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.

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.

Watch brand new All Women’s Snowboarding Film “STANCE” – Full video online now!

You know you want to live vicariously through these Pretty Tough gals. Watch the highly anticipated all-women’s film project STANCE in right here.

STANCE FILM from Jmills ENT. Jeremy Miller on Vimeo.

Featuring: Gretchen Bleiler, Hana Beaman, Kimmy Fasani, Lisa Filzmoser, Jenny Jones, Torah Bright, Raewyn Reid, and Molly Aguirre.

Go to stancemovie.com to download the whole film for FREE.

Director, D.P., Editor: Jeremy Miller
Producer: Stan Evans
Motion, Assistant Editor: Ian Rigby
Additional Cinematography: Justin Turkowski, Ian Rigby

Tweens, teens, plastic and action sports

Looking for a way to keep track of your finances and connect to favorite artists and athletes?  MYplash (from Plastic Cash Int’l) is a teen branded prepaid caid that targets sports and music enthusiasts looking for something other than a Walmart-branded debit card in their wallet.

The reloadable Visa Prepaid Card program features celeb images along with links to deals on related merchandise. What’s even better is that they include some great female athletes including snowboarders Torah Bright and Ellery Hollingsworth, skier Sarah Burke as well as surfers Coco Ho and Kassia Meador.

On the music front – there’s not a lot of girl power but Danity Kane does grace one of the cards (trivia fact: the group takes its name from a female anime superhero conceived by one of its members). 

MYPLASH just announced a deal with EMI Music, one of the world’s largest music companies, so hopefully more of our fave female artists will show up on cards soon.

Oh, and if you need budgeting tips, you can find them on the MYplash website along with info on all their featured cards.

Bright Clinches SuperPipe Final; Clark Raises Dew Cup

The first annual Winter Dew Tour wrapped up this weekend at Northstar-At-Tahoe. Top athletes from the first two stops battled it out for the overall Dew Cup, while fans enjoyed huge terrain, warm days and Lake Tahoe itself.

Aussie Torah Bright proved victorious at the Superpipe Final, despite gray skies and rainy conditions. In her second attempt, Bright earned a whopping 95.5 by putting together an innovative run, consisting of a flawless backside 3 to switch backside 7.

“Torah’s switch backside spins were so technical; she was doing tricks you never see in the pipe,” said second-place winner Kelly Clark. “She clearly threw down the best run of the day.”

Vermonter Hannah Teter earned third-place with a beautiful first run.

In the end, Clark was handed the Dew Cup for her overall point-total of 280, which she earned with second-first-second place-finishings at each respective Winter Dew Tour stop  (silver at Breckenridge, gold at Mount Snow, silver at Tahoe).  She now leaves for Japan representing the U.S. at the Asian Superpipe contest which will take place this coming weekend.

Superpipe Finals Northstar at Tahoe

1. Torah Bright – 95.50
2. Kelly Clark – 90.00
3. Hannah Teter – 83.50

Winter Dew Cup Final Superpipe Standings

1.  Kelly Clark – 280 pts.
2.  Hannah Teter – 245 pts.
3.  Elena Hight – 205 pts.

Evolution of the action sports athlete

A couple of interesting articles today demonstrate just how far action sports have come. 

First, comes Forbes with its list of the highest-paid action sports stars.  Huh? A couple years ago mentioning Forbes and action sports in the same sentence would be unthinkable.

Shaun White may be the Tiger Woods of today’s action sports stars but others are starting to get noticed by a broader audience, and that means bigger paychecks, thanks to rich sponsorship deals.

Not surprisingly, the top 10 action sports earners in 2008 were all male. White may be the top earner among the current crop of action sports stars, but the highest-paid guy is still Tony Hawk, the godfather of action sports. Hawk retired from competitive skatingboarding in 1999 at the age of 31, but he has built a thriving business that earned him $12 million last year.

Top 10 Acton Sports Earners
1. Tony Hawk (skateboard) – $12 million
2. Shaun White (snowboard) - $9 million
3. Ryan Sheckler (skateboard) - $5 million
4. Travis Pastrana (tie) (moto) – $3 million
4. Kelly Slater (tie) (surf) – $3 million
6. Laird Hamilton (surf) – $2.5 million
7. Paul Rodriguez (skateboard) – $2 million
8. Danny Kass (tie) (snowboard) – $1 million
8. Dave Mirra (tie) (moto) – $1 million
8. Travis Rice (tie) (moto) – $1 million

Top female snowboarders like Torah Bright, Gretchen Bleiler and Hannah Teter make as much as $750,000 annually, but fell short Forbes’ $1 million cut off.

One thing is certain. Because these athletes stuck to what the love no matter what anybody said to deter them from their passion, some are actually making big bucks. Now if only we could create more parity between the guys and the girls.  X Games finally leveled the prize money but sponsors need to show the girls some love as well.

The other interesting article I came across today was an LA Times piece about drug testing action sports athletes.  A stepped-up effort by the global drug police runs counter to snowboarding’s long-cherished lifestyle and culture and with the Winter Olympics just a year away, the IOC’s anti-doping officials are tracking down riders for random tests. 

Says 2002 halfpipe gold medalist Kelly Clark, “We’re not at the gym, we’re on the mountain eight hours a day. It’s very challenging for us because the rules are not adapted to our culture.”

The drug-testing protocol applies to all potential Olympic athletes, not just snowboarders. But other athletes are accustomed to being tested regularly because they compete in sanctioned events such as the World Cup and world championships.

None of the top U.S. halfpipe riders compete regularly on the World Cup and only some compete on the FIS-sanctioned Grand Prix circuit. Comps like X Games and Dew Tour aren’t FIS events and aren’t subject to drug testing.

Snowboarders, with their deep-seeded anti-establishment roots, never were comfortable with authority but as the sport evolves and becomes more mainstream, it comes under more scrutiny.  Looks like there are always trade-offs. The question is, will riders adapt?

Winter X 13 Results – Women’s Ski Snowboard

It was lucky 13 for these ladies:

Women’s SNB X: Lindsey Jacobellis ran away with her second straight snowboarder X crown, no one even near her at the finish. In a light snow, she streaked to a 25-yard victory with Helene Olafsen taking second and Sandra Frei finishing third.

Women’s SNB: Slopestyle: A jubilant Jenny Jones could hardly believe what she had just accomplished in the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle. The pride of Great Britain trailed Spencer O’Brien going into the final run and knew she had to do something big to steal the top spot. And Jones did just that, sticking a front-side 720 off the money booter final ramp to steal the victory and the gold medal from O’Brien, 90.00 to 87.66.

Slopestyle SNB Official Results  – Jan. 24, 2009
1. Jenny Jones  Bristol, Great Britain 90.00
2. Spencer O’Brien  Whistler, B.C., Canada 87.66
3. Megan Ginter  Seattle, Wash. 82.00

Women’s Slopestyle Ski: Anna Segal led off the Women’s Slopestyle Skiing contest Saturday at Winter X Games 13 in Aspen with a score of 85.00. Little did she know at the time, but that would be the best score of the day as she battled the course and the elements taking the gold in the inaugural event.  In the same event, Sarah Burke came up short on her landing during the last jump and was whisked to an awaiting ambulance. Diagnosis: Compression fracture to part of her lower back.

Slopestyle Ski Official Results  – Jan. 24, 2009
1. Anna Segal  Melbourne, Australia 85.00
2. Grete Eliassen Salt Lake City, Utah 79.00
3. Kaya Turski Montreal, QB, Canada 70.00

Women’s SNB Superpipe: Throughout Winter X 13, the Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe belonged to Australian rider Torah Bright.  In the elimination round Bright set a Winter X Games scoring record of 97.66, and although she was not able to equal that mark, her score of 91.33, which reflected an awesome McTwist, was enough to secure her the gold medal on Friday over silver medalist Kelly Clark. It was the second X Games gold of Bright’s career, following silver in 2008. Last year’s winner, Aspen native Gretchen Bleiler, had to withdraw from the competition after falling hard in her second of three runs.

SNB Superpipe Official Results -  Jan. 23, 2009
1. Torah Bright  Cooma, Australia 91.33
2. Kelly Clark  Mount Snow, Vt. 88.33
3. Hannah Teter  Belmont, Vt. 83.00

Women’s Ski Superpipe: A wet, heavy snow fell throughout the day Friday on Buttermilk Mountain, slowing down most of the SuperPipe competitors, but not Sarah Burke as she grabbed her third consecutive gold medal in the Women’s Skiing SuperPipe final at Winter X Games 13.

Ski Superpipe Official Results  – January 23, 2009
1. Sarah Burke  Whistler, BC, Canada 93.33
2. Jen Hudak  Aspen, Colo. 92.66
3. Jess Cumming  Wilton, Conn. 84.00

Winter X 13 Update – Women’s SNB

Jan. 23, 2009 - Aspen is heating up, even with the soupy fog that’s hanging over Buttermilk. Despite the conditions, the riders are killing it on the slopes. Winter X Games 13 (Jan. 22-25) is on and the big action takes place this weekend.

SNB Women’s SuperPipe: With her first run of the elimination round, Torah proved she is the number one to watch in the pipe. The crowd thought they had seen it all with Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark posting a remarkable 95.00 out of 100 on her second run. But Torah, making good on her promise to show some new tricks, cemented her place as the most technical rider with a switch backside 7 to a cab 7 and posting an all-time high score of 97.33.  ”I am so happy to be in tomorrow’s final,” said Torah.

SNB Women’s Slopestyle: Noticeably absent from the comp is Jamie Anderson, who pulled out due to an injury sustained at the Burton Open.  Brit Jenny Jones, no stranger to London fog, topped the pack of 11 competitors in Friday morning’s Slopestyle Elims despite the hazy miasma hanging over the mountain.

Comp Schedule

Check out the Women’s Superpipe Practice (view in HQ if you can)

Women’s Superpipe Qualifying

1. Torah Bright / 97.66 / Cooma, Australia
2. Kelly Clark / 95.00 / Mount Snow, Vt.
3. Hannah Teter / 86.66 / South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
4. Ellery Hollingsworth / 85.66 / Darien, Conn.
5. Gretchen Bleiler / 84.66 / Aspen, Colo.
6. Kaitlyn Farrington / 73.66 / Bellevue, Idaho
7. Kjersti Oestgaard Buass / 73.33 / Trondheim, Norway
8. Maddy Schaffrick / 64.33 / Steamboat Springs, Colo.
9. Molly Aguirre / 62.66 / Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
10. Faye Gulini / 55.33 / Vail, Colo.
11. Leslie Glenn / 51.00 / Breckenridge, Colo.
12. Meg Pugh / 49.66 / Cottonwood Heights, Utah
13. Tricia Byrnes / 48.00 / Aspen, Colo.
14. Lizzy Beerman / 37.00 / Weston, Vt

Snowboard: Tahoe teen wins 07/08 Women’s TTR World Championship

April 2, 2008 -  17-year-old Jamie Anderson has won the Women’s TTR World Tour Championship after killing it at the Slopestyle event at the Roxy Chicken Jam in Mammoth California on Monday.

Following a season of tense competition, it all came down to the Roxy event.  Torah Bright and Kelly Clark took top honors in the Halfpipe, as Bright held on to her Tour Lead from the US Open and Clark’s 1st place performance moved her ahead of Anderson going into the final event.

It was at the Chicken Jam Slopestyle where Jamie Anderson would rise to the occasion with a picture perfect performance to become the 07/08 Women’s Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour Champion.

Going into the Championship there was less than a 40 point spread between the top three snowboarders – Torah Bright, Kelly Clark, and Jaime Anderson. With a total of 981.62 points for the season, the Tahoe teen took home $25 000 for Monday’s win, plus another $100 000 for taking the TTR championship. Torah came in second and Kelly rounded out the podium. Wow – that was a Pretty Tough season!

Torah tops TTR World Tour

March 26, 2008 – Is Australian snowboarder Torah Bright on her way to winning her second TTR World Snowboard Tour championship? It’s a good bet after winning the halfpipe event at the US Open in Stratton, Vermont last weekend, edging out Jenny Jones and Kelly Clark in the TTR rankings.

There is, however, one event left this season that will determine whether or not Torah becomes the 2008 TTR World Snowboard Tour Champion. The ultimate title will be decided at this weekend’s Roxy Chicken Jam Slopestyle competition at California’s Mammoth Mountain.  

Currently in fourth place in the TTR women’s rankings, Jenny Jones could have been a contender – but is most probably out with an injury.  Jamie Anderson, currently World Number 2 and just nine points behind Torah, will provide the biggest challenge for the top spot – especially with her Tahoe honed park skills.  Either way, you know it’s going to be one of the most exciting women’s snowboard events of the season…stay tuned!

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