Copper Mountain, CO - Reigning overall champions Louie Vito (Sandy, UT) and Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT) boosted the best runs of the day to win their third Grand Prix halfpipe competitions in a row as the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix, presented by Sprint, opened for the season Saturday at Copper Mountain, CO.
"The last two years I haven't made finals at the first Grand Prix and that's kinda been a bummer. But, It's nice going into the rest of the season with the win and knowing that you have that accomplishment," Vito said. "Hopefully the rest of the season follows in the right direction like this." Vito landed two identical runs of back-to-back 1080s, back-to-back 900s and a straight air, but it was his amplitude in the second run that got him the top men's spot. "Louie stomped both of his runs and they were super clean," said U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Head Coach Mike Jankowski. "After his first run he said, 'coach, I want to get a better score.' So he didn't change anything, but he went bigger and better." Vito was joined on the podium by fellow U.S. Snowboarding rider and X Games gold medalist Steve Fisher (Breckenridge, CO). "Once you get that first taste of a win, it's hard to settle for anything less than that," Vito said. "With how many good riders there are in the first contest it's nice to start my season that way."
Clark Owns Both Runs
While Clark has said that this is a season for her to reflect on her riding as a whole, as opposed to being in it for the competition, she needed no extra help in winning the Grand Prix in Copper as she threw down the two highest scoring runs of the day. "It's really encouraging. I didn't know how my approach was going to go today. My focus has really been on the fundamentals these last few months and I'm really excited to have done so well just focusing on the basics," Clark said. "I know once I get more into the technical aspects, it will be a really big strength to me." As far as Jankowski is concerned, Clark's riding focuses will only make her a bigger force to be reckoned with. "Kelly is riding at the top of her game right now, but at the same time she's also looking to improve and take her riding to the next level, so watch out for more great things to come from Kelly," Jankowski said.
Fisher, Teter Land the Podium Spots
Fisher made a repeat from the previous year's opening Grand Prix with another second-place finish after taking a hard spill in his first run. "Absolutely a podium is a success for me - I think for anyone," Fisher said. "For not landing the run that I wanted perfectly, second place is awesome." "The pressure was on after he fell on his last hit of his first run," Jankowski added. "The team was backing him up, he got his head on straight and he stomped and unbelievably clean run to bump himself up into the podium." Teter made a successful return to competition after taking a season off and was riding strongly as she took the third place spot. "It was really fun. It was the first time for Copper hosting it and it's going to be here for the next couple years. They do a really good job," Teter said. "Right in the beginning it was super good so I'm just stoked to be here." For Teter, the podium spot was especially important as her winnings go directly to a village she sponsors in Kenya called Kirindon. "I'm really excited with being on the podium. I come in with the intention of wanting to do really well, especially for my kids to make more money for them," Teter said.
Rookies Make it Big Time
The day was a standout for the freestyle rookies who sent four of their own into the halfpipe finals and came out more successful than they could have hoped. The 14-year-old phenomenon Madeline Schaffrick (Steamboat Springs, CO) threw down a heel side drop into a front 7, cab seven, front five and back seven to finish fourth. "It's amazing. I mean - Gretchen Bleiler is standing next to me! To be at the same competition level riding I can't believe it. Just being in the same pipe as them is amazing," Schaffrick said. "She made the final her first time at the Grand Prix and really all we wanted her to do was land a run, but really our goal was way more than accomplished. We're so proud of her," Freestyle Development Coach Bud Keene said. Rookie Kaitlyn Farrington (Bellevue, ID) finished seventh in the women's halfpipe, and Broc Waring (Edwards, CO) and Ross Baker (Squaw valley, CA) finished 17th and 19th respectively. "Broc put down a good one and he's only 16 years old, so not bad. Ross is also on fire. He didn't put his runs down today but he will," Keene said.
2009 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix - Copper Halfpipe Results:
Men
1. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 47.20
2. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, CO, 44.00
3. Antti Autti, Finland, 43.60
4. Daniel Friberg, Switzerland, 43.40
5. Dustin Craven, Canada, 42.00
6. Andy Finch, Truckee, CA, 41.60
15. JJ Thomas, Golden, CO, 33.70
17. Broc Waring, Edwards, CO, 31.50
18. Danny Davis, Highland, MI, 28.30
19. Ross Baker, Squaw Valley, CA, 20.30
Women
1. Kelly Clark, West Dover, VT, 43.20
2. Soko Yamaoka, Japan, 37.60
3. Hannah Teter, Belmont, VT, 37.50
4. Madeline Schaffrick, Steamboat Springs, CO, 36.60
5. Elena Hight, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 32.30
6. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, CO, 29.30
7. Kaitlyn Farrington, Bellevue, ID, 24.20
8. Clair Bidez, Minturn, CO, 17.70
Louie Vito goes to show you that you can party with Lil John and still rip. Here he is winning the 1st stop of the Grand Prix. To win he did a 10-10-9-9-straight air
The Grand Prix pipe comps have a rule that at least one wall has to be a straight air. That is sick as it forces riders to go for style. Antti Autti gets his straight air in - without the style
Annti Autti finished 3rd in the Grand Prix pipe
Charles Reid can go big
Danny Davis did not score super high in the finals but as you can see, he did probably the best 1080’s of the day; big, solid grabs and they were on his first wall to boot
Dustin Craven got “Method of the Month” in the current issue of Snowboarder. Here is a follow up
Elena Hight gets stoned (Volcom) and high at the same time
Soon after Andy Finch grabbed his nose he continued to hold it and alley oop back in to fakie
Gretchen Bleiler doing a pretty weak backside 540. It must be said that she was changing up her run from her usual crippler on the 1st wall to a 900. I mean a 900 on the first wall? She kinda sketched them which caused speed loss and an absence from the podium
Gretchen said she loved last season; doing a lot of freedriding and putting passion back into her snowboarding game
Hannah Teter tail grabbing into 3rd place
JJ Thomas slobs through his mandatory straight air
Justin Lamoureux must be hard to judge since he goes from natural to switch so often. This switch Haakon flip shows how smooth he is switch
Kelly goes as big as a lot of the males. Kelly doing a 720 on her way to yet another well deserved 1st place. I wanted to see Kelly-Hannah-Gretchen contest but it never really panned out that way
You think winning gets old? Doubt it- Kelly Clark
Kazuhiro Kokubo aint from Boston, for sure but this 1080 cross’s international borders and oceans all the way to Japan
Markus Malin, came from Finland to loft big frontside airs
The pipe at Copper Mountain. Fresh snow made it a little slow. Not to mention the temperature was changing fast. Saturday the high was in the 30’s and Sunday morning it was about -1 degrees f
Ryoh Aono doing the biggest airs of the day
Second place women’s finisher Soko Yamaoka Mctwisting the day away
Steve Fisher getting a little stretch action
Steve needs to be flexible to pull 1080’s. Steve scored second place today and even had the option of sleeping in his own bed in Breckenridge
Event winner Louie Vito looking pretty handsome, I don’t mean that in a gay way. Louie’s boss Todd Richards is probably more proud of Vito winning than being in Out Cold
Paul Mitchell Progression Session
U.S. Snowboarding rookie Jaime Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA) and Madison Ellsworth (Frisco, CO) took to the slope in a huge way Saturday night, winning the Paul Mitchell Progression Session at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix presented by Sprint at snowy Copper Mountain, CO. The run was kitted out with a bomb drop into a cliff style step down and finishing with a huge log stall. The musical stylings of DJ Majai, who came out of retirement to perform for the Progression Session, had the crowd and riders entertained by fresh music. Anderson, who came to town to compete in the Progression Session, said she was intimidated by the weather and course at first, but once her fears settled she came out on top. "It feels great. I'm so happy to come out here and ride. Everyone is out here and having a blast so I'm stoked. It was a good time," Anderson said. "I was pretty scared when I got here, but I hit the jump and it felt really good. This little feature [the log] wasa a little scary, but everything was good." Ellsworth had to beat out the men's heat, which was stacked with talent, including last year's first Progression Session winner Tim Humphreys (Basking Ridge, NJ). "It feels more than amazing and I'm really happy about it," Ellsworth said. "I was just having fun on the jump and it [the log] was interesting at first I wasn't sure what to do or where to go but I figured it out."
The Grand Prix at Copper Mountain is wrapped up, but the action will return Jan. 29 - Feb. 1 at Boreal Resort in the Tahoe area of California.
Check out the Paul Mitchell Progression Session Report HERE