Snowboarding Anyone?

If you ever get a chance to go to a live ski/snowboarding event, DO IT!!! There was rain, snow, sleet, a bit of wind, and some specks of sun. Basically all the winter weather was covered in two days, but it was still more than worth it to be there.

 

Thanks to Shaun White, snowboarding has really made its influence on pop culture and the masses. A lot of people watched the superpipe at the Olympics, and maybe you’re one who watches the other events throughout the year, but I have to tell you, there is nothing like actually being at the event. The crowd is electric regardless of the weather, and getting sprayed with snow as the riders pass is definitely not something you can do from your living room. You need to get up to the mountain and stand in the corral at the bottom of the last slopestyle jump, and climbing up the side of the superpipe to watch the riders fly overhead is mandatory. Don’t forget your camera because you’ll want a picture of the greats flying by. It’s one thing to hear the announcer talk about an awesome run by Shaun White, Louie Vito, Kelly Clark or Kazuhiro Kokubo. It’s another thing entirely to watch them coming down the pipe towards you and hit every wall with precision. So get out to the mountain and check it out!

Slopestyle was a bit wet. There was a constant drizzle and a lot of fog all day, but that didn’t stop the crowds from gathering at the base of the mountain to watch the best riders in the world throw down further up.

Enni Rukajarvi out of Finland took the win for the women. Check out her foggy, slightly soggy run:

Erik Willett took the win for the men with an awesome run and got to finish out the competition with a creative glory run.

A few flurries and some wind greeted everyone on Saturday for the superpipe finals, which is always a big event. Crowds packed in at the bottom to watch the riders as they came down, but the brave ventured up the very slippery slope to stand along the side of the pipe. Climbing up is your best bet if you want to see them soar overhead. It helps to bring snowshoes, and at least dig in steps for where you’ll be standing. On the way down sliding works rather well.

As a side note, you’re going to want to keep an eye on this rider right here, 13 year-old Ayumu Hirano out of Japan. He’s an amazing rider already and came in 5^th in Semi-Final heat 2 for the Men’s competition, and then he won the junior jam on Sunday. He’s a great skateboarder too, so look for him everywhere.

Kelly Clark has been dominating the pipe this season and took the win.

And out of Japan, Kazuhiro Kokubo took the win to make it two in a row at the US Open.

Make sure you check out the Winter X Games Europe for more ski and snowboard action. You can catch it starting on Wednesday on ESPN and ESPN2.


Thanks to Swatch TTR for the videos, and the pics are by me.