Winter X Games 14: Bring it on

As temperatures drop, the excitement heats up in Aspen, which is hosting the Winter X Games for the ninth consecutive year. Most of the action will take place over the next four days – and the invited rider list reads like a who’s who of winter sports. This year’s Games should prove to be a showcase for the progress female action sports athletes have made in the genre.

Highlights of WX14 will include snowboarder Torah Bright and freeskier Sarah Burke who are both returning to Aspen in a bid to reclaim gold.

You’ll also see a lot of halfpipe queen Gretchen Bleiler. The only woman to win WX SuperPipe 3 times, Gretchen also has silver from WX ‘07, silver from the 2006 Torino Olympics Halfpipe and an ESPY as 2008’s Best Female Action Sports Athlete.

In boardercross, 24-year-old Lindsey Jacobellis is considered royalty and ranked #1 in the FIS World Cup for 2009. She is an Olympic silver medalist from 2006 and five-time WX Games gold medalist.

Two years ago , Jamie Anderson became the youngest X Game gold winner when she won the women’s snowboard slopestyle. The Two-time WX Slopestyle gold medalist Anderson fractured her hip two weeks before WX ‘09. At the U.S. Open two months later, she ruptured her spleen, bringing a cruel end to the roughest season of her young career. But she kicked off the 2009/10 season right: winning the Billabong BroDown in Aug., Burton New Zealand Open in Nov. and Dew Tour Breck last month.

Also not to be overlooked is Kelly Clark, 26, who is competing in her tenth Winter X Games. One of the most decorated women in competitive snowboarding; Kelly has collected 6 WX SuperPipe medals, Olympic gold from the ‘02 Games, an ESPY for 2002 Action Sport Athlete of the Year and has won the Grand Prix Halfpipe title each of the past three years.

As one of the most X-treme winter sports events in the world, Winter X attracts an international array of gravity-defying athletes. Money (record purses this year), medals and worldwide fame are all up for grabs as athletes compete in skiing, snowboard and snocross so catch all the action today through Sunday.

Get ready to be X-cited for X-cellent performances. Some of the weekend’s highlights include:

Sat. Jan. 30: 2:00 – 3:30 pm Snowboard Snowboarder X  Women’s Final
Sat. Jan. 30: 7:30 – 8:30 pm Snowboard SuperPipe Women’s Final
Sun. Jan. 31: 10:00 – 12:15 pm Skiier X Women’s Final
Sun. Jan. 31: 12:00 – 1:00 pm Snowboard Slopestyle Women’s Final

Winter X Games 14 is on in Aspen, Colo., from Thursday, Jan. 28 to Sunday, Jan. 31. Much of the event will air live on ESPN and ESPN2.

Pretty Tough Trivia: “Superman” is not the man of steel; it’s when a rider lays flat in the air, both hands reach under the board to grab the toe side and or the shin of each boot, both legs are bent and the board is pulled up behind the rider.

Jamie Anderson makes Winter Dew Tour history

Perfect weather created the ideal situation for the Women’s Slopestyle Final at the Dew Tour’s Breckenridge stop but unfortunately many of the ladies struggled to put together solid runs.

The exception was Jamie Anderson who set a record on the slope. Out of the six competitors in the female Slopestyle Final only Jamie landed a full a run, and with the exception of Sarka Panc, she literally blew away the competition. Most impressively Jamie’s record breaking score of 92.00 more than doubled half of her peers scores. Not only was Jamie’s first run a Dew Tour record, but her second was the day’s third best (behind Sarka’s 2nd place run).

Final Dew Tour Female Slopestyle Results (Breckenridge)

1. Jamie Anderson
2. Sarka Panc
3. Jenny Jones
4. Spencer O’Brien
5. Janna Meyen-Weatherby

Final Dew Tour Female Superpipe Results (Breckenridge)

1. Queralt Castellet
2. Sarah Conrad
3. Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas
4. Kelly Marren
5. Elena Hight

Get ready for Winter X Games Europe

ESPN announced the first wave of athletes invited to the Winter X Games Europe March 10-12, 2010. The event will be the first Winter X Games held outside the United States.

Invited X Games athletes include:

SuperPipe Women

Torah Bright (AUS)
Gretchen Bleiler (USA)
Ellery Hollingsworth (USA)

Slopestyle Women

Jenny Jones (GBR)
Jamie Anderson (USA)
Janna Meyen-Weatherby (USA)
Cheryl Maas (NED)
Sarka Pancochova (CZE)

The event will bring together eight different competitions over three days, including Ski and Snowboard SuperPipe and Slopestyle for men and women as well as a Snowmobile demonstration.

Kelly Clark, Jamie Anderson win Burton New Zealand titles

New Zealand’s largest snowboarding event, the Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships, came to a close after four intense days of competition. Part of the Burton Global Open Series and the Swatch Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour, the 7th Annual New Zealand Open showcased some the world’s top snowboarders competing in halfpipe and slopestyle competitions for over NZ$50,000 in prize money.

Hundreds of competitors from all over the world flocked to Cardrona Alpine Resort to compete, and action got underway on Wednesday with men’s and women’s slopestyle pre-qualifications and qualifications. Men’s and women’s halfpipe qualifications went down on Thursday, followed by men’s and women’s slopestyle semifinal and finals on Friday with Jamie Anderson (USA) and Sebastien Toutant (CAN) riding away with the top spots worth $6,000 each.

Saturday saw a field of 40 men and 21 women compete for the halfpipe titles worth NZ$6,000. In the women’s competition Kelly Clark and Jiayu Liu battled it out in semifinals with huge amplitude and clean spins, while Elizabeth Beerman just bumped Kiwi Kendall Brown from advancing on to final.

Halfpipe finals consisted of three runs each for men and women, with the women first to drop. The Asian contingent finished strong taking four of the top eight spots in the women’s finals, with Zhifeng Sun from China taking third. Her winning run featured an impressive frontside 900. Jiayu Liu (CHN) rode away with second with a run that featured back-to-back 720s and back-to-back 540s. But it was Kelly Clark that pulled it out with a whopping score of 83.67. Her winning run started with a massive frontside air followed by a backside 540 indy, into a frontside 720 tailgrab, followed by a Cab 720, finishing with a frontside 540 indy.

Clark had this to say of her win, “I felt really good today; I got to try new things. I like progressing, and when you ride against a solid group of competitors it pushes me to do more. I’m happy that I did well for my first contest of the summer, especially going in to an Olympic year.”

With the Burton New Zealand Open finished, the next stop in the BGOS is the European Open, taking place January 9-16, 2010 in Laax, Switzerland. The European Open is the second stop on the 2009-2010 Burton Global Open Series.

Jamie Anderson is currently in the lead for the Burton Global Open Series Championship titles and a piece of the $200,000 prize purse. With only two results on her account so far, 08/09 Swatch TTR World Champion Kelly Clark moves into world no. 7 with her victory in New Zealand.

Janna Meyen-Weatherby wins Chicken Jam Slopestyle

The halfpipe portion of the Roxy Chicken Jam finished on Saturday with Kelly Clark pulling out the win. Her run included a Frontside Air, Backside 540 Mute, Frontside 540, Method, Frontside 720 and a Cab 720.

Top Three Halfpipe:

1. Kelly Clark
2. Mercedes Nicoll
3. Sarah Conrad

High winds rolled into Mammoth on Sunday and the Slopestyle event was pushed to this morning.

Jamie Anderson, out with a spleen injury, missed out on the $50k TTR Title and after the Slope event Kelly Clark was crowned the new women’s TTR Champ.

The results of the Roxy Chicken Jam Slopestyle looked like this:

1. Janna Weatherby
2. Jenny Jones
3. Lisa Wiik
4. Isabelle Lalive
5. Chanelle Sladics
6. Raewyn Reid
7. Silvia Mittermueller
8. Cheryl Maas
9. Tara Dakides
10. Hana Beaman

For complete TTR rankings, hit up www.ttrworldtour.com

Snow Business: Bright, Buass and Anderson win U.S. Open

Norway’s Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas won the women’s Slopestyle title while Jamie Anderson, who missed the contest because of injury, still managed to clinch the Burton Global Open Series Championship.  Both of their payouts matched their male counterparts thanks to Burton’s equal payouts for men and women in contests.  Buaas also won Friday’s Quarterpipe competition, earning $10K plus $3K for highest air.

The women’s Swatch TTR title race will end after next week’s Roxy Chicken Jam in Mammoth, CA.  Jamie Anderson leads that race though Buass is catching up.

The last day of the US Open proved to be the busiest with junior jam finals, men’s and women’s slopestyle finals and three major titles being awarded. Buaas picked up $20,000 for winning the slopestyle finals and Jamie Anderson took home $100,000, currently the largest single payout in the sport.  Buaas will also be driving a new Volvo XC60 after winning the Volvo Most Valuable Rider Awards.

At the beginning of slopestyle finals, the variable weather conditions constantly switched between sun, clouds, snow and wind. The women got caught in a snow squall during their first runs, but after about 20 minutes, the clouds magically parted and the sun came out. After a sticky snowfall, riders struggled to make it through the course. Jenny Jones put together a solid run, holding on to first place for a while. But it was Kjersti Buaas who took the top spot on the US Open podium for the second time in the weekend with a run that included a nosepress on the box, 50/50 to frontside 180, Cab 540 indy, backside 360 indy, frontside 360 stalefish ending with a frontside 720 mute.  Chanelle Sladics earned third place and the Emergen-C Best Trick award for her front boardslide 270 out on the down rail.

“Being the best overall rider meant a lot to me because I strive to be good in the pipe and slope,” said Kjersti. “I was trying all season to be good in both disciplines, it makes me so excited. Now people can’t just define me as a pipe rider, and that means the most to me.”

Earlier in the day, snowboarding’s up-and-coming groms competed in the annual US Open junior jam halfpipe competition. Thirteen-year-old Arielle Gold took the title for the girls with her technical spin combinations and her impressive amplitude.

During Saturdays halfpipe final, Torah Bright led the women, earning her third title and tying her with Kelly Clark (who finished second in the contest) with the most ever.  Clark took the top spot early and held on until the third and final run.  But it was Bright’s final run that stole the show when she dropped in switch, starting off with Cab 720 indy, followed by a crippler, backside 360 indy, switch backside 720 ending with a backside 540. 

 “I feel great,” said Torah. “I didn’t realize that I tied with Kelly for the most wins. It feels really good, especially because the US Open is such a special event.”

Bright earned a bonus $3,000 and the Amp Energy Best Trick award for her stylish switch backside 720. Ellery Hollingsworth was third.  

US Open Snowboarding Championship underway

The best snowboarders in the world have been gathering at the Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont for the 27th Annual US Open Snowboarding World Championship. The qualifying action kicked earlier this week amid balmy temps and bluebird skies and continues tonight at 6:15 p.m. with an invitational quarterpipe competition followed by a free RJD2  concert at 8:00 p.m. in the USO Sponsor Village at the Sunbowl.

Top riders including  Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark,  Hannah Teter and Ellery Hollingsworth,  X-Games Gold Medalist Torah Bright, Asian Open winner Chanelle Sladics and TTR World Champion Jamie Anderson are all participating in the event. Hardly surprising as it is one of the first snowboarding events in the world to offer male and female competitors equal winnings.

The US Open is the last stop on the Burton Global Open Series and offers riders the chance to earn points towards a male and female championship title, each worth $100,000, currently the largest single payout in competitive snowboarding. 

This year’s Open features a different competition schedule than the past few years with all events and concerts taking place at the Sunbowl area of Stratton Mountain.   On the women’s side,  50 athletes vie for five spots in the semifinals, where they meet up with 16 invited riders.

Saturday, March 21st will feature men’s and women’s semi-final and final halfpipe competitions, an autograph session in the sponsor village, topped off with a Santigold concert immediately following the halfpipe awards presentation at 4:15 p.m. in the Sunbowl.

Sunday, March 22nd, will kick off with the junior jam halfpipe competition, followed by men’s and women’s slopestyle finals, after which three major titles will be awarded: the $100,000 Burton Global Open Series men’s and women’s title, the Volvo Most Valuable Rider Award and the Men’s Swatch TTR World Tour Champion award. 

A crowd in excess of 40,000 people are expected to attend the event which will without doubt have its fair share of thrills and spills. If you cannot make it to Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont you can watch all of the semi-finals and finals live on March 21 and 22 on Go211.com, where webcasts and highlights of the competitions will also be available for on-demand viewing once the event concludes. NBC will show all the action on Sunday, March 29 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EST.

Show up with 4 or more people in your car when you park at Stratton to be entered into the US Open carpool raffle. If your raffle number is chosen, you will be the lucky winner of Burton’s 2010 eco-friendly GMP products!

Jamie Anderson wins final Dew Slopestyle; O’Brien wins Dew Cup

First place qualifier and hometown heroine Jamie Anderson took the top prize in the third and final Winter Dew Tour Slopestyle finals at Northstar-at-Tahoe, California.

Canadian Spencer O’Brien placed second at 87.17 and clinched the Dew Cup (best in the series) based on her points lead. Janna Meyen-Weatherby of Bend, Ore., was third at 81.50.

Anderson’s winning run began with a boardslide to switch out on the rail, to a cab 270 switch out on the second rail. She continued with a switch backside 180 to a boardslide switch out, a switch frontside 540, a cab 540 and finished with a backside 180.

“I was stoked to win here,” Anderson said. “My family was out here rooting me on so that’s always good moral support. I had fun at the last two Dew Tour events I went to. I’m stoked for Spencer.”

O’Brien said she was thrilled to be the first athlete awarded a Dew Cup in the inaugural Winter Dew Tour series.

“It’s pretty amazing,” O’Brien said. “I’m so stoked. This whole series has been really awesome and just so much fun. I was really nervous coming into this one, but to clinch the Cup has been awesome.”

The four-day competition is the last of three stops on the tour that features men’s and women’s freeskiing and snowboarding disciplines. Saturday’s action features the men’s freeski slopestyle and superpipe finals, while Sunday’s schedule includes the men’s and women’s snowboard superpipe event.

SNOWBOARD SLOPESTYLE WOMEN’S FINAL RESULTS
DEW TOUR STOP #3 – NORTHSTAR AT TAHOE

1. Jamie Anderson – 87.50
2. Spencer O’Brien – 87.17
3. Janna Meyen-Weatherby – 81.50
4. Chanelle Sladics – 76.17
5. Torah Bright – 69.00
6. Christina Curry – 56.50

Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Points

1. Spencer O’Brien, 280
2. Jamie Anderson, 275
3. Jenny Jones, 220
4. Chanelle Sladics, 210
5. Bev Vuilleumier, 185
6. Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas, 170
7. Christina Curry, 155
8. Kimberly Fasani, 145
9. Megan Ginter, 140
10. Torah Bright, 115

Winter Dew Tour: The Last Stop Begins

The third and last stop of the Winter Dew Tour  (Feb. 19-22nd) is on and the slopestyle prelims heated up a bit with Jamie Anderson pulling out a switch back five to jump into first, while Janna Meyen held down second with Chanelle Sladics in third. 

Last stop’s winner Spencer O’Brien got to relax and enjoy her pre-qualified position while Christina Curry squeaked into the last spot behind Torah Bright, bumping out Kjersti Buaas.

Stay tuned for the finals tomorrow at Northstar-at-Tahoe.

Women (Pre-qualified rider: Spencer O’Brien)

1. Jamie Anderson

2. Janna Meyen

3. Chanelle Sladics

4. Torah Bright

5. Christina Curry

SNB: Jamie Anderson wins Dew Tour Snowboard Slopestyle

January 11, 2009 – Jamie Anderson has won the women’s event Saturday in the second stop of the inaugural Winter Dew Tour at Vermont’s Mount Snow ski resort.

Anderson, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. made good use of the course with a tail press to a nose press to a pretzel out on the top rails. She landed a switch backside 360 on the first jump to a cab 180 on the box jump. She finished with a frontside 360 to a frontside 520 on the final two jumps to earn 85.67 points.

“I was just having a good day and my body felt good,” Anderson said. “I didn’t really do so many frontside fives in practice, I was kind of just doing backside 180’s so I’m stoked on that part.”

Canadian Spencer O’Brien was second at 81.50 and Chanelle Sladics, of Newport Beach, Calif., was third at 80.67. O’Brien, who won the previous Winter Dew Tour event, remains the overall point leader heading into the season finale next month in California.

Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals
1. Jamie Anderson, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 85.67.
2. Spencer O’Brien, Canada, 81.50.
3. Chanelle Sladics, Newport Beach, Calif., 80.67.
4. Jenny Jones, Great Britain, 75.50.
5. Megan Ginter, Redmond, Wash., 75.00.

Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Points
1. Spencer O’Brien, 190.
2. Jamie Anderson, 175.
3. Jenny Jones, 165.
4. Bev Vuilleumier, 140.
5. Megan Ginter, 140.

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