ripped the couloir with finesse and style, launching into the couloir on his first run with a stylish hand-drag. Coming in third was Parkin Costain, a former event winner himself. The men’s side also had a fourth and fifth place given the larger field of competitors, nabbed by Ryan Wachendorfer and Blaine Gallivan, respectively.
Unlike any other action-sports comp I can think of, the King and Queen of Corbet’s are decided by their fellow athletes: “A 23-person field of competitors and a 23-person panel of judges,” is how Jess McMillan, senior events and partnership manager at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort described it. Athletes gathered the day after the competition to rewatch footage of each other’s runs and score them out of 10, with the aggregate scores determining the athletes’ rankings. “Usually when you compete you’re going up against a lot of the same people and you sorta know what tricks they’re going to put down,” said competitor Grant Giller. “That’s why I like the dynamic of the Kings and Queens bringing in all these skiers and riders from different backgrounds because you never know what you’re going to get.”
Corey Jackson’s stoke was infectious throughout the event. Photo: Red Bull.
New this year was the People’s Choice Award, determined by all of us watching the event from Jackson or at home. Jackson-raised Corey Jackson took home that award, well-deserved for his stoke throughout, both during his own runs and in supporting his fellow senders.
This year’s Kings & Queens contest was a celebration of Jackson Hole culture. “We’ll remember not just the winners who claimed the top prizes, but also how the entire group of riders responded to the conditions and rallied around one another in support,” said Jess McMillan. “This is for all of you, a celebration of people in the mountains.” In her speech prior to the award ceremony, McMillan recognized everyone who had come together to make it possible, from the athletes and announcers to the filmers and those behind the scenes to make the Kings and Queens possible. “I foresee us having a halfpipe in the future!” Jess said while recognizing the park crew. I think I speak for many when I say I can’t wait until next year. Now pray for snow.
