COPPER MOUNTAIN — It’s never too early to hit a hot streak, even in the cool world of competitive snowboarding.
Just ask Louie Vito, reigning champion of the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Series, who set the pace for a potential repeat performance with a convincing halfpipe win at the season-opening event Saturday. The victory in snowy conditions at Copper was his third in a row dating back to last season’s Grand Prix, the series used to select the U.S. Olympic Team next winter.
“The last two years I haven’t made finals at the first Grand Prix and that’s kinda been a bummer. But it’s nice going into the rest of the season with the win and knowing that you have that accomplishment,” Vito said. “Once you get that first taste of a win, it’s hard to settle for anything less than that.”
Vito credited a new emphasis on amplitude — the height tricks are performed above the lip of the 18-foot halfpipe — for boosting his winning score of 47.2 points above the international field of 20 finalists. His run, which included two 1080-degree spins, two 900s and a requisite straight air, set the high mark of 46.3 points in the first round of competition before he topped it on his second lap through the pipe.
“After his first run he said, ‘Coach, I want to get a better score.’ So he didn’t change anything, but he went bigger and better,” U.S. Snowboarding halfpipe coach Mike Jankowski said.
Vito was joined on the podium by Breckenridge rider and two-time X Games halfpipe champion Steve Fisher (44.0) and Finland’s Antti Autti (43.6), another X Games champ.
After falling on an attempted 1080 on the final hit of his first run, Fisher scaled back his second run due to a slow, snow-covered halfpipe.
The women’s competition saw 2002 Olympic gold medalist and reigning Grand Prix champion Kelly Clark of Vermont pick up right where she left off last season with a third consecutive Grand Prix win of her own with a top score of 43.2.
Gretchen Bleiler of Aspen and Clair Bidez of Minturn fell on consecutive runs, dropping Bleiler to sixth place (29.3) and Bidez to eighth (17.7).
“I think I had a mental day,” said Bleiler, another multiple X Games champ. “I was throwing a run that I haven’t done yet this season. I landed my stock run in qualifying, but the last thing I wanted to do today was the same old thing. I definitely took a risk doing that run and not landing it, but feel better doing that than landing a stock run just to get on the podium.”
Japan’s Soko Yamaoka finished second with a score of 37.6 while 2006 Olympic gold medalist Hannah Teter of Vermont rounded out the podium at 37.5. Madeline Schaffrick of Steamboat Springs finished fourth (36.6) in her first Grand Prix final.
Scott Willoughby: 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com
