SCI: Preview
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SCI: Tanner Hall comeback
On Saturday, the inaugural Sammy Carlson Invitational big air will take place at Mt. Bachelor, Ore. The first event, originally scheduled in 2010 at Mt. Hood, was canceled due to weather. The list of invited skiers includes Alex Schlopy, Henrik Harlaut, Torin Yater-Wallace, Bobby Brown, and more.
"I've got some really good skiers coming out for it so it should be really cool," says Sammy Carlson, who won't be competing due to a knee injury.
Tanner Hall, who hasn't competed since getting injured in 2009, is rumored to be competing on Saturday. Kaya Turski is the only female on the invite list and backcountry freestyler Sean Pettit is also on the list.
Willie Borm, who turns 15 years old on Monday, will also be competing. This week, Borm, an up-and-coming big air and slopestyle skier from Minnesota, signed a new contract with Apo Skis, the same Swiss company that Sammy Carlson signed with late last year. Borm will be riding on Apo's new Sammy Carlson Pro Model during the big air contest this weekend.
"I love Apo's skis and their company, so I'm stoked to be a part of the team. It's a great opportunity," Borm told ESPN. "Sammy is a good friend of mine and he helps me with a lot, so there was some of his influence for sure."
Borm is Apo's second sponsored freeskier, after Carlson. The company has until recently been primarily a snowboard company. Both Borm and Carlson were previously sponsored by Salomon Skis.
It was on the same jump built for the initial Sammy Carlson Invitational in 2010 that Carlson landed the first switch triple rodeo 1260 (video above). So we will see any new tricks this weekend?
"I don't know for sure, but the jump looks really good," Borm said from Mt. Bachelor.
Adds Carlson, "The course will be a big air jump into a wall ride, which I think will be a lot of fun. The plan is to have the standard best trick big air contest and then have additional style contests as well, like best rodeo 5. I want to mix it up a little so it's not all just about throwing the gnarliest trick."