Halfpipe and Rail Jams
Unfortunately injuries happen. Its the nature of our sport. They can (and will) happen at the most inconvenient of times. This weekend happened to be one of the biggest weekends of snowboarding the North Shore has ever seen. Fortunately for me there were plenty of events even a gimp could attend, so missing the 48 hours of winter, thanks to a strained MCL and meniscus, was not all that bad.
I got a call on Saturday morning from a friend who had come across two VIP passes to the LG FIS Snowboard World Cup Halfpipe event taking place later that day on Cypress. I gladly accepted the offer and we rolled up just in time to catch the finals. Some of the best pipe riders in the world were in attendance and all were throwing down under the slightly snowy skies. From the bottom of the pipe, we witnessed some of the greatest riding any of the local mountains have ever seen.
The pipe.
All the men were killing it but, to nobody’s surprise, Shaun White dominated the field and added another notch to the bedpost. The highlights of White’s winning run was his massive first hit and back to back 1080′s. Coming in second was Ryoh Aono from Japan and Iouri Podladtchikov from Switzerland rounded out third.
Kelly Clark took the win for the women with a mix of backside and front 5′s, lofty airs and a front 7. In second was Jiayu Liu of China and Hannah Teeter took third.
After sampling a few bevys in the athletes tent, we dropped down to Park Royal to check the LG Mountian Festival Rail Jam. The setup was fairly mellow which meant the riders could get tech if they wanted to. Jed Anderson slayed it and took home first. Jesmond Dubeau took second and Cory Gallon came third. For the women, only three competed and Jess Kimura ended up on top.
Rail Jam on top of Park Royal? Rad.
My camera could not keep up with the amazingness.
On Sunday the Park Royal rooftop played host to some of the local riding talent with the Shop Rail Takedown. Riders from Pacific Boarder, Second Wave, and Showcase competed for a 37 inch flat screen TV for their shop and $100 cash for their pockets. The riding was almost, if not as, impressive as the pros the day before, proving that the Vancouver riding scene is not to be taken lightly.
Blue skies, slush, and metal make for a perfect Sunday afternoon.
Front board.
Gettin the shot.
Pressin.
Spencer Lundin, who had been riding all night on Grouse Mountain, scored the TV for Second Wave and the $100 cash.
Lundin earning it.
Freestyling for the win.
All in all this weekend was a great taste of what is to come one year from now when the world comes to play in our backyard.
Video of both events to come soon!
-cj
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A Weekend Full of Events
The local scene is going off this weekend with the most action I’ve seen in years.
As you may have already heard, 48 Hours of Winter is set to kick off on Friday, February 13th at 9am. The event runs until Sunday night at 10pm. There’s a lot going on during those technically 63 hours. There’ll be music, the DC Enjoy the Ride…More Endurance Challenge and much much more. For those of you with a significant other, The Observatory is taking bookings for that special day that I can never remember. If you’re like me and don’t want to leave the mountain to celebrate and such, just invite your date up to the top of the mountain. Snowboarding…girlfriend…tough choice.
In addition to 48 Hours of Winter, The 2009 FIS Snowboard World Cup is going to be in town as well. Making use to the official training venue for the 2010 winter games, the Boardercross (Thursday and Friday) and Halfpipe (Saturday) events will be taking place on Cypress Mountain. Finally, riders that can actually make use of that monster superpipe. The line up of shredders is impressive too. Competition for Candian riders Brad Martin, Crispin Lipscomb, Jeff Batchelor and Justin Lamoureux is sizeable, containing the likes of Shaun White and Danny Kass from the USA, and Japanese sensation Ryoh Aono. On the women’s end of things, top Canadians Maelle Ricker and Dominique Maltais face off with international sensations Torah Bright of Australia and Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter from the USA. There will be no parking on site, except for those that bought one of the 300 spectator tickets. There are still a bunch available at the West Vancouver Aquatic Center for the Friday and Sunday events, Boardercross and Slalom, respectively. You didn’t actually think the halfpipe tickets would still be around 3 days before the event, did you?
As part of the World Cup, LG is putting on a rail jam on top of Park Royal Shopping Center. The entire weekend is under the umbrella of the LG Mountain Festival and will feature A-Trak and Team Canada DJ’s as part of the entertainment, as well as an invite only City Rail Jam on Friday (qualifying) and Saturday (finals) and Shop Rail Takedown on Sunday. As an added bonus, LG and Powder Room will be putting on the XOXO Fashion show and Teenie Weenie Bikini show to, and I quote, “Showcase the latest in sexy lingerie and swimwear.” I don’t know what that has to do with snowboarding but hey, there’ll be plenty of babes. Oh, and lots of sick riding, so be sure to take some time and go check it out. Best of all, the cost of admission is the low low price of free. Shaun White will be on hand with Red Bull for all you little boys and girls that want autographs.
As for the slalom events…well…it’s slalom.
I’ll be running back and forth between Grouse and Park Royal. If you see me around, feel free to stop by and say hi. This is going to be a weekend I won’t soon forget.
The Quiksilver Park is sick! Go ride it.
Sam