Women's prelim winner Kaitlyn Farrington gets "the point" from an excited fan.

Here are a few highlights from last night’s superpipe prelims and after-party:

-Olympic boardercross snowboarder (and Stratton local) Lindsey Jacobellis chatting with Steven Fisher from opposite sides of the fence. Fisher is automatically qualified for the finals today, but he was taking practice runs through the pipe w/ Keir Dillon.

-Keir Dillon, a veteran and absolute legend in the halfpipe world, making a game-time decision to throw on a comp bib and try to qualify for the finals. He placed 12th, missing the cutoff by a few spots. Still, though, the dude can BOOOST on that first hit.

-Colorado-boy Connor Leach took a nasty digger on the last hit of his second pipe run and laid motionless in the ground for a few moments. Thankfully, he rode away after getting his breath back.

-Vermont-native Elijah Teeter completing a super-technical run to place 8th and move on to the finals.

-Keir Dillon lookin’ baller in a slick pea coat at the Alberta Cross show. Dude can dress.

-Spencer O’Brien’s consecutive tweets about her night: “heading out on the town (the little town that could!) with gretchen and eddie. snow barn anyone? show me what you got mt snow!” 7 hours later she tweeted: “bummer snow barn wouldn’t let any @thedewtour athletes in tonight. ended up at the matterhorn. thanks to @peterolenick for getting me drunk!” Keir Dillon must’ve snuck in the back.

Superpipe finals start tonight at 6:30pm. I’ll be tweeting live at www.twitter.com/ridevermont if’n’s you wants to follow the action. And now, some photos…

Keir Dillon, although 15 years the elder of Prelim winner Broc Waring, was boosting his first hit in the pipe.

Connor Leach rode away after a nasty impact on his last pipe hit.

Jack Mitrani asks for some love after his run.

Scotty Pike, spinnin for winnins.

Steven Fisher (top) and Keir Dillon need to work on their synchronized pipe riding.

Jamie Anderson gets nasty with a handplant.

The Constellations, live at the Snowbarn after-party. Apparently Spencer O'Brien couldn't get in.

Pipe Ladies. Look close in the upper lefthand corner... Steven Fisher (blue-striped hat) has wandering eyes.

-Luke

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Big ups to Tom and Raf for showing me around the mountain. And many thanks to Bonnie M. for the Office Space reenactment permission. Hopefully the magenta cloud of toner smoke has subsided.

Okemo rocks.

-Luke

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cold nights have kept Vermont snowmakers busier than Tiger Woods’ attorney, and ropes are dropping like bad habits. Jay Peak is over 80% open and Sugarbush, known for its “if there’s snow on it, drop the rope” ethos, is 95% open. not too shabby when you consider it was in the 40s and raining just a few weeks ago.

all you freeriders have plenty of terrain to work with this week at every mountain in Vermont.

freestylers: here is your Cliff’s Notes version of what’s happening in the parks in Vermont this week:

STRATTON: Tyrolienne is open with a fresh layout & design. a 10′ box, A-frame box, 15′ battleship rail, 30′ flat box and four jumps are waiting for you. and don’t forget about the Vans Cold Wars Rail Jam on Dec. 26, under the lights on Tyrolienne – a great way to test out the new bindings your mom got you for XMas.

SUGARBUSH: you’ll find a 24′ down box, 24′ down rail, 24′ double kink (double kink? hi ohhhh!) and a 9′ flat box at the base of Lincoln Peak. rumor has it there’s a small, skate-inspired jib playground on Rim Run too.

Killington, Dec. 19.

CARINTHIA at Mount Snow: Carinthia continues to kill it this year with half a dozen parks already open. go-to park Nitro is holding strong with 18 features.

STOWE: Stowe is easing into things with a few small parks open, including the Rail Garden and Midway. P.S. have you played “Find Your Line” on stowe.com yet? you can bust methods off of moguls – watch out for the trumpet on rider’s left, though. that’s right, a trumpet.

KILLINGTON: Mouse Run is open with a handful of features. and i think we can all agree that we’re waiting, boards in hand, for a few big storms so we can get into The Stash. hurry up, snow.

OKEMO: the big news: the AMP Energy Bus on Nor’Easter is now open for the season. if you’ve never experienced the bus… i mean just look at this thing. Miss Bonnie, the prettiest PR lady in VT, tells us the Ross Powers Superpipe is getting absolutely blasted with snowmaking and should open soon.

BOLTON: Bolton is sittin’ pretty with four features in the Jungle Jib park, including a rainbow box, a butter box, a flat-up-flat box, and a down bar rail.

there it is. the VT snowboard season is officially blown open. now get ‘er done.

happy holidays from all us at Ski/Ride Vermont.

-Luke