SNB: Road to Vancouver

The path to Vancouver is paved in U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipes for  athletes with an eye on Olympic medals. Earlier this month, the U.S. Snowboarding team Olympic qualifiers kicked off at Copper Mountain in Colorado with riders debuting the high caliber tricks they’ve honed over the last year of intense training.

And so it begins. Olympic dreams will be given hope or will be  squashed during the 2010 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix series.

A total of five Olympic qualification competitions will take place at Copper Mountain, Mammoth Mountain with a final stop at Park City Mountain Resort, the venue for the 2002 Olympics, where the 2010 Olympic halfpipe team will be announced. These events serve as the pathway to Vancouver  Games for one of Winter Games marquee events.

In reality, the Grand Prix is really the Olympics before the Olympics.  In previous Olympic years, the competition has been more fierce at the Grand Prix qualifiers than at the Olympics themselves.  Like in previous years, these comps will be pressure-filled scenes filled with intense drama. Three stops, five comps, all with 22-foot halfpipes serving as the stage from which Olympic dreams will be fulfilled or crushed.

On the women’s side, riders like 18-year-old Ellery Hollingsworth, winner of the U.S. Open’s “Rookie of the Year” award,  along with Clair Bidez  and Elena Hight   are  on the radar to surprise the crowd with their versatile styles. Each hopes to join the ranks of three former Olympic medalists – Hannah Teter, Gretchen Bleiler and Kelly Clark in a quest for gold.

Who ends up on that team is still a huge question as only four slots will be doled out to both the men and women. That’s not a lot of spots and the talent pool is deep.  Stay tuned.