Someone’s got to wear the uniforms until Mr. White climbs back in, right? And a few of these snowboarders might actually go to Russia for the Olympics. So here are the 2013 US Snowboard Team Members.
2013 U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Pro Team
Men Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, CA, Mammoth Charter School) 12/19/90 * Matt Ladley (Chicago, IL, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) 5/17/91 Scotty Lago (Seabrook, NH) 11/12/87 * Benji Farrow (Ludlow, VT; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) 3/8/92 Louie Vito (Sandy, UT) 3/20/88 * Luke Mitrani (Bondville, VT) 7/20/90
Women Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club) 4/10/81 * Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT; Mount Snow Academy) 7/26/83 * Elena Hight (South Lake Tahoe, CA; American School) 8/17/89 * Ellery Hollingsworth (Darien, CT; Stratton Mountain School) 9/2/91** Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT; Okemo Mountain School) 1/27/87 * Maddy Schaffrick (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) 4/24/94 **
2013 U.S. Snowboarding Slopestyle Pro Team
Men Chas Guldemond (Reno, NV) 4/22/87 Sage Kotsenburg (Park City, UT) 7/27/93 Eric Willett (Breckenridge, CO) 1/2/88 Women Jessika Jenson (Rigby, ID) 8/7/91 Jordie Karlinski (Snowmass Village, CO; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club) 8/24/89 Ty Walker (Stowe, VT) 3/3/97
So what about the Alpine racers? Or Boardercross racers? Who? Exactly. Everyone knows, they don’t count. For the rest of the official word, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Surfers in the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Memory of Andy Irons rolled all the way into Round 4 before the light began to fade. And it was a day of epic surf and hits and misses. Sebasitan Zietz secured the 2012 Vans Triple Crown win in Round 2, took out 2011 Triple Crown winner John John Florence in Round 3, and then topped Damien Hobgood and Dane Reynolds in the non-elimination Round 4. Shane Dorian took out Alejo Muniz in Round 2 and then did the same to Mick Fanning on Round 3 ending Fanning’s slim hopes of a world title. Joel Parkinson quieted any negative voices when he commandingly dominated C.J. Hobgood and Kieren Perrow in his Round 4 heat.
“It’s good to get in the water and start the game,” Parkinson said. “It was torture watching yesterday, but it’s a nervous frustration. You’ve got to scramble at the start and stay patient at the end. I tried to get a couple of early ones and then wait. I got folded on a crazy left and then found that perfect drainer on the right. Backdoor can offer the best section to lay one over and it had the perfect part to lay one over. It felt so good to do that.”
At Pipeline in December surfers either advance out of their heat or their season comes to an abrupt end. And that’s so often makes the Pipeline Masters a bitter sweet event.
The next heat will see World Title hopeful Kelly Slater face off against Gabriel Medina and Josh Kerr in Round 4 Heat 3. We’ll see that either Monday or maybe on Friday when the next swell is supposed to arrive. We’ll keep you posted on the call.
For the official word from the ASP including results, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Think ground effects lighting on a skateboard are stupid? Maybe you haven’t seen this. Click the jump to see how Samadhi Productions did it. [click to continue…]
In one of the most amazing Vans Triple Crown runs in its 30 year History Kauai’s Sebastian Zietz, 24, took the 2012 title with a win at Haleiwa, a third at Sunset, and after eliminating John John Florence in round 3 has won his fourth round heat and moved directly into the quarter finals of the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Memory of Andy Irons.
“I’m super stoked,” Zietz said. “I’m just doing it for everyone in Kauai and everyone in Hawaii. Thanks everyone who comes down and watches us, you’re the reason we have a job. Thanks to Andy (Irons), you’re the one giving me the power. I’m so stoked. I don’t know what to say. It’s just amazing. I’d like to thank everyone who was a part of it. So many people have helped me throughout my life. The list goes on and on, you guys know who you are.”
“After our brief hold this morning our new swell is filling in and we’ll get underway with Round 1,” Rich Porta, ASP International Head Judge said. “The surf is expected to build throughout the day and we should see some nice barrels for the opening round of competition.”
For the official word and complete heat draw, follow the jump [click to continue…]
In October 2012, Kelly Slater’s North Shore home was burglarized. Here he talks with KHON2 about the rip-off and what he’s doing to help raise money for people in need during the holidays. For Slater’s handwritten list of things stolen, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Vail Resorts, Inc. has entered into agreements to purchase two premier urban ski areas in the Midwest, Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mount Brighton in Michigan, for total cash consideration of $20 million. Both ski areas serve major snow sports markets in the Midwest with more than 468,000 active skiers and snowboarders in the nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit metropolitan areas.
These two resorts will be added to Vail’s resort portfolio which already includes: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood. To big to fail, right?
The Sprint US Grand Prix Snowboarding event scheduled for December 21-22, 2012 at Park City Mountain Resort has been rescheduled for February 1-2, 2013 thanks to some trouble getting a quality superpipe completed in time (see photo at right).
“Park City Mountain Resort is known for having the best half pipe in the world,” said Krista Parry, Marketing Director, Park City Mountain Resort. “We are more confident we will provide the athletes the type of half pipe they’ve come to expect from us by moving the event to a later date.
Better to wait for snow, right? Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
There weren’t a whole lot of surprises at last night’s (December 7, 2012) Surfer Poll Awards at the Turtle Bay Resort, on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Kelly Slater won his 18th number 1 surfer award and Stephanie Gilmore took home her third. Kai Neville’s Dear Suburbia won for best surf film.
Slater, in spite of winning every year grows more gracious with each award.
“Obviously I’m stoked, it’s been a long time with a lot of support from a lot of people,” said Slater. “It’s definitely nice to be recognized by the surfing community and to come out at the top position. I’m surprised John John didn’t get first. I also thought Dane was going to get it this year—maybe next year. I think they split each other’s votes. They stole the election from each other.”
Congrats, to the winners. One thing: they girls rocked the fashion and the guys, well, lets just say a stripped T-shirts and baggy backpack just doesn’t do it for an event as big as The Surfer Poll Awards.
For the official word, and all the results, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
