By Jack Reaney STAFF WRITER
Former BSSEF snowboarder Isaac Singer finished seventh place in the IFSA Junior World Championships on Jan. 24 in Kappl, Austria.
With a final score of 500 points, he placed third among American snowboarders. French rider Kea Chretien won the championship by a margin of 280 points, scoring 1,300 in a “fast, fluid run from top to bottom” including big air, according to the IFSA website.
Singer spoke on the phone with EBS and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity, despite falling short of the podium.
“[I don’t really care] as much about winning, as much as I get to complete my line. I used to look at the sport really black and white—obviously if I win I’m happy, but if I lose it kind of ruins my mood. I had to think about it there for a minute. If I get to showcase my abilities, and I’m fine with that and that’s all I want.”
Singer crashed near the middle of his run but recovered to complete his line.
“I had one cliff lined up that I was confident I could stomp,” he said. “I hit a second cliff I didn’t intend on hitting. I kind of freaked out in the air because I didn’t know it was there. I front flipped, tomahawked and then finished my line.”
WATCH: Drone footage of Isaac Singer’s championship line (video starts at 48:00)
He’s thankful for the judging format in Europe, in which riders aren’t penalized heavily for crashes and are encouraged to finish their line. In the United States, Singer said the run would have been over.
“I was excited about that,” he said. “As long as I was able to finish my line, I was happy… I got to show off my style and personality.”
He added that the snow was incredible.
“Might be some of the best snow I’ve ever seen in a competition. It was perfect, it allowed everyone in the competition to go bigger than they usually do. I think when you get conditions like that, it helps push the sport forward.”
Singer now plans to move on from junior competition into adult competition, with the goal of qualifying for the Freeride World Tour by competing in a schedule of two-star qualifiers across the Northwest. His first stop will be the Wrangle the Chute Qualifier in Kicking Horse, British Columbia on Feb. 13 and 14.
“They had North American [IFSA Junior] Championship when I was 14,” Singer said. “Super exciting—I love that resort.”
