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Boarders go big before going home

Brad Martin biggest winner at World Snowboarding Invitatational

If you didn’t make it to either the slopestyle or superpipe events at the World Snowboarding Invitational this year, here’s some of what you missed.

• Whistler’s Neil Connolly out-airing and out-spinning the competition with switch 720s and corked 900s to claim the men’s slopestyle title;

• Brad Martin’s weekend – he was second in the slopestyle, then went on to win the halfpipe;

• Former big air champion Mike Page launching almost 15 feet out of the quarterpipe in the Big Hit contest;

• Pro rookie Spencer O’Brien of Courtenay, fourth in the U.S. Open this year, easily winning the women’s slopestyle;

• Crispin Lipscomb landing 1080s in the superpipe;

• 13-year-old Jed Anderson of Calgary boosting 540s more than 10-feet out of the pipe;

• Justin Lamoureux’s spins and flips, broken arm and all;

• Tricia Byrnes getting 10 feet out of the pipe in the women’s contest;

• Elijah Teeter launching almost 20 feet out to win the men’s SuperHit contest.

Whistler riders, including members of the national team, figured prominently in both events and shared in the $50,000 prize purse.

WSBI Slopestyle

Although the XL jumps in the Blackcomb Park are always on the big side, they got a lot bigger after all the snow in recent weeks. The tombstones were huge, the tables were long, and the transitions were steep – perfect for spinning, but on the dangerous side if you came in too slow or too fast.

Whistler’s Neil Connolly, a member of the World Cup big air team, came into the competition relaxed and did the run he always does in the park. He nailed every landing perfectly to finish second in the final, and first in the superfinal.

"It was a bit of a surprise," he said. "There was a little bit of luck involved I think. I didn’t have my best run in the superfinal, but neither did anybody else. I just did what I usually do out there, I wasn’t taking anything super seriously, and everything worked out."

His run started big with a cab 900 off the first jump, landed a switch backside 540 off the second jump, then followed up with a frontside 360, a backside 720 and a huge backflip on the quarterpipe.

Brad Martin finished a close second, followed by Marc-Andre Tarte, who launched the biggest airs but had some trouble with his landings.

In the women’s event, Whistler’s Star of Peace Quinn was the big surprise, making it through the qualifier and onto the podium behind 16-year-old Spencer O’Brien and Susi Davis of Whistler. O’Brien was the top rookie at the U.S. Open this year, finishing fourth behind the top slopestyle riders in the world, and Davis is an accomplished pro rider.

When the slopestyle wrapped up, the athletes stuck around for a big hit contest, launching huge airs off the quarterpipe at the bottom. Mike Page, who has been one of the top big air competitors for the past three years, launched almost 20 feet out of the quarterpipe and landed like it was two feet to take the most athlete votes.

Star Quinn was the top woman in the Big Hit, which is saying a lot. The original plan was to award just one winner, but the girls were getting so much air the judges added a prize for the top female as well.

Men’s Slopestyle Superfinals

1. Neil Connolly – 46.4

2. Brad Martin – 44.9

3. Marc-Andre Tartre – 37.2

4. Mike Osachuk – 37.1

5. Travis Williams – 0

Slopestyle Finals

6. Mike Rencz – 45.8

7. Mike Page – 44.6

8. Mat Dano – 44.3

9. Andrew Hardingham – 44.0

10. David Fortin – 43.7

Women’s Slopestyle Superfinals

1. Spencer O’Brien – 40.8

2. Susi Davis – 36.4

3. Star of Peace Quinn – 31.0

Slopestyle Finals

4. Marni Yamada – 37.8

5. Emily Thomas – 35.5

6. Marie-France Roy – 34.6

7. Terri Dreger – 31.2

8. Silvie Giannelia – 20.3

Big Hit Winners – Mike Page, Star of Peace Quinn

Superpipe Results

It was a strange day for superpipe with light flurries, fog, icy walls and a soft, choppy transition that made it hard to carry speed. Still, if it affected any of the competitors, they didn’t seem to notice.

"We (the national team) have been riding really icy pipes all year, so this was actually pretty good," said Whistler’s Maëlle Ricker.

Ricker finished second in the women’s Superpipe jam with consistent runs through the day.

"It’s a good way to finish the season, that’s for sure. I didn’t have a very good season on the World Cup in halfpipe, so it meant a lot to me to come home and do the run I wanted to do all year. It gives me a little added confidence for next year."

Ricker’s goal is to train through the summer, working on her 900 spins and McTwists, then to qualify to represent Canada in the 2006 Winter Games in halfpipe. She has already qualified for snowboardcross.

"The Olympics are a big goal for me, but I also want to do better on the World Cup next year. Any chance like this where I get to compete helps," she said. "(The national team) is supposed to be off right now, taking a break, but to be able to be in a competition like this in your own backyard is too good to pass up. The jam format feels almost like training anyway, and I was encouraged that I was going a little bigger, riding with more confidence with every run."

Tricia Byrnes of Connecticut, the defending Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival champion, posted the three best scores of day in the jam format to finish first overall – just what she needed.

"I’ve had kind of a rough year, I wasn’t getting the results I wanted, so this was great. I felt really good out there, I was landing my tricks and putting combos together. I’m still not where I want to be, but it’s a boost heading into the summer," she said.

"I always like coming to Whistler for this event. The pipe is always in good shape and I like the jam format. I could be training somewhere by now, "

Byrnes has her work cut out for her next year to make the U.S. team for the Olympics with so many talented women vying for four spots.

"It’s crazy how many girls are in the running this year. We should have a strong team whatever happens, but I’d like to make it," said Byrnes. "I’m going to do as much training as I can between now and next season, and I’m going to New Zealand to do some training with Crispin (Lipscomb) which should be awesome."

In the men’s competition, Brad Martin set the bar sky high with a near perfect second run. His national squad teammates Crispin Lipscomb, Justin Lamoureux and Dan Raymond did their best to overtake Martin’s 27.8, but came up a little short as the fog closed in and forced the organizers to call the event with almost 15 minutes remaining.

Lipscomb, the defending champion, came the closest to Martin by finishing with a 27.5. He managed to land several 1080s in his runs, but had a hard time landing back-to-back 1080s.

"I’m happy, Brad had a great run and deserved to win, but I didn’t do the run I wanted today and I’m a little mad about that," he said.

"Anytime you can’t do the run you’ve been practising it’s like that. I guess it just shows that I have to practice more so I can do the run I want every time. That’s what you have to do at this level, so that’s what I’m going to do."

Lamoureux finished third despite the fact he was competing with a broken shoulder and injured ribs.

Fourth place went to Elijah Teter of the U.S., who was launching the biggest airs of the day off both walls, regular and switch. In his best run he pieced together three 720s in a row with about 15 feet of air and different grabs.

Dan Raymond blew the crowd away with his combination of airs, but had trouble with his last hit.

"I was going to change my run up and do my last hit up top where there was more vert but I didn’t get a chance because the fog moved in," said Raymond. "Brad definitely breathed a sigh of relief when it was cancelled, everyone was chasing him pretty hard, Crispin and Justin and myself."

Fifth is Raymond’s best result in a pro contest, coming just weeks after his best result in a World Cup.

"I’m super ecstatic that I landed my run in a contest, but the grain of salt is that I didn’t finish my run the way I wanted to. I felt I was getting better with every run, and if the contest wasn’t cancelled I might have been on a podium, but I had a lot of fun," he said.

Last year he missed the WSSF after tearing an ACL ligament two weeks before the contest.

Raymond’s run is unique, with a lot of inverted tricks and spins in all four directions – frontside and backside, and switch frontside and backside. It included a backside 540, an inverted 720, a Haakon flip, a 720 McTwist, and a switch backside corked 540.

"The first time I made that run was in Sweden, and that was my best World Cup result ever, so I’m getting pretty confident with it. The Blackcomb pipe closes after this week, so I’m heading up there to practice my 900s and backside 900s. I feel like I’m on a roll."

While the men’s superpipe was cut short, the SuperHit contest went on as planned with men and women vying for the best trick for a very entertaining half hour.

From the beginning, it was clear that it would take something big to upset Elijah Teter who soared over the flags and height marker to set the tone early on, and it quickly became a battle of air time. Jared Anderson of Calgary, Jesse Kumlea, Jamie Parker and Crispin Lipscomb came the closest to Teter’s mark, but in the end the Vermont rider took the most votes.

"You have to go big at this level," said Teter. "That’s one thing I learned from my sister. She trained hard last summer and is so strong that she’s been outriding me all year. I hope to do the same training this summer to get the results I need to get on the Olympic team, and that means going as big as I can every chance I get."

Men’s Superpipe

1. Brad Martin – 27.8

2. Crispin Lipscomb – 27.5

3. Justin Lamoureux – 27.1

4. Elijah Teter – 26.2

5. Dan Raymond – 23.6

6. Jesse Kumlea – 22.3

7. Jeff Batchelor – 21.9

8. Jed Anderson – 21.4

9. David Melancon – 20.4

10. Dustin Craven – 20.2

Women’s Superpipe

1. Tricia Byrnes – 27.1

2. Maëlle Ricker – 24. 7

3. Autumn Rose – 24.0

4. Katie Tsuyuki – 21.7

5. Sarah Conrad – 19.5

6. Calynn Irwin – 19.0

7. Natalie Gough – 18.3

8. Kelsey Borsa – 17.7

9. Koko Wright – 17.3

10. Star of Peace Quinn – 17.1

SuperHit Winner – Elijah Teeter

McTwist Winner – Jamie Parker