The inaugural Showcase Showdown Monster Jib Box event last weekend was a huge success according to organizers, with a huge crowd turning out to watch more than 100 athletes hitting the rails and boxes on Whistler Mountain over two days of competition.
The organizers decided to change the format from a quarterpipe to a rail event this year to better reflect the kind of park riding that snowboarders are doing these days.
They also decided to run the event as a jam format to give riders an opportunity to try more difficult tricks. Some of the riders fit as many as five different runs in during the contest.
"It was huge for us," said David Goldberg, the organizer of the event for Westbeach. "There were more riders in the pro category than we expected, and we actually sold out, which is a first for us. Usually more people enter the amateur category, but people stepped up when the course (was announced) and how much fun it was going to be.
"And everybody was stoked on the new format and the whole atmosphere up there. From where we were sitting it was as good as it gets."
The course was specially built at the base of Headwall on Whistler Mountain and featured a large kinked rail, a straight rail and a long c-box. There were step-up jumps to get on the straight rail and c-box, and a hit on one side of the course to get onto the kink rail.
Westbeach, the main sponsor of the event, plans to survey the participants to find out what changes can be made to make the Showcase Showdown even better for next year.
"We definitely want to work on the concept, make the course better, make the event bigger and better for next year."
The prize money for the pros was determined by the number of entries, and organizers managed to give away more than $4,000 in cash to the top riders. Neil Connolly, the winner of the mens pro division, came away with $1,500. Jesse Kumlea won $1,000 for second place, Geoff Brown $500 for third, and Ryan Rausch and Mark Sollors $250 and $100 respectively for fourth and fifth.
The womens pro winner, Marie-France-Roy won $1,000 while Pilar Peterson and Star Quinn won $500 and $250 respectively for second and third place.
The amateur riders earned prizes for their results.
Amateur Men
1. Hirotsugu Fukuda 28.3 points
2. Marcus Culver 27.7
3. Tamo Campos (junior) 27.0
4. Michael Gordon 22.2
5. Takayuki Kawabe 21.9
6. Kenji Nemoto 21.8
7. Skyler Flavelle 21.2
8. Bryan Bowles 21.0
9. Brendan Mcconnachie 20.8
10. Hajime Takemura 20.5
Amateur Women
1. Jenya Patrief
2. Liesel Rieger
3. Amanda Schmidt
Men Pro (Elimination Format)
1. Neil Connolly
2. Jesse Kumlea
3. Geoff Brown
4. Ryan Rausch
5. Mark Sollors
6. Logan Short
7. Matt Murdy
8. Sam Osachuk
9. Andrew Burns
10. Jeff Pepperdine
Womens Pro
1. Marie-France Roy
2. Pilar Peterson
3. Star Quinn
4. Aurelie Garcin
5. Spencer OBrien