Winter XGames 14 Jan 29, 2009

Yesterday was a full day of competition at Winter X 14. Mens slopestyle, skiercross, boardercross qualifiers, Skiing big air and the main event Mens Snowboard Halfpipe finals. Mens slopestyle qualys was packed full of talent as the young gun Halldor Hellgason won the qualy's and took TWSnowboardings rookie of the year award last night at SIA. PortersTahoe.com Team rider Chas Guldemond qualified on his last run with some uncharacteristic falls in his 1st two runs. A little drama builds a nice story right? Chas was happy to get in and relieve his stress level. Boardercrosser Nate Holland qualified in 2nd during time trials just behind Seth Wescott as they take the course today going into finals. Errol Kerr took 8th in his time trial setting him up for the run into the finals. The big news of the night was Shaun Whites total domination of the Mens Halfpipe finals. Shaun went bigger than everyone else with the most difficult run. A 23ft first hit Method into a series of double corks that was at a level no one else could touch. Not to mention he almost knocked himself out in practice with his double McTwist to face smack on the deck! Way to overcome the hit & good luck into the O's.
Photos all taken bay yours truly & Mr. Zak Shelhamer. We'll be bringing you more content today as Nate Holland goes for a 5 peat in Boardercross!

Winter XGames 14 Jan 28, 2009

Last night on the treacherous drive from Denver to Aspen, I really needed an energy drink to keep me alert while driving in the snowy & slick conditions. My energy drink need was answered this morning as I arrived at Buttermilk in Aspen for Winter X Games 14 in one piece with plenty of energy drinks on site. This morning Aspen was blessed with clear blue skies and a great venue. Snow Park Technologies have really got building phenomenal snow obstacles down to a science as the Butermilk landscape has been masterfully altered by Chris Gunnarson & his crew. The first day at X is always full of anticipation & frustration. The anticipation of what you'll witness & the frustration of what exact credential you'll need in order to do your job. It seems you even need a credential to go to the proper restroom here! Since today was the first day, it was a good time to just cruise around & do a little recon of where you need to be and what you can and can't do. I met up today with Porters Team riders Nate Holland, Chas Guldemond and Errol Kerr. Nate is going for a 5-peat gold medal in boardercross, Chas is trying to get a medal in snowboard slopestyle, & Errol is trying to medal in skiercross. Nate & Errol will be attending the Olympics in Vancouver soon. Nate & Errol have both commented on how nice the course is and are both looking forward to competition. All the guys had practice today figuring out their lines. Tomorrow is qualifying for these guys and thye are all excited to get to business.

Mammoth Slopestyle Finals 2010

Paul Mitchell makes great hair care products that will hold up to the high speed velocity you can achieve while on the slopestyle course. This was the only Slopestyle contest on the USSA Schedule prior to the Olympic games. The boys at the Unbound terrain park at Mammoth put up an amazing course considering they were farming snow from all areas of the mountain in order to put together the great course. The course consisted of a double line to rail feature to another double line at the bottom. in the womens division, South Lake Tahoe's Jamie Anderson took the win and in the Mens, Porters team rider Chas Guldemond got back on top of the podium. Check the pics to see what went down.

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN, CA (Jan. 10) - After six days of sunny snowboarding, the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix closed up shop at Mammoth Mountain on Sunday with Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA) and Chaz Guldemond (Reno, NV) winning the Paul Mitchell Progression Session.

Under bluebird skies and balmy temperatures, Anderson led the women followed by Isabelle Lalive (Breckenridge, CO) in second and Molly Wilson (Basalt, CO) third.

Anderson threw out a frontside 3, back 180, tailpress to a 270 out of the box, ollie onto the down rail, indie over the step down, frontside 7 off the last kicker.

For Anderson, being able to throw a 7 was a huge step forward in her progression.

"I'm so happy. I don't usually do 7s. I've been working on them, but they're not one of my consistent tricks. So I was proud of myself to actually step it up and try because it wasn't a guarantee that I was going to land," Anderson said. "I was risking it. The first one I kind of fell on, but the second one I stomped, so I'm pumped."

After landing her second set solidly, Anderson is ready to take on the rest of the season with a new level of confidence.

"I definitely want to step up my game and do bigger tricks at all the events this winter with X Games and the Dew Tours," Anderson said. "Knowing that I have this trick dialed is a really good feeling."

On the men's side Guldemond put down cab 9, back12, half cab, 50/50 to back 3 out, gap to 50/50, backside rodeo, switchback 9.

Guldemond led with Tyler Flanagan (Encinitas, CA) in second and Brett Esser (Silverthorne, CO) in third.

For Guldemond, being on the podium, let alone winning, was a big step towards the success he's been missing the last few months.

"I work really hard at what I do. Since last spring I haven't been on the podium, let alone top 5, so I'm stoked to be back up here," Guldemond said.

As for the second best reason for throwing a winning run, Guldemond has the spectators in mind.

"I just like to put on a good show for all the people around and it definitely boosts the confidence," Guldemond.

Both Guldemond and Anderson now plan to fine tune their slope skills at the Winter Dew Tour, which will be held Jan. 14-17 at Snowbasin resort in Utah.

As for the Grand Prix, it takes a little break prior to the two event finale at Park City Mountain Resort Jan. 22-23.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix
Paul Mitchell Progression Session
Mammoth Mountain, CA - Jan. 10, 2010

Men
1. Chaz Guldemond, Reno, NV, 49.40
2. Tyler Flanagan, Encinitas, CA, 46.70
3. Brett Esser, Silverthorne, CO, 45.30
4. Spencer Link, Corona, CA, 43.30
5. Ryan Stassel, Anchorage, 42.00

Women
1. Jamie Anderson, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 48.40
2. Isabelle Lalive, Breckenridge, CO, 36.20
3. Molly Wilson, Basalt, CO, 34.20
4. Lynn Neil, Ogden, UT, 32.40
5. Kaitlyn Farrington, Sun Valley, ID, 31.60

Mammoth Grand Prix Halfpipe Finals

Mammoth Grand Prix: 2nd Time around

The Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain is already over right? Nope...there's still the 2nd round to be had. The USSA had to squeeze in 5 events in order to satisfy FIS rules for the Olympic qualifiers. Why not save some time and have two halfpipe GP events back to back at Mammoth Mountain. Mens & Womens Halfpipe Qualifiers took place today on a very nice pipe. The weather was nice & sunny, but the wind was a bit of the factor as it was a bit gusty out of the west. It didn't matter to the competitors as they still did their best in trying to make the US Olympic team. The big story of the week was Danny Davis's win on Wednesday for the Halfpipe stop at Mammoth & unleashing a run that Shaun White could not even touch. However, today Shaun qualified 1st, but didn't face Danny as they were in separate heats. Riders were for sure saving themselves for finals as you didn't see any big back to back double corks & Michalchuk's. They were doing just enough to get them into the finals without sacrificing their standings. Porters team rider Andy Finch did just that and will be competing in tomorrows final. The format is the top 6 in each heat go to the final then the next 4 top scores of both heats combined get in.
Previously I had posted about the unfortunate incident that had happened to Kevin Pierce . Another unfortunate injury happened today as 2006 Olympic Team member Mason Aquirre suffered a dislocated shoulder in a practice run. It looks like Masons hopes to claim a medal at this years Olympics will come up short as he sought to be apart of the Olympic Team once again. Get well Mason.
At this particular Grand Prix, there is also a slopestyle event and the qualifiers went down yesterday. Porters team rider & contest machine Chas Guldemond qualified 1st and will be competing for the money on Sundays final. There's more boarding competition to be had tomorrow & I'll keep you updated on tomorrows results.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 Sprint U.S. SNOWBOARDING GRAND PRIX
Mammoth Mountain, CA - Jan. 8, 2010
Halfpipe Qualifiers

Men
1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, CA, 45.80
2. Danny Davis, Detroit, MI, 45.20
3. Dylan Bidez, Minturn, CO, 43.10
4. JJ Thomas, Golden, CO, 41.40
5. Elijah Teter, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 41.30
6. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 40.80
7. Nathan Johnstone, Australia, 40.70
8. Zack Black, Breckenridge, CO, 39.60
9. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, CO, 39.50
10. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, CO, 39.40
11. Mathieu Crepel, France, 38.30
12. Luke Mitrani, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 38.20
13. Andy Finch, Truckee, CA, 38.00
14. Jack Mitrani, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 37.90
15. Brad Martin, Canada, 37.20
16. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, NH, 36.90

Women
1. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 45.60
2. Hannah Teter, Belmont, VT, 44.00
3. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, CO, 41.30
4. Clair Bidez, Minturn, CO, 39.90
5. Holly Crawford, Australia, 38.90
6. Ellery Hollingsworth, Stratton, VT, 38.30
7. Elena Hight, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 37.90
8. Maddy Schaffrick, Steamboat Springs, CO, 37.20

Go Big & Stay Safe

0X0R7850, originally uploaded by ela1974.

0X0R7850
Originally uploaded by ela1974

The Olympics are on the horizon & it seems that all competitive snowboarders are in a race to see how many double corks they can land in the Halfpipe. Double corks are gnarly and super dangerous. Just two days ago Olympic hopeful and Burton Team rider Kevin Pearce, sustained a traumatic head injury that has left him in critical condition. Our prayers & best wishes go out to Kevin & his family & hope that Kevin can make a strong recovery.
The new level of snowboarding has gotten so high that riders are literally putting their lives on the line in order to achieve whatever goals they have set for themselves. As the general public watch from the safety of their television sets, there is a false perspective that a viewer may get from that lazyboy. Snow is not as soft as it may seem and is very unforgiving. Lets put this into perspective..the halfpipes today have come a long way from highway banked hits to now the super 22 foot behemoths. These pipes are rock hard and are pretty much solid ice. So, a professional snowboarder can launch himself on a 22 foot pipe on average 10 feet above the lip at a minimum. That's 32 feet up in the air on an ice block straight to the bottom. how do you think your body would hold up to that? Not to mention the velocity & rate at which they are flying. Falling in a big halfpipe hurts, i dont care who you are. If your not ready for something like that...please know your limits. Kevin is a professional & this is part of the game....really just an unfortunate turn of events.As we watch these athletes push themselves for glory, please take note of what they are now sacrificing.
The photo is of Andy Finch & the newly cut Halfpipe @ Northstar at Tahoe. Going big & taking risks.