The only real surprise in the US Grand Prix Mammoth Slopestyle event was that Chaz “Chuck G” Guldemond sat on his first run and had to take another. Other than than, it was the usual huck fest.
We were secondarily surprised at how embarrassingly shallow the women’s slopestyle pool really is. The women’s finals were made up of Jamie Anderson and seven girls who could barely 50-50 and straight air their way down the course. In their defense it was a big course and some of the more talented girls had some trouble with their landings, but no-grab straight airs should not get anyone on a podium at a “national” competition. Oh, if you wondered, Jamie Anderson won again.
We didn’t even watch the Mammoth Halfpipe comp on Saturday, March 5, 2011, but apparently Steamboat Springs’ Matt Ladley delivered a “back 5, front 9, back 9, front 10, cab 10,” to claim victory over Greg Bretz and Louie Vito. “I feel great. It’s hard to explain. It’s surreal. I got a victory lap up there and I was thinking, ‘I already won, this is crazy,'” Ladley said. “I knew I put down a solid first run but I saw a lot of those guys landing their doubles, but it turns out it held up pretty well.”
On the women’s side Kelly Clark continued her complete and utter domination of women’s halfpipe riding. “It’s great to come out and get another win here. More than the placing, I’m happy with my riding. That’s the most important thing for me and the good placing follows that,” Clark said.Anderson, Guldemond Take Slopestyle Grand Prix
MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN, CA (Mar. 4) – The sun was shining down as local favorite Chaz Guldemond (Reno, NV) and Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA) put together incredible slopestyle snowboarding runs to win the Paul Mitchell Progression Session during the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain.
The competition, which featured two rails, a “dance floor” and a series of jumps, awarded a $7,500 prize purse to the winner, not to mention ample rations of Paul Mitchell products to style their hair.
The men’s competition was anyone’s game thanks to some on course spills that opened the doors to the field. Stratton Mountain School’s Spencer Shaw (Stratton Mountain, VT) led following the first run and held the spot throughout run two until Guldemond swooped in for the win during the last run of the competition.
Shaw whipped out a backside 9 and front 10 to take second and Brett Esser (Silverthorne, CO) had a cab 10 and a backside 10 in his run for third.
The women’s competition was slightly less suspenseful as Anderson led out of the gate, throwing a back 3 that set her apart from the group of women competitors. Her second run was a killer victory lap, putting together another backside 3 and some huge airs.
Anderson was followed in second by Danielle Adams (Evergreen, CO) and Jamie Madrid (Fontana, CA) for third.
The Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix continues Saturday with men’s and women’s halfpipe. Click on the link to watch it live at http://www.facebook.com/ussnowboarding and follow the announcers live Twitter updates at http://twitter.com/#!/GrandPrix_Live.
Clark, Ladley Land Halfpipe Win at Mammoth
MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN, CA (Mar. 5) – Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow, VT) was back at it again Saturday as she, joined by first-time Grand Prix winner U.S. Snowboarding Rookie Matt Ladley (Steamboat Springs, CO), took to the top of the halfpipe podium at the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain. The win cemented Clark’s Grand Prix overall title, along with fellow champion Louie Vito (Sandy, UT) who was third for the day.
“It’s great to come out and get another win here. More than the placing, I’m happy with my riding. That’s the most important thing for me and the good placing follows that,” Clark said.
Clark was followed in second by Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO) and Sarah Conrad of Canada was third.
In favor of securing an early lead, Clark put together a run she knew she had on lock with a front 9, back 5, front 7, cab 7 and stalefish.
“It’s great to come out and land your first run in finals. I’ve been working on increasing my standard for what that is, and that’s my stock final,” Clark said.
The event marked the seventh win in-a-row for Clark, who moves onto the Burton U.S. Open this week and hopes to add more wins and titles to her arsenal.
“This is definitely a big win for me. I came away with the Dew Tour title and the Grand Prix title now. I’m looking forward to next week and seeing if I can’t step it up in the TTR and the Global Open series,” Clark said.
Bleiler was all smiles with her second place finish, considering she had fun and was also able to land her back 9, a trick she has been in the process of perfecting.
“I had a really tough day yesterday, so I decided to take a little pressure off myself. I feel like sometimes I put too much on and I hit a wall. So I decided to let it go today,” Bleiler said. “Instead of doing front 9, back 9, I decided to work on my crippler, which is a strength of mine. Then I got my back 9 on my second run and I am so happy with that.”
Ladley, on the other hand, had no expectations for the day, and couldn’t believe he was standing at the top of the pipe before his second run with the win already secured.
“I feel great. It’s hard to explain. It’s surreal. I got a victory lap up there and I was thinking, ‘I already won, this is crazy,'” Ladley said. “I knew I put down a solid first run but I saw a lot of those guys landing their doubles, but it turns out it held up pretty well.”
Ladley took the victory with a back 5, front 9, back 9, front 10, cab 10.
“This is my first time winning a Grand Prix, and my first time really winning a major event. So it feels good. I’ve been on the podium a couple of times, but I’ve been hoping for this one for a while,” Ladley said.
Following behind Ladley were hometown favorite Greg Bretz (Mammoth Mountain, CA) for second and Vito with the third.
“It’s really good that I was able to come home and perform well. It’s kind of bragging rights that I can put it down at home,” Bretz said.
And, while it wasn’t the exact result he was looking for, Vito was still pleased to come away with his second series title of the season.
“It is what it is. I wish I were a little higher, obviously. You always want to do better and better. I stayed on my feet after a weird first run. I took home the overall, which is good, so I am happy about that, too,” Vito said.
The event marked the final tour stop of the Grand Prix series for the 2011 season.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2011 Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix
Mammoth Mountain, CA – Mar. 5, 2011
Halfpipe Snowboarding
Men
1. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, CO, 45.40
2. Greg Bretz, Mammoth Mountain, CA, 43.90
3. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 43.00
4. Trevor Jacob, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 41.60
Women
1. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 48.20
2. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, CO, 44.50
3. Sarah Conrad, Canada, 35.90
4. Ellery Hollingsworth, Stratton, VT, 34.60
7. Kaitlyn Farrington, Sun Valley, ID
8. Clair Bidez, Minturn, CO, 14.20
