Dusty Henricksen Wins Men’s Final After Qualifying Last: 2025 Snowboard Rockstar Energy Open
Dusty Henricksen. Photo: Dodds
Dusty Henricksen fought his way through three head-to-head rounds on Sunday to conquer Øyvind Kirkhus and win the first-ever Men’s Final at the 2025 snowboard Rockstar Energy Open (RSEO) in Breckenridge, Colorado.
"I couldn't be more happy with how the day went and with getting to ride with all my buddies,” Dusty said, after seeing his Run 2 score hit 95.66. His a line kicked off with a boardslide to front flip out to switch, switch backside rodeo 540 into the whale tail jump feature to backside rodeo 720 out, skyhook Michalchuk on the hip feature, skyhook crippler stalefish on the quarter pipe, and a frontside 270 pullback on the last rail feature.
“It's always nice to push yourself, and that's what we all did," Dusty said.
Dusty was loving the head-to-head bracket format for the contest and the “open” aspect of the Rockstar Energy Open that sent Video Qualifier Series entrant Øyvind Kirkhus all the way through to face him in the championship bracket.
“It's pretty rad to see Øyvind up in there,” Dusty said. “He's one of those guys that could have gotten the invite off the bat, but he worked his way up the hard way through the Video Qualifier Series and absolutely ripped it."
Øyvind Kirkhus. Photo: Durso
On a unique course that proved to inspire creativity while letting everything hang out, eight riders advanced from the day before, and were pitted in the head-to-head format against each other by their semifinal result (8th vs. 1st, 7th vs. 2nd, 6th vs. 3rd, 5th vs. 4th).
Loaded with intensity but also a laid back energy, the event became a bit of a free for all with unsanctioned riders entering the course to hit the contest hip between runs. Once again, the hip was stealing the show. Enough riders were barging the course that before the event ended it was decided that an Unsanctioned Hip Contest would happen following the final heat, and a $10,000 bonus was in store for its winner.
Mark McMorris. Photo: Dodds
The heats from Round 1 were highlighted by heavy upsets and incredible surprises.
Raibu Katayama lost out to Eli Bouchard and then Jake Canter was beaten by VQS elite Øyvind Kirkhus to start off the upsets. Round 1 ended with the heaviest upset of all when Mark McMorris went down to Dusty Henricksen. It was not because Dusty is any type of dark horse, but because Mark qualified first and has been generally known as the one to beat in every event for the past decade.
Raibu Katayama. Photo: Dodds
In Round 2 there were four, and Cameron Spalding fell to Øyvind while Eli Bouchard was beaten by Dusty. The Final was set, Øyvind all the way from Norway by way of the VQS versus Dusty, who had been looking untouchable.
"It's way more intense than a normal eight-man Final where it's everyone against everyone, Øyvind said. “Here, you've got to be a bit more strategic, measure your opponent in each round, and make your run according to what you think your opponent will do. It made for a really fun, different, and rewarding experience."
Cameron Spalding. Photo: Hoffman
The atmosphere around the snowboard RSEO felt casual for the athletes and exciting for the fans, which were made up of many familiar faces like professional skateboarders Braden Hoban, Cory Juneau and Lazer Crawford all hanging out. “It's awesome, I haven't seen this type of snowboarding in person before,” said Braden. “These guys are so gnarly, it is seriously so inspiring to see.”
Then there was Øyvind running the whole length of crowd fence to high five everybody after his run in the final.
Eli Bouchard. Photo: Dodds
"It's been such a good competition for the culture, having so many different features and so many different ways to express yourself through this course,” Øyvind said. “It's a true snowboard event."
Brooklyn Depriest. Photo: Durso
Øyvind's glorious run from VQS to the final ended in second, though, with a final round heat score of 93.66 to Dusty’s 95.66. The final scores had dropped, but none of the energy had faded…It was because the unsanctioned hip contest was about to begin.
Unsanctioned Hip Contest
Eli Bouchard. Photo: Dodds
Raibu was a favorite on the hip, he had been consistently going the highest of anyone throughout the entire weekend. From his stomped opening method to the very end when he sent it for maxed out air time and distance traveled, but slid out backseat—he was a crowd pleaser. He did not win in the newest contest of the weekend, but he did toss his helmet into the crowd of cheering fans. A true rider for the people.
Egan Wint and Lily Dhawornvej each made appearances to send it again to end the day and memorable weekend.
Mons Roisland. Photo: Dodds
Sam Taxwood was followed closely by Brock Crouch jumping opposite directions off the hip, making for the dopest doubles run. Yuto Yamada sent a huge air to fakie almost to the very end of the hip, and he stomped the landing. Then, after time, Mons Røisland finished out the session calling for space to literally jump the entire thing, which he did with minor washing on the landing. It was one more serious wow factor to cap off the weekend.
Sam Taxwood. Photo: Berghoef
The final twist was when the RSEO webcast host set of Chris Grenier, Danny Davis, and Stan Leveille were tasked with deciding the winner of the hip event. Nik Baden was the rider that won them over with his massive method over the hip. It landed him not only near the end of the entire hit, but Nik also bagged $10,000 for his efforts.
Nik Baden. Photo: Hoffman
Honorable mention to Raibu, though.
Raibu Katayama. Photo: Berghoef
ROCKSTAR ENERGY OPEN MEN’S FINAL RESULTS:
Podium winners: Øyvind Kikhus in second (left), Dusty Henrickensen first (middle) and Eli Bochard in third (right) with Rockstar Energy team riders Lazer Carwford and Gabe Ferguson. Photo: Ortiz
Final Round
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Dusty Henrickensen, 95.66
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Øyvind Kirkhus, 93.66
Round 2
Heat 1
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Dusty Henricksen, 94.00
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Eli Bouchard, 92.00
Heat 2
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Øyvind Kirkhus, 92.33
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Cameron Spalding, 85.00
Round 1
Heat 1
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Eli Bouchard, 85.33
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Raibu Katayama, 80.66
Heat 2
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Øyvind Kirkhus, 87.00
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Jake Canter, 84.00
Heat 3
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Cameron Spalding, 82.00
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Brooklyn Depriest, 73.00
Heat 4
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Dusty Henricksen, 92.00
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Mark McMorris, 91.00