Jason from Snowboard Magazine entered The North Face Masters competition at Snowbird. The contest got delayed by two weather days after Utah got it’s biggest dump of the season. In order to cram the contest into one day each competitor got one run on Silver Fox to show their stuff. Jason popped on the helmet cam and got her done. Looks like a great run on epic snow.
The best battle it out for their spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.
Snowbird, UT, January 25, 2010 – After two days of being grounded due to weather and unsafe snow conditions, The North Face Masters was finally given the green light today on Snowbird’s famed Silver Fox venue. With nearly seven feet of snow in seven days, competitors have had to put themselves on hold, although they were treated to several epic days of riding the greatest snow on earth. As the athletes boarded the tram this morning, the nervous anticipation permeated through the crowd of eager riders. The women were slated to start things off, but low visibility threatened to shut things down yet again. Fortunately, the fog began to lift and the middle and bottom portion of the venue revealed its powdery goodness. By eleven o’clock the riders were on the course laying down smooth lines through untracked fields of fresh. With an abundance of soft landings to be bombed, the women showed their fearlessness as they hucked themselves off every terrain feature in sight. Squaw Valley’s Iris Lazzareschi slayed a technical line down the east side of the venue just as the clouds parted, if only for a brief moment. The windlips up high were great and the course was fun, said Iris after her run. Other standouts included Snowbird locals Kaitlin Locke and Laura Dewey. However, it was former Master’s champ, Shannan Yates flawless performance that earned her the coveted Katana Sword.
With the conclusion of the women’s competition, the men prepared for their assault on the course. Due to the delays brought on by weather, this event would be one run and done style, so every turn meant the difference between in and out of the rankings. Heavy hitters, Rob Kingwill and Travis Rice, promised to bring the best to the table, and the crowds weren’t disappointed. Some world-class billy-goating high up on the venue marked Rob’s run, and his solid stomp of a 30+ footer at the bottom of the course drew applause from all in attendance. Always the showman, Rice started out his run with a big slash for the cameras up top and several big airs over peppery take-offs throughout the venue. After his run, Travis simply said, Damn fine course, damn fine snow. As the comp continued, the international riders from New Zealand, France, Japan, Russia and Canada made their countries proud as they carved and hucked their way through the course. Another fine performance came from the event’s oldest rider Dave Watson, 41 years young, as he tore up the Fox and went huge at the bottom. When asked what was going through his mind as he sent it over the last cliff, Dave laughed and said, I hope I don’t hit those rocks. By the time the dust settled and the judges conversed, Mark Carter of Jackson Hole was crowned the winner of the men’s division. Fluidity and aggressiveness were the hallmarks of his run, and he noted, I just wanted to do something that nobody else had done.
Yates and Carter will defend their titles at the next Masters event in two weeks at Crystal Mountain in Washington.
Everyone knows that Utah has some of the most iconic spots in the snowboard world. Head over to Nike 6.0 and show some local pride by voting up your favorite spot in Utah to jib. Then go shred it for real.
While magazines, filmers and athletes always try to find fresh locations, there are a handful of jib spots around North America so legendary that it seems we never go a season without a crew sessioning at at least one of them. And all the years of innovation that have gone down at these spots makes them relevant in any winter.
So this winter, Nike 6.0 is creating the GREATEST HITS Park at Mt. Seymour, BC to support the local shred community and bring innovative park design to Mt. Seymour by recreating three legendary features that have played a part in snow-culture history.
Read more at Snowboard-Mag.com.
The Utah choices for these classic hits are:
The Snowbird Wall Ride
The Rail Garden
The national spotlight stokes Ogden and Snowbasin Resort this weekend. The Winter Dew Tour will stomp its landing tomorrow at Snowbasin! The event is FREE and runs January 14-17. The Winter Dew Tour will be bringing all of their Pro friends including Simon Dumont, Steve Fisher, Hannah Teter and Utah’s very own Tom Wallisch to compete in the second stop of the tour. Watch the best in the world throw down tricks that will make your jaw drop. If you are inspired by the world’s best, take advantage of Snowbasin’s reduced lift ticket for Friday only at $30. You must mention “Dew Tour” when purchasing the ticket to get a discount. Check out the complete schedule of events (http://www.allisports.com/event-info-snowbasin-2010) ‘cause you don’t want to miss the superpipe and slopestyle action. Parking is available at Snowbasin Resort during the Winter Dew Tour. In addition for rider and spectator convenience, FREE park and ride transportation will be offered. Buses will leave the park -n- ride lots approximately every 20-30 minutes depending on time of day. The morning hours they will leave every 25-30 minutes, in peak hours they will leave for Snowbasin every 15-20 minutes.
Park-N-Ride Lots:
- WSU Dee Event Center – South Side
- Staker Parson Lot – West of UTA South Weber Park-n-Ride Lot
Hours:
- Friday, January 15th: 10 AM - 5 PM
- Saturday, January 16th: 9:30 AM - 8:30 PM
- Sunday, January 17th: 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM
See you out there this weekend and don’t forget to stop by festival village and visit the Ski Utah booth.
Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort late last week opened its Eagle Superpipe, Pick ‘N Shovel and Jonesy’s terrain parks in time for the holiday season.
“The cold temperatures we’ve received over the last few weeks have been great for snowmaking, superpipe and terrain park building,” said Jeremy Cooper, Park City Mountain Resort’s new terrain park manager. “We’ve spent endless man hours building the pipe and park over the last few weeks to provide the best possible product for potential Olympians who will use our pipe as a training ground for the 2010 Winter Games.”
Park City Mountain Resort’s Eagle Superpipe is the first and largest Superpipe to open in Utah for the 2009-10 season. The historic pipe, where U.S. athletes swept the men’s podium and won gold in the women’s event during the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, will entertain the masses with Olympians again. The U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix makes its final stop at Park City Mountain Resort for back-to-back night competitions, Jan. 22-23, after which the winners will be crowned and the 2010 U.S. Snowboarding Olympic halfpipe team will be named.
Pick ‘N Shovel terrain park, located at the base of the resort, has intermediate to advanced features including five jumps ranging from 30 to 50 feet and up to ten jib features. Jonesy’s terrain park, located off the Bonanza lift, is suited for beginner to intermediate terrain park users and includes ten features.
The PayDay terrain park will remain open with jib features for the remainder of the season. Beginning Christmas Day the PayDay jib park will be lit for night skiing.
THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS of live music, theater, art, film, dance performances and fireworks downtown.
EVE happens at Gallivan Center, Temple Square, The Gateway,Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Pierpont Avenue, and other downtown locations.
EVEslc.com
The Utah Transit Authority is gearing up for its regular service to ski areas.
Bus service to Little Cottonwood Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon will start Sunday. The routes serve Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude. UTA also provides service to Sundance Ski Resort in Utah County.
Connections for the buses can be made in downtown Salt Lake City, the University of Utah and at several TRAX stops along the Wasatch Front.
On the Net:
How was opening day at the Canyons? Check it out. Were you there? Tell us about it.
Quad Wednesdays At Brighton. 4 Ski for the Price of One! That’s $15 each. And to top it off the money goes to CHAIR-ity. Get it? Okay, not funny. But don’t miss out. Here are the dates when Quad Wednesday are going down and who it benefits. Come on out, fill up a quad chair with your bro’s and do something CHAIR-itable this holiday season.
