Snow League Winners Earn $50k Payday at Inaugural Competition

American Maddie Mastro, who landed the only run in the qualifiers that tallied up to a 90, came in second place for the women, and had the most viral clip of the contest when she ollied a rogue helmet from a spectator that had fallen to the base of the halfpipe.

In the best-of-three final, Tomita won a run, then Mastro won the next. When it came down to the wire, Tomita pieced together a massive run, filled with a 12-foot frontside 1080 tailgrab, two 540s and a frontside 900 melon to overtake Mastro by just .5 points for the win.

“I’ve never been so excited for a competition,” event organizer Shaun White said in a press release. “There was so much drama, so much excitement,” he beamed. “I don’t know when I’ve been this excited for a competition—as a spectator watching the sport I love, it’s been so amazing to see.”

Tomita said that the season had been a challenge up until that point.

“I’m so happy to win the inaugural Snow League event—this feels like the start of something big!” she said through a translator. “It’s hard to put into words, but this is so awesome!”

Gaon Choi, just 16 years old, finished in third place, and beat out Mitsuki Ono in the consolation matchup.

On the men's side of the competition, Totsuka beat out Ruka Hirano for the win. While he narrowly edged him out in the first run of the final, he won handedly in the second, posting the second-highest men’s score of the day with a 96.5. That run started with a 13-foot switch backside double cork 1080 Japan, frontside triple cork 1440 Indy, and back-to-back 1440s

The biggest surprise in the men’s contest was that Ayumu Hirano was not in the final. He was beat out by Totsuka in the semifinals. In the consolation match, he went up against Alessandro Barbieri, who has been red-hot since his halfpipe win at Calgary’s Snow Rodeo just a few weeks ago. He edged out Barbieri with style, but the 18-year-old put down a run he had never landed before, and in jubilation (and perhaps as a tribute to White himself) tossed his helmet and his snowboard in celebration.

“Just landing that run was enough for me to throw everything,” Barbieri said after the contest. “Even if I didn't win the round, I was still buzzing from it.” Hirano answered back to beat Barbieri in both runs to take third place on the podium.