The problem was the wind. Strong, gusting headwinds over the Bokwang Phoenix Park had led to yesterday’s qualifier being cancelled. But when this morning dawned, bright and breezy, things weren’t looking much better.

“I think for wind this is the worst [contest] I’ve ever ridden in,” said Canadian rider Spencer O’Brien. “In snowboarding we have to ride in adverse conditions a lot, we don’t have weather days.” But a contest “where this much of the field can’t land?” Spencer shook her head. Like Cheryl, she’s one of the more experienced snowboarders on the circuit. But she’d never seen anything like it.

“It’s just really sad, because all the girls have been working so hard, and women’s snowboarding has been really climbing lately, the progression has been crazy. This course is really nice, I really like it, so we really could have showcased women’s snowboarding in a really good way. But what we were able to show today was obviously not good at all.”

Anna Gasser, the young Austrian who like Silje had been tipped for the gold by a lot of people, shared similar sentiments. “I always have fun snowboarding normally, but today was not one of those days. It really was sketchy and a little scary, because every run was different and it was kind of a lottery.”

Meanwhile both Anna Gasser and Silje Norendal made a point of singling out FIS’ Contest Director for Park & Pipe, Robbie Moresi, for particular praise. “I think Robbie does an amazing job,” said Silje. “He’s always on our side and he said earlier this week ‘if it’s scary I’m not going to make you go’. So I’m not sure what really happened today.

Both suspected that Moresi’s hands might have been tied by people further up the chain of command. “It’s a lot of money you know, I think it’s TV time.” said Norendal. “We have a final slot and I think there’s a lot of money and a lot of things that, if it doesn’t happen on schedule, could be a problem.”

Spencer wondered whether they could have pushed back, “but everyone worked so hard to get here, it’s hard to ask riders to do that. To be like ‘OK, like let’s boycott, let’s not do this.’ I think for a lot of people they work so hard they just want to put their heads down and go to work.”

Silje meanwhile pointed out that when she, Hailey Langland and Anna Gasser had done exactly that at the X Games recently, the organisers just went ahead and ran the comp without them. The idea that the riders were not in control of their own decision-making process however is a disturbing one.

Jamie took it all in her stride, saying: “I feel like there’s always some type of weather, or new snow, or slow speeds, or flat light. I feel like that’s something we all just have to learn how to deal with.” But she admitted that it had been frustrating. “Honestly? No, I don’t think it showcased the best level of riding,” she said.

“As one rider after another fell, the kids visibly began to lose interest.”

Unlike the crowds over the weekend, who were mostly paying ticket holders, the crowd at the Bokwang Phoenix Park today featured a lot of Korean kids who’d been given the day off school to watch. Bussed in in their hundreds, they “oohed” and “aahed” appreciatively as the first few women came flying over the final knuckle.

But as one rider after another fell, the kids visibly began to lose interest, and started to wander off down the hill. At what should have been the culmination of an nail-biting final, showcasing the best tricks from the best riders in the world, the crowd had thinned to less than a third of its original size.

“My biggest sadness,” said Cheryl, “is for the sport. Women’s snowboarding has progressed so much and today… you can’t even call it snowboarding if you ask me.”

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