Steamboat Springs’ Matt Ladley officially hit snowboarding’s big time last week by taking second at the prestigious Arctic Challenge Quarterpipe event hosted annually by Norwegian snowboarding legend Terje Haakonsen in Oslo.
Competition on the 10- meter-tall quarterpipe has stood as a monument to the limits of transition riding since its inception, and the opportunity was not lost on Ladley, recipient of a rare personal invitation from Haakonsen. The rookie competitor stomped a massive backside rodeo, a backside 540, a backside 720 and a backside 900, all in the 15- to 20-foot range, for a final score of 1,336 points. Arthur Longo won the event with 1,340.
Silver for Puckett.
Aspen’s Casey Puckett opened the 2009 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships with a fifth place in skicross Monday in Japan. Austria’s Andreas Matt won the gold.
Top U.S. qualifier Daron Rahlves of Truckee, Calif., finished ninth overall, and Jake Fiala of Frisco finished 21st.
Canadian Ashleigh McIvor took the women’s gold medal. No U.S. women competed.
Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
