Snowmaking crews at Loveland Ski Area were set to begin snowmaking operations Monday night in an effort to become the first ski area in the area to open for the season. The warm temperatures last week have moved out of the area surrounding the Continental Divide, and the snow guns were ready to start shooting the white stuff to complement natural snowfall once the temperature drops below 28 degrees.
ACTION SPORTS
Sheckler reigns on AST tour
Skating to first place in the Skate Park Finals at last weekend’s Salt Lake City stop of the AST Dew Tour, Ryan Sheckler sealed the deal on his third straight Dew Cup overall championship. With 375 points in the standings, the 2005 and 2006 champ of the 3-year-old series is uncatchable at next month’s finale in Orlando, Fla.
Shooting to tack another win onto his own three-in-a-row streak on the ’07 Tour, Shaun White dropped a huge first-round run that looked like a winner in the weekend’s skateboard vert competition. But Señor Blanco couldn’t hold back the charge of technical masters Bucky Lasek and Pierre-Luc Gagnon, who went on to snag the title in Salt Lake City.
FMX rider Nate Adams sewed up his Dew Cup podium spot. The BMX vert, dirt and park contests are much closer, and will be decided in Orlando.
SKIING
A new, sober Bode Miller
Bode Miller, the New Hampshire World Cup champ who once bragged about skiing sloshed, has quit drinking, the Boston Herald reports.
Miller, who many believe partied away his chances at five medals in the 2006 Winter Olympics, has “chosen not to drink this year,” said one snow snoop.
Miller made headlines when he told “60 Minutes” just before the Olympics that it’s not easy “to ski when you’re wasted.”
Heard
“Everyone is in our sports because they are passionate about the sports. There weren’t parents saying, ‘Hey, go get on that skateboard.'”- Action sports superstar Travis Pastrana, above, on the difference between action sports and team sports at the AST Dew Tour stop in Salt Lake City last weekend (Source: Salt Lake Tribune)
