Breckenridge – What’s an Olympic snowboarding qualifying competition supposed to do in an off-Olympic season? Exactly that: It’s going off.
After serving its purpose by selecting the best American (and, realistically, human) snowboarding team ever assembled last season, the 2006-07 U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix series kicks off in Breckenridge today and Saturday with a slightly different edge.
Sure, every U.S. Olympic halfpipe competitor, minus his tomato-topped eminence Shaun White, will be in the house for the biggest show of this young season, but it’s the after-hours party that’s literally going to be off the wall.
Led by under-recognized reigning champion Kevin Pearce of Vermont, U.S. Open winner Danny Davis and last year’s “Busta McBoosterton,” a.k.a. Luke Mitrani, Saturday night’s downtown quarterpipe expression session is certain to emerge as the early frontrunner for the title of “Breck’s Most Gnarly” this winter. The single-wall slaying session set a standard for spectators and competitors alike in its debut year, and without the pressure of Olympic qualifying hanging over them, riders are anticipating an even better event.
“It’s definitely a little gnarlier than the halfpipe. The sky is truly the limit in terms of how high you go and what you are capable of doing,” said Breckenridge Team Rider and 2005 quarterpipe finalist Steve Fisher. “If you feel capable of a 20-foot backside 900, that might happen. In the halfpipe that’s probably a little less feasible.”
The mental picture of a manmade wall of snow 32 feet high and nearly 60 feet wide is somewhat easy to conjure. Simply imagine between 8,000 to 9,000 cubic yards of snow being scraped off the streets of Breckenridge, pounded “soft” and stacked up like an Egyptian pyramid in the Miner’s parking lot just off South Main Street. Now add a 200-yard strip of snow over the asphalt, hand-pick about 25 of the world’s best snowboarders and hand over a tow rope behind an 800cc snowmobile aiming for the wall at roughly 50 mph. Now you’re starting to get the picture.
“It’s a lot different than when you are just using gravity, like the halfpipe,” quarterpipe creator Pat Malendowski of Planet Snow Designs said. “It might sound like you’re getting an assist, but I think it’s a lot harder to adjust your timing when you’re getting pulled in behind a machine. Gravity is more predictable.”
No one predicted Mitrani’s 60-foot aerial display under the lights last winter, and no one is certain what lies ahead Saturday at the only North American qualifier for the prestigious Arctic Challenge in Oslo, Norway. But once the competitors complete halfpipe competition on Peak 8 (finals begin at noon), the riders move downtown.
“There really is no practice. You just kind of go into it full speed,” said Fisher, 24. “It’s anybody’s game, really. Just a matter of who’s crazy enough.”
Scott Willoughby can be reached at 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com.
U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix
What: Pro halfpipe and quarterpipe snowboard competition
Where: Breckenridge, Peak 8 Superpipe (halfpipe) and Miner’s parking lot between South Park Avenue and South Main Street (quarterpipe)
Who: U.S. Olympians Danny Kass, Mason Aguirre, Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler along with Breck Team Riders Chad Otterstrom, JJ Thomas, Steve Fisher and other top pros.
Admission: Free
Schedule
Today
Men’s superpipe qualifiers, 8:30 a.m. (all day)
Saturday
Women’s superpipe qualifiers, 8:30 a.m.
Superpipe finals, noon
Progression Session in quarterpipe, 7 p.m.
