Snowboarders Call Sochi's Halfpipe 'Garbage,' Blast Organizers For Being Too Cheap To Build It Right
In an interview with Yahoo's Jeff Passan, Davis called the halfpipe at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park "garbage" and "crappy."
Another unnamed athlete called it "unsalvageable."
Davis pulled no punches, saying, "It's the Olympics. It should be flawless. What a lame showcase of snowboarding, and what a lame way to treat the athletes."
Davis also blasted the IOC and the FIS (the skiing federation that overseas snowboarding sports) for not hiring Snow Park Technologies, the most respected halfpipe building company in the world, to construct the pipe:
"The IOC probably didn't want to pay the right guys to do it. I'm pretty sure what they're focused on is keeping as much money in their hands as possible. That's the shame of it all. All these kids, myself included, worked very hard to get here. And then the pipe is just no fun and boring and [expletive]. Halfpipe is super fun. But riding a crappy pipe and having to perform in it is the worst."
The main concern seems to be that the middle of the pipe is bumpy and snowy.
Shaun White told USA Today that there's a bump in the middle of the pipe that they athletes ride into right after they land.
"Today was, uh, not the best," he said.
Workers were out on the course trying to fix the issues Monday:
Complicating matters are the soaring temperatures in Sochi. It's 61 degrees downtown. Halfpipe practice on Monday had to be moved to the night as a result.
This isn't the first course issue at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. Last week numerous slopestyle riders blasted the course for being too dangerous. Shaun White, the defending champion in halfpipe, dropped out of the event entirely over safety concerns.
Qualification for the event starts Tuesday morning at 2 p.m. local time.