COPPER MOUNTAIN — When it comes to the Winter Olympic discipline of snowboard halfpipe competition, there’s only one way to satisfy the ever-expanding appetite for progression: Super-size it.
That appears to be the consensus among contenders and coaches immersed in the current battle to represent the nation that invented the sport when the Olympics get underway less than two months from now in Vancouver. If it isn’t a “superpipe,” don’t expect to see snowboarding’s superstars dropping in anytime soon.
“The 22-foot Zaugg superpipe is now the world standard, and it’s absolutely necessary to have access to these pipes for training,” U.S. Snowboarding coach Bud Keene said during a workout with Olympic gold medalist Shaun White last week before the Grand Prix at Copper Mountain. “We are going to avoid smaller pipes at all costs this year, particularly for those riders with Olympic aspirations.
“It’s counterproductive to use even an 18-footer. The 22-foot pipe is the Olympic standard, and that’s where we want to see our riders focusing their training.”
By now, even casual snowsports fans are somewhat familiar with the concept of a halfpipe. Inspired by skateboarders who discovered the endless momentum of the U-shaped ditches as early as 1975, halfpipe riding quickly crossed over to snow and became one of the original snowboarding events to debut at the 1998 Nagano Games.
But like snowboarding itself, this signature competition venue has grown considerably since Colorado farmer Doug Waugh invented the first “Pipe Dragon” used to carve out the original Olympic halfpipes at Nagano and then Salt Lake City four years later. While early pipes were considered worthy with walls as high as 12 feet, elite riders now snub their noses at monstrosities as deep as 18 feet, considered state of the art only a few years ago.
“I’ve ridden ‘pipe for a long time — through all the progressions from 12-foot to 22-foot — and every time it changes, even from 18-foot to 22-foot, the way you set your tricks changes and you have to relearn them. It’s almost like an entirely different sport,” said Rob Kingwell, 34, the 2002 Olympic team alternate from Jackson, Wyo. “There’s no way anybody wants to step back and have to worry about changing the way they ride and set their tricks. That’s why everybody wants to ride the 22-footers . . . because that’s the next level.”
Dew Tour feels impact
Although the term “superpipe” has never been formally defined, the Olympic standard for 22-foot-high walls (6.5 meters) and width of 64 feet (19.5 meters) cut by the Swiss-made Zaugg Pipe Monster may soon become synonymous. And now that the days of snowboarders playing down the importance of Olympic success are long gone, the new standards don’t bode well for even established venues like Breckenridge, where the 18-foot pipe has been recognized among the best in North America for years.
Recreationally, says pipe cutter Elliot Cone of Snow Park Technologies, an 18-footer is plenty of pipe for the vast majority of riders to tackle. But it’s the speed and hang time that only a 22-foot competition pipe can provide that separates the contenders from the pretenders.
Despite hefty purses and guaranteed television coverage on NBC, several Olympic snowboarding contenders say they will skip this week’s Winter Dew Tour contest at Breckenridge because its superpipe isn’t super enough.
“I’m trying not to compete in any 18-foot pipes,” 2002 Olympic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler of Aspen said. “It’s different, and it kind of messes with your timing when you go back and forth.”
Other top riders, including Olympic hopeful Louie Vito and gold medalists White and Kelly Clark, have expressed similar sentiments, potentially turning the fledgling Winter Dew Tour into more of a skier-oriented showcase during this Olympic year. Halfpipe skiing — a Dew Tour staple — has yet to achieve Olympic status.
Tougher tricks, stronger athletes
But as pipe skiing struggles to achieve the mainstream acceptance that comes with the Olympics, snowboarding enjoys the luxury of focusing on innovation — innovation that couldn’t occur without concurrent evolution of the superpipe.
Just as Michael Phelps doesn’t set world records at a Holiday Inn swimming pool, Shaun White doesn’t dial in a new trick in now-substandard superpipes. Instead, Keene said, riders like White, Louie Vito, Kelly Clark and Bleiler have improved their strength and overall fitness to meet the demands of these monster pipes and maximize their potential for progression.
“With some of the double-flipping tricks that guys like Shaun and Louie are doing, a 22-foot pipe really just gives you that much more margin for error. If you are practicing them in an 18-foot pipe, you actually have a higher chance of getting hurt because it’s a more confined space,” Kingwell said. “The thing about this pipe is that it’s such a natural progression with this size of walls. The double flip is just such an obvious trick now. It’s like, ‘Oh, yeah. That’s the trick we should be doing in this size pipe.’ It’s mind-blowing to watch, but it’s not even a surprise.”
OLYMPIC HALFPIPE
22 feet – Height of the walls (6.5 meters)
64 feet – Width of the pipe (19.5 meters)
