If you didnt make it to either the slopestyle or superpipe events at the World Snowboarding Invitational this year, heres some of what you missed.
Whistlers Neil Connolly out-airing and out-spinning the competition with switch 720s and corked 900s to claim the mens slopestyle title;
Brad Martins 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 OBrien of Courtenay, fourth in the U.S. Open this year, easily winning the womens 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 Lamoureuxs spins and flips, broken arm and all;
Tricia Byrnes getting 10 feet out of the pipe in the womens contest;
Elijah Teeter launching almost 20 feet out to win the mens 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.
Whistlers 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 didnt have my best run in the superfinal, but neither did anybody else. I just did what I usually do out there, I wasnt 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 womens event, Whistlers Star of Peace Quinn was the big surprise, making it through the qualifier and onto the podium behind 16-year-old Spencer OBrien and Susi Davis of Whistler. OBrien 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.
Mens 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
Womens Slopestyle Superfinals
1. Spencer OBrien 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 didnt seem to notice.
"We (the national team) have been riding really icy pipes all year, so this was actually pretty good," said Whistlers Maëlle Ricker.
Ricker finished second in the womens Superpipe jam with consistent runs through the day.
"Its a good way to finish the season, thats for sure. I didnt 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."
Rickers 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.
"Ive had kind of a rough year, I wasnt getting the results I wanted, so this was great. I felt really good out there, I was landing my tricks and putting combos together. Im still not where I want to be, but its 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.
"Its crazy how many girls are in the running this year. We should have a strong team whatever happens, but Id like to make it," said Byrnes. "Im going to do as much training as I can between now and next season, and Im going to New Zealand to do some training with Crispin (Lipscomb) which should be awesome."
In the mens 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 Martins 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.
"Im happy, Brad had a great run and deserved to win, but I didnt do the run I wanted today and Im a little mad about that," he said.
"Anytime you cant do the run youve been practising its like that. I guess it just shows that I have to practice more so I can do the run I want every time. Thats what you have to do at this level, so thats what Im 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 didnt 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 Raymonds best result in a pro contest, coming just weeks after his best result in a World Cup.
"Im super ecstatic that I landed my run in a contest, but the grain of salt is that I didnt finish my run the way I wanted to. I felt I was getting better with every run, and if the contest wasnt 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.
Raymonds 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 Im getting pretty confident with it. The Blackcomb pipe closes after this week, so Im heading up there to practice my 900s and backside 900s. I feel like Im on a roll."
While the mens 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 Teters mark, but in the end the Vermont rider took the most votes.
"You have to go big at this level," said Teter. "Thats one thing I learned from my sister. She trained hard last summer and is so strong that shes 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."
Mens 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
Womens 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