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Whistler pipe riders close to medals

By Andrew Mitchell Frustrated by the cancellation of events in Europe, the Canadian Freestyle Snowboard Team returned home to North America last week to take part in the U.S. Grand Prix events at Breckenridge, Colorado.

By Andrew Mitchell

Frustrated by the cancellation of events in Europe, the Canadian Freestyle Snowboard Team returned home to North America last week to take part in the U.S. Grand Prix events at Breckenridge, Colorado.

Three Canadian men advanced to the final round, Whistler’s Crispin Lipscomb, Brad Martin and Justin Lamoureux, who faced the top pros from across the U.S. Only 20 riders out of a qualifying field of 105 advanced to the finals on Saturday.

On the day of competition Martin landed a 1260 spin to place fourth, behind three of the top U.S. riders. Danny Davis was first, Mason Aguirre second and Tommy Czeschin third.

Lipscomb had a solid run while Lamoureux fell during a 1080 attempt.

Canadian halfpipe coach Tom Hutchinson felt the team did well.

“It was a great day,” he said. “The halfpipe was beautiful and the temperature was ideal. Everything was in good order to post some good results.

“This was one of our best finals.”

On the women’s side, Whistler’s Katie Tsuyuki was the top rider, finishing 16 th . Sarah Conrad of Halifax and Charmaine Ironside of Calgary were 19 th and 21 st .

“Katie is in her first season on the World Cup and she has a lot of potential,” said Hutchinson. “Sarah also rode well but fell.”

It’s unknown when the snowboard World Cup circuit will resume, but it’s likely the team will be home through Christmas before rejoining the abbreviated World Cup tour in the New Year.