Area athletes made a big impression over the weekend at the second Aspen/Snowmass Open, with five first-place finishes of the eight ski and snowboard events.
More than 300 male and female athletes from five countries took to the Winter X Games terrain park and superpipe of Buttermilk Mountain for ski and snowboard slopestyle and superpipe competition with a total purse of nearly $30,000.
Clair Bidez of Minturn led an all-Colorado podium in women’s snowboard superpipe, followed by Leslie Glenn of Breckenridge and Jordie Karlinski of Snowmass Village in third. Karlinski bumped up to the top of the podium in Sunday’s snowboard slopestyle, matching the result of her male counterpart, Madison Ellsworth of Breckenridge, in the men’s event. Boulder’s Megan Whiteside placed fourth.
Matt Philippi of Breckenridge took top honors Sunday in the men’s ski superpipe, besting Sean Fields of Lake Tahoe, Calif., and New Hampshire’s JP Solberg for the $2,500 prize. Rosalind Groenewoud of Calgary, Alberta, won the women’s event, with Steamboat Springs’ Gina Gmeiner slipping into second place ahead of Jen Hudak of Park City, Utah. Keri Herman of Breckenridge placed fourth.
Herman led another near- sweep by area skiers in the women’s slopestyle event, placing just ahead of Megan Olenick of Carbondale, and Hannah Smith of Telluride was fourth. Ashley Battersby of Park City broke up the otherwise all-Colorado podium in third.
Area riders had less success in men’s snowboard superpipe and ski slopestyle competition, shut out in the events won by Joe Eddy of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., and Colby West of Canterbury, N.H., respectively.
SNOWBOARDING
Steamboat racer stars in Oregon
U.S. Snowboarding rookie team rider Matt Ladley of Steamboat Springs captured his second consecutive Chevrolet Revolution Tour victory Saturday, winning the men’s halfpipe at Mount Bachelor, Ore. Elizabeth Beerman of Vermont’s Stratton Mountain School won the women’s event.
A day before, Conor Meyer of Basalt placed third in the snowboardcross event won by Canadian Jake Holden.
Up for grabs in the Revolution Tour are starting slots for the 2008 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix, the Junior World Championships team, the U.S. Open and the State Farm U.S. Snowboard Cup, a World Cup competition scheduled for March 10-11 in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Top finishers from the tour also receive an invitation to U.S. Snowboarding’s Project Gold, an opportunity to ride with U.S. Snowboarding at the annual summer camp.
