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Canadian boarders ready to make the ‘Scene

SnowScene World Cup halfpipe, PGS events this weekend A list of 300 snowboarders representing more than 20 nations will drop in on Whistler this weekend to compete in the annual Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup, which is part of the SnowScene festival.

SnowScene World Cup halfpipe, PGS events this weekend

A list of 300 snowboarders representing more than 20 nations will drop in on Whistler this weekend to compete in the annual Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup, which is part of the SnowScene festival.

The snowboardcross ran yesterday (Thursday), but there’s still time to catch the parallel giant slalom on Friday and the halfpipe on Saturday.

Canada has solid contenders in every event, including boardercross and PGS racer Jasey Jay Anderson of Mont Tremblant, the overall World Cup champion for the last three years running. He will be joined by 24-year-old Jérome Sylvestre of Bromont, Quebec, an up and coming rider who was fast on the Nor Am circuit last season, and made the most out of every World Cup start.

Francois Boivin is another contender after dominating in the world junior championships in 2002. The 21-year-old had a strong rookie season last year, placing well in Europa and Nor Am Cup competitions, and landing in 10 th during a World Cup appearance.

The youngest member of the alpine team, Phillipe Berube of Pierrefonds, Quebec, is coming off a silver and bronze at the junior world championships last season, and a win in the Canadian junior nationals. He also did well in Nor Am competitions.

Other Canadians not on the national team that are hoping to be a factor today include Whistler’s Ian Hadgkiss, Matt Horne, Mike Kwiatkowski, Adam McLeish, and Mike Robertson.

Their competition will be stiff with the top European racers in Whistler. Some of the top names include Mathieu Bozzetto of France, Walter Feichter of Italy, Lukas Gruner and Alex Maier of Austria, Chris Klug of the U.S., and Dejan Kosir of Slovenia.

The women’s alpine team is starting to make inroads, with 31-year-old Alexa Loo of Richmond posting some consistent results on the World Cup circuit.

She will be joined by Aimee Newton of Calgary, who turned 24 on Thursday and will be looking for a good birthday present on Friday. Her top results last year were sixth and seventh place PGS finishes. She also won the Canadian national championships the last two years running.

Other Canadian women who are looking to make a splash include Megan Bishop, Constance Boisvert, Caroline Calve, Christelle Dovon, Kimiko Zakreski, and Ekaterina Zavialova.

The international competition includes Sara Fischer of Sweden, Rosey Fletcher and Lisa Kosglow of the U.S., Julie Pomagalski and Karine Ruby of France, and Marion Posch of Italy.

The parallel giant slalom gets underway on Friday at 9:30 a.m. with qualifying runs. The top athletes will return at 1 p.m. for the PGS finals.

The Canadian halfpipe team is a solid mix of promising youth and wily veterans, with literally dozens of World Cup and pro contest medals between them.

Brett Carpentier, 28 of Mont Tremblant, Quebec, is coming off a sixth place finish in the 2003 World Championships, and has shown he can win when he plays it safe – which he never does.

Whistler’s Crispin Lipscomb, 24, exploded on the scene last season to rank eight overall in the World Cup halfpipe standings. His top World Cup result was a third, but he has wins and medals in some of top North American pro events, and a huge bag of tricks.

Nobody goes bigger than Mike Michalchuk of Pemberton, who has been wowing crowds on the World Cup and pro circuit for years. He’d rather go big and crash than play it safe on any given run.

Several up and coming snowboarders, including Whistler locals, will also be looking to break through at home on Saturday. The list includes Jimmy Brace, Neil Connolly, Josh Duncan, Hugo Lemay, Brad Martin, Dan Raymond, David Schettini, Chris Waddel and Ben Wainwright.

The international field is incredible, as always. Some names to watch out for include Therry Bruner of Switzerland, Australia’s Andrew Burton, Xaver Hoffman of Germany, Ryota Jibu, Takaharu Nakai and Domu Narita of Japan, Markus Jonsson of Sweden, and Seth Wescott of the U.S.

The Canadian women’s team is unbelievably strong this year. Lori Glazier, who was second in Whistler last season will return.

She will be joined by Maelle Ricker of Vancouver and Whistler, 25, the reigning national champion. In the last two seasons she has ranked fifth and 15 th on the World Cup circuit.

Whistler’s Mercedes Nicoll, 20, was third competing at home last season and seventh at both Stoneham, Quebec and Arosa, Switzerland. She finished last season in 14 th place, although she missed several events.

Other Canadian and local riders looking for results include Jaclyn Anderson, Sarah Conrad, Michelle Ford, Helen Schettini, Halley Van Muyen and KoKo Wright.

The international list of competitors is tough. The top names include Torah Bright of Australia, Audrey Achard of France, Shiho Nakashima of Japan, Nici Pederzolli of Austria, Manuela Pesko of Switzerland and Marni Yamada of the U.S.

The halfpipe event runs this Saturday, with the men’s qualifying runs from 9 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. The women’s qualifier runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The finals start at 1:30 p.m. and are expected to last an hour, although delays are common.

For more information on the World Cup events, visit www.snowscene.ca.