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Top new schoolers in Whistler for World Skiing Invitational

Big air, superpipe events planned this weekend Although it’s only in its third year with the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival, the World Skiing Invitational, sponsored by Garnier Fructis, has grown in size and stature to become one of the

Big air, superpipe events planned this weekend

Although it’s only in its third year with the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival, the World Skiing Invitational, sponsored by Garnier Fructis, has grown in size and stature to become one of the most important events on the freeskiing calendar. Freeskier Magazine, another major sponsor, has billed it as "The Mother of all Freeskiing Events."

The Invitational features a big air event under the lights at the village base of Whistler Mountain, and a superpipe competition followed by an athlete-judged SuperHit contest.

Organizers are expecting up to 15,000 fans for the Orage Big Air competition, which includes live music, go-go dancers, and fireworks. Training runs take place on Friday, April 19, from 4 to 6 p.m., and the main event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday.

The superpipe and SuperHit take place on Blackcomb during the day Saturday.

The list of athletes is long and distinguished, and naturally includes a number of locals. Many of the most influential skiers in the freeski movement are now living and training in Whistler, where they are constantly pushing one another to go bigger and try more difficult tricks. The local talent pool runs deep.

Whistler’s own Mike Douglas, who’s returning to compete this year after a two-year hiatus, was part of the selection committee. He gave us his assessment of each competitor.

Mark Abma (big air, superpipe) – "Young local kid, skis the park a lot. Never count him out."

Iannick "B" Brouillette (big air) – "Strong slopestyle competitor, did well at the X-Games this year. He’s really progressive, and kind of in the background of the scene right now but probably will be becoming a bigger name soon."

Phil Belanger (big air, superpipe) – "One of the smoothest, most stylish riders in the world. He spent a lot of time focusing on the halfpipe this year, and is one of the guys to beat in the pipe for sure."

Christopher Booth (big air) – "Young kid, really smooth and really stylish. We’ll have to see how he holds up against the big guys."

David Crichton (big air, superpipe) – "One of the best in the world right now, a great competitor. I saw him stick a switch 1260 (spin) this year, and I’ve never seen that before. If he’s on this year he’s going to be really tough to beat."

Vinnie Dorion (big air, superpipe) – "Struggled to reach the podium this year, but if he can put his jumps down in the big air, look for him to be taking home the big money again."

Mike Douglas (big air) – "The man! He’s going to take it all home, no one can touch him! Let’s see…This will be my first contest in two years. I’d pretty much stopped competing but the hometown crowd and knowing that the jump will be nice and soft and friendly has brought me temporarily out of retirement, and I just want to show that I can hang with the kids."

"Pep" Braden Fujas (big air) – "A new kid on the scene, likes to go big with lots of style. Consistency is not his strong point, but if he has a good night, you never know."

Scott Hibbert (big air, superpipe) – "Scott Hibbert did really well in the SnowJam last summer. I haven’t seen much of him this winter."

Jon Kozody (big air, superpipe) – "A young kid out of Alberta. He’s doing some pretty creative stuff and I think if he can land it, he’ll definitely be near the top."

Phil Larose (big air, superpipe) – "Another really stylish guy. One of the three Phil’s. Really stylish in the pipe. Look for it to be between him and Phil Belanger in the pipe."

Mike Nick (big air) – "Former ski boarder, showing he can do it on the big skis. Still trying to fully earn the respect of the pro skiers, a lot of them still think of him as a ski boarder in disguise, but I think he’s earning that respect. Those little snow blade things? He used to be the king of that."

Mauro Nunez (big air) – "Good guy, local guy, but he’s out. He broke his collarbone three weeks ago."

Steele Spence (big air) – "Up and coming pro out of Aspen, he’s a master with the rail slides. He did really well in a contest in Sweden a couple of weeks ago, but we’ll see if he can hold against a stronger field here."

Matt Sterbenz (big air, superpipe) – "Consistent performer from Tahoe. Look for him to put down a solid performance."

Rex Thomas (big air, superpipe) – "Injured for most of the season. Previously he’s been one of the top big air guys, usually in the top five, but with his injury we don’t know right now."

Candide Thovex (big air, superpipe) – "Definitely one of the guys to beat. He’s proven, especially in the pipe this year, that he’s one of the best in the world. He likes to go big in the pipe."

Chris Turpin (big air, superpipe) – "Probably the most creative young pro on the scene right now. Yesterday I was skiing with him a little bit and he was blowing my mind with some of his new moves. He’s actually doing switch inverted rotations in the halfpipe now."

Mike Wilson (big air) – "Young talented skier. Big on balls, a little low on consistency."

Andrew Woods (big air, superpipe) – "Solid, consistent pipe competitor. Known for being really consistent and putting lots of runs down. Needs to work a little on amplitude to win here."

Rob De Montigny (superpipe) – "Goes big. Local boy, goes big."

Jon McMurray (superpipe) – "Another kid that did well on the SnowJam tour last summer. Known for pulling out some double backflips in the pipe."

Nick Mercon (superpipe) – "From Colorado. Known for being really good at major rotations and has landed an inverted 1260 in the halfpipe."

Philou Poirier (superpipe) – "Third in the X-Games this year in the halfpipe. A really solid and consistent pipe performer, look for him to be at the top."

Jon Reedy (superpipe) – "Young kid, just left mogul skiing with the national team, and is now doing the freeski events. Definitely skilled."

Toben Sutherland (superpipe) – "Toben’s now coaching the National Development Freestyle Aerials Team, and hasn’t really been too much on the scene this year. But you never want to count him out because he’s got the aerials background, he can always pull something big out of his hat."

Oakley White-Allen (superpipe) – "Oakley’s another one of the local kids in the park crew, he grew up here. I saw him in the pipe the other day, he’s looking strong, and is definitely working his way up the ladder."

There will also be a women’s superpipe demonstration with a handful of local girls that are starting to make waves in freeskiing.

Jessica Bennie – "No idea. I’ll know more after this weekend."

Sarah Burke – "She’s the queen. Her and Kristi Leskinin are the most progressive girls on the scene right now, showing the girls can hang with the guys, and it’s awesome."

Candice Drouin – "She does both skiing and snowboarding. I’ve never seen her in the pipe, but I know she’s done skier cross and boardercross."

Cat Smiley – "She’s out. Major concussion."

Jaime Sundberg – "Atomic team girl. She’s definitely not quite in Sarah’s league, but she’s getting better all the time."

As to what fans can expect, Douglas says the new school progression is moving along nicely.

"I’d say that skiers, in regards to the halfpipe, we’re still a little behind the snowboarders, and part of that is due to the fact they have Olympic status and full tour to compete on while we just have a handful of events.

"However in big air I think you’ll see the skiers putting on a better show. They go bigger, they rotate harder and they’ve got a way bigger bag of tricks to offer, so I think the big air show is going to be very impressive."