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Whistler riders hold their own in Ripzone

Lipscomb wins Superpipe; Page, Tarte on Big Air podium

Riders travelled around the world to compete in Whistler at the Ripzone Snowboard Invitational, but as always a strong crew of local riders stepped up to the challenge, keeping a good chunk of $59,000 in prize money at home.

For many fans the Ripzone gave Whistler its first look at future stars like 17-year-old Hannah Teter, who can spin 720s out of the halfpipe at will, and 15-year old Mike Gotuaco, who qualified for the men’s Superpipe finals with his aggressive spins and grabs. Whistlerites also got to see some young homegrown talent, Mikey Rencz and Tyler Massey, hold their own against some of the top jumpers in the world in the Ripzone big air competition.

Crowds came out in droves to support the riders, with an estimated 12,000 people taking to the village for the Ripzone big Air, and more than a thousand fans lining the walls of the Superpipe.

Ripzone Big Air

After so many years anchoring the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival, the Ripzone Big Air event ran like clockwork. The athletes got two jumps, then a band took to the stage. The six athletes who qualified for the finals got two more jumps, then a dance group took to the stage. The three athletes that qualified for the super-final made one jump each, a champion was named, and yet another band took to the stage.

As always there were a few sideshows to check out, like a skier who poached the big air run and crashed on the transition, an impromptu fireworks display outside the gondola station, and the antics of the athletes themselves.

When all was said and done the $10,000 first prize just had to go to Norway’s Roger Hjelmstadstuen, who landed a near-perfect cab 900 spin about halfway down the transition.

"It was a good jump," said a happy Hjelmstadstuen after receiving his big cheque and golden cowboy boot. "I didn’t know if it was going to be big enough to win. Two years ago I got second with a 1080. I guess it all depends on the jump and a lot of little details – it’s hard to see for most people, but the judges know what to look for. Every time is different."

Hjelmstadstuen said he didn’t have any plans for the cash because he wasn’t expecting to win, "but I’ll probably find something to do with it."

Second place went to Whistler’s Mike Page, the 2002 Ripzone champion. He had a disappointing run last year that left him in eighth, and said he was happy to be back on the podium.

"It’s so good. I needed to take some time to actually enjoy snowboarding again, I was kind of a bit down (after 2003) but now I’m stoked. Sometimes a good jump is what you need to pump you up."

Although it’s nice to finish in the top-three, Page says the reason he looks forward to this event so much every year is the opportunity to hang out with the other athletes.

"It’s always the best time ever, the jump is a big bro-down. Everybody is stoked, everybody cheers for everybody else, and nobody is really competing against anybody. I wish everyone could just hang out and jump all the time," said Page.

Page landed a switch backside 720 in the final to finish second, opting to play it safe after landing a smooth 900 in the semi-finals. He made the right decision, taking $5,000 and a silver cowboy boot.

Third place went to last year’s champion Marc-Andre Tarte, who came close to defending his title but caught an edge after landing a 1080 in the finals. As always Tarte was one of the most entertaining riders, pumping up the crowd after every run and accepting his tumble with his usual good nature.

Between the qualifier and the semi-finals, Tarte actually picked up a rake and shovel and started to groom the jump for the other riders. After he found out that he had made the semi-finals he wouldn’t get on a sled up to the start until he found out that Hjelmstadstuen was also in the running.

While Tarte didn’t win the grand prize this year he did come away with $2,000 and a bronze boot to go with the ski mask he won last year. He also won the people’s choice award, as determined by a cell phone poll of the crowd, to earn a Panasonic D-Snap digital camera.

The other three riders to make the semis were Whistler’s Neil Connolly who won the first round with an incredible corked 900, Guillaume Morisset who might have landed the biggest 720 of the day, and Chris Dufficy who made his 80-foot landings look easy.

Ripzone Big Air

1. Roger Hjelmstadstuen

2. Mike Page

3. Marc-Andre Tarte

4. Neil Connolly

5. Guillaume Morisset

6. Chris Dufficy

7. Justin Lamoureux

8. Travis Williams

9. Mike Osachuk

10. Henki Oedegaard

Ripzone Superpipe

The women kicked off the superpipe jam on Saturday, setting the bar pretty high for the men by getting 10 feet out of the pipe with some tricks.

Veteran rider Tricia Byrnes of Vermont took the win with a consistent set of runs that included a frontside 540 to a 360 to a fake 540.

"The pipe is in amazing condition and was calling me to just go for it," said Byrnes, who took the title and $7,000 with a score of 27.6.

The crowd went crazy for 17-year-old Hannah Teter who was landing stylish 540s while getting more than 10 feet out of the pipe. Cleaner landings would have won her the day according to the judges, but she walked away happy with the second place score of 26.6, $3,500 and a silver cowboy boot. Third place went to Nova Scotia’s Sarah Conrad, who wasn’t as technical as the other riders but had some of the biggest hang-times of the day. Her score was 24.6, less than a point ahead of Whistler’s Mercedes Nicoll.

The men’s Superpipe quickly became the Crispin Lipscomb show. He rode first, wearing bib number one, and laid down a run for a cheering crowd that left the other riders playing catch-up all afternoon. At the end of the day the only rider to beat Lipscomb’s first run score of 27.5 was Lipscomb himself, who earned a 28.1 on run number three.

"I wasn’t very happy with the pipe in the morning in training because the day before was so good, but it was time for us to ride and it turned out to be a little different pipe in the afternoon because I really loved it," said Lipscomb. "I went first and everyone in the crowd was really supportive, and I guess I just went as big and fast as I could, and it worked.

"I’ve always had the most fun here (in the Ripzone) and always had my best results here."

Lipscomb’s best run started with a big backside air, followed by a front-side 720 flip and a switch 720. He followed that up with a frontside 1080, followed by a huge switch straight air, and finished up with a switch ally-oop and a rodeo.

"I just tried to do a lot of different stuff," said Lipscomb.

He was third in the Ripzone last year, winning the Superhit contest with a 1080. At the time the trick was new to him, but he plans to start including it in his World Cup runs.

"I’ve had it (the 1080) for a year and I’ve been trying to transfer it to my contests, so this was really good for me," said Lipscomb.

After starting in the lead, Lipscomb says the pressure was on. "I was always really nervous. I wanted to say ‘stop this contest now’. But I was really excited, and it was really pushing me to keep trying bigger tricks. I was falling more near the end, I wanted to put in a more technical run to be safe, but I couldn’t get it in."

Lipscomb earned $10,000 and a golden boot for all the stress.

With Whistler Mountain opting not to build a superpipe this year and Blackcomb closing after this Sunday (April 25), Lipscomb says he will use the money to help pay for a trip to Germany to train on a superpipe there. His goal is to do well at the FIS World Championships in Whistler next season, and to qualify for the 2006 Olympics, and he plans to train straight through until next season.

"It’s an expensive game," explained Lipscomb.

Second place and $5,000 went to Jan Michaelis of Germany with a score of 27.3. He started his run with back-to-back 1080s, landed a huge cab 720, and finished with a big straight air.

Third place went to Whistler’s Justin Lamoureux, who landed one spectacular run after another with big 900s and McTwists to win over the judges and the crowd. His top run also include a frontside 720 to a switch cab 900 combo.

The Superpipe was open jam format – one rider after another – with riders getting between four and five runs before the Superhit competition got underway.

Lipscomb took the microphone at this point, telling the crowd that the louder they yelled the bigger the riders would go. He then took a few requests from the crowd.

The Superhit was an incredible show with Jared Anderson landing 900s 15 feet out of the pipe, Abe Teter launching straight airs over that mark, and Mike Michalchuk landing his trademark double-flip move – albeit a little too late to qualify for the judging.

At the end of the day the majority of riders gave their votes to Pemberton’s Guy Deschenes, who was ninth in the competition. His big move was a combo. He started with a big switch cab 720 about 12-feet out, unbuckled his back foot in the transition, and launched a frontside one-foot straight air another 10-feet out of the pipe.

"It’s nice, to be voted for out of all the guys out there that are doing the best they can," said Deschenes.

"It took me a while to figure it out today. I seized up yesterday jumping into my van after training, so this morning I had to do the drug, a bit of Robaxacet, and I got a little dizzy to be honest. It took me a while to sweat it out, but it was okay. I wish I could have pulled (the winning trick) in the contest itself, but this is pretty good, to win for the best air."

Deschenes took $5,000 for the best jump. Known best for his work in videos and magazines, he is off to Alaska this week to do some filming.

Although he spends a lot of time "doing the backcountry thing" with his sled, he still rides the halfpipe every chance he gets.

"The way I see it the halfpipe keeps you sharp. The backcountry is definitely a different style of riding. Different kinds of snow will give you different kinds of waves, like you have in surfing, but bringing that to hard-packed halfpipe doesn’t work. It’s more like skateboarding, going from edge to edge, and you have to be a little more on it," said Deschenes.

Men’s Superpipe

1. Crispin Lipscomb – 28.1

2. Jan Michaelis – 27.3

3. Justin Lamoureux – 27.1

4. Guillaume Morisset – 26.4

5. Luke Wynen – 23.6

6. Elijah Teter – 23.3

7. Jared Anderson – 23.1

8. Jesse Kumlea – 22.7

9. Guy Deschnes – 22.4

10. Steve Fisher – 22.3

Women’s Superpipe

1. Tricia Byrnes – 27.6

2. Hannah Teter – 26.6

3. Sarah Conrad – 24.6

4. Mercedes Nicoll – 23.7

5. Katie Tsuyuki – 23.5

6. Maelle Ricker – 21.9

6. Dominique Vallee – 21.9

8. Sarah Kopinya – 21.7

9. Calynn Irwin – 21.1

10. Michelle Ford – 20.3

Ripzone Jibzone

A good crowd turned out to watch the second annual Ripzone Jibzone on Sunday afternoon at the base of Whistler Mountain. A few enterprising fans even brought couches.

Some $4,000 was up for grabs, and riders spent 45 minutes trying to outdo one another in a miniature park that included a straight rail, a kinked rail, a standing barrel jump, a c-box, and a small gap jump that one rider managed to launch a front flip over.

Once again the athletes got to choose the winner, voting by secret ballot once the contest had wrapped up.

Whistler’s Logan Short ended up with the most votes after jumping from a backside railslide to a frontside boardslide on the kinked rail.

"That kink rail took out at least a dozen of my buddies in Calgary a week ago and I didn’t even want to hit it," said Short. "I just wanted to do one trick and get it over with and get out of there.

"I did the same trick before, but the rail was set up worse. It was better today so I had more confidence so it was good."

Second went to Jeff Pepperdine, who put in technically solid slides on both the rails. Third in the men’s contest went to big Dennis Bannock, who stomped every obstacle in the jib park, including a couple of incredible taps on the barrel jump.

In the women’s event, local jibber Leanne Pelosi defended her title with daring moves on the barrel jump, kinked rail and straight rail. Erin Comstock and Marni Yamada of the U.S. were second and third with strong slides on the straight rail and attempts at the barrel.

For complete results, visit the Ripzone section of the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival Web site at www.whistler2004.com/ripzone.html and follow the links.