Some things are just better when they’re mixed together — peanut butter and chocolate, pie and ice cream, halfpipe and slopestyle.
The latter both come together from Feb. 29-Mar. 1 in the 11 th annual Sapient-Showcase Showdown which features the third running of the Pipestyle format. The competition, which has a total prize purse of $50,000 including $25,000 in cash, takes place in the World Championship halfpipe on Blackcomb, with crews mixing things up a bit by adding a variety of slopestyle features. Last year’s course included a huge hip jump up top, halfpipe walls, gaps on the side, and a choice of three huge rails that drop off onto a transition.
Westbeach store manager and chief of course Zoltan Katchanoski came up with the idea for the event in 2006 as a way to continue to push athletes and the progression of the sport. Thousand of fans have flocked to the contest to watch the finals take place under the lights.
This year the event will also mark the 10 th anniversary of Zero Ceiling, a charitable society that brings at risk youth in B.C. and Quebec to the mountains to try snowboarding, while giving older youth a chance to move to Whistler to work as snowboard school instructors or take on other roles. In honour of the event, Showcase Snowboards is raffling off 20 snowboards, with all proceeds going to Zero Ceiling. Other sponsors of the event include Bakoda, R.E.D., Anon, Bonfire, Vans, Dakine, Volcomo and Nixon. Kokanee has also joined the event, and will host a beer garden at the base of the superpipe.
The event runs over two days, with qualifying runs on the Friday, semi-finals on Saturday afternoon and the finals at 7:30 p.m. Although invites are extended to past athletes and pros, the qualifiers are open to the public. Registration is available at Whistler-Blackcomb Guest Relations for $100, and the field is capped at 50 men and 20 women.
