COPPER MOUNTAIN The winter’s first snowboard halfpipe contest at Saturday’s Grand Prix at Copper saw the top six men finish with scores higher than 90, a stunning display that sets a blistering pace for the unfurling halfpipe season.
Luke Mitrani’s first and contest-winning descent of Copper’s 22-foot superpipe scored a 96.40, raising the bar for the 15 other snowboarders who were ultimately unable to reach the Truckee, Calif., rider’s near-perfect score.
“When Luke dropped his … first run, you just knew you had to bust out your best, biggest tricks,” said Louie Vito, who won last year’s Grand Prix, just eking past Mitrani.
Vito’s second run saw the 23-year-old spin three corked double-flipping tricks and his first-in-a-year frontside 1260, bumping him up from third to second place with 95.20 points and a series of tricks usually seen late in the competitive snowboarding season.
Saturday’s contest showed that snowboarding’s progression is now focused more on execution — smooth, floating airs and solid landings — than technical trickery. The ubiquitous double-corked flip tricks — which sees athletes backflipping twice while spinning and grabbing their board — were common, but it seemed as if judges were looking harder at fluidity, poise and creativity more than gutsy spinning.
To thundering applause, 24-year-old Kevin Pearce provided commentary to Saturday’s contest.
Pearce was favored for Olympic halfpipe glory when he suffered a traumatic brain injury on Dec., 31, 2009, while practicing the dangerous double-cork trick in Park City, Utah.
The athletes under Saturday’s bluebird skies were more than happy to oblige the judges, with a variety of tricks that broke the typical snowboard halfpipe showdown of athletes spinning identical tricks. With the five judges delivering a slew of typically winning scores, it seemed they appreciated the athletes’ new creative focus.
“The level is just so high right now,” Vito said. “There were a lot of scores that were very hard to beat.”
Greg Bretz finished third with only one double-corked trick but super-smooth 900s.
“That was definitely heavy for the first contest of the year,” said Bretz, who competed in the 2010 Winter Games.
The U.S. Snowboarding Team fielded all three top men and the top two women at the Grand Prix, which drew athletes from 15 countries.
Kelly Clark, America’s twice- medaled Olympic halfpipe queen from Vermont, weathered a first-run tumble to win the women’s competition with a 92.60 score in her second and final spin down the pipe. In fact, many of the women fell on their first descent of the pipe. For Clark, the second-run pressure pushed her to success.
“I do well under pressure. I’m a pretty clutch person,” said the 28-year-old. “It really came down to who could handle it mentally today.”
Clark was followed by 17-year-old Madeline Schaffrick of Steamboat Springs — who was on the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team — and Spain’s Queralt Castellet, the latter two sponsored by energy-drink maker Red Bull. (Vito and Bretz also are sponsored by Red Bull, giving the action sports sponsor four of the six podiums Saturday. The company seems to have expanded its roster of snowboarders and skiers since parting ways last season with the iconic Shaun White, who earned reportedly millions from his deal with Red Bull.)
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com
