SNOWBOARDING:

Conrad leads Canadian riders at Copper Grand Prix

Dec. 12, 2010 — Canada Snowboard 

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — Americans Louie Vito and Kaitlyn Farrington won the opening U.S. Grand Prix snowboard halfpipe event of the season Saturday at snowy Copper Mountain.

Vito, who finished fifth at the Vancouver Olympics earlier this year, scored 27.9 points in the final to beat Luke Mitrani. Olympic bronze medallist Scotty Lago finished third.

Farrington landed her first backside 900 jump in competition and scored 28.30 points to edge two-time Olympic medallist Kelly Clark by 1.5 points. Rana Okada of Japan was third.

Sarah Conrad of Halifax, Nova Scotia, kicked of her 2011 season on a good note, finishing eighth.

“I took the whole summer off snow, basically since May,” Conrad said. “I definitely wish I had more on-snow under my belt. My goal here was top 10, so to make the finals was a bonus for sure. I am very happy with my place. I didn’t really kill it in finals, but landed two good runs.”

Conrad cleanly landed a frontside air, backside 5, frontside 3, cab 5 and switchback air for eighth place.

“I spent a lot of hours in the gym this summer, and lots of surfing, which whipped me into good shape. I did a bit of skateboarding and golfing as well. I also spent a lot of time on the trampoline. Next summer, I’ll definitely be back in New Zealand [for training camps] and have a little bit more time on snow,” she said.

The conditions at Copper Mountain proved challenging for the riders. With a heavy snowfall throughout the night, the pipe was slower than usual.

“It snowed 14 inches overnight and only stopped right before the contest. Mixing the snow with the high winds, it made it pretty interesting conditions to ride in. There were still some pretty good runs. It was definitely a fun contest to be part of,” Conrad added.

Conrad turns her focus to the World Championships at La Molina, Spain, from Jan. 13-23.

“To do well there would definitely be an objective of mine,” Conrad said. “Hopefully with this result today, I’ll make it to the X-Games. This year is definitely more of a training year. Having good quality training, potentially in Whistler if they get the 22-foot pipe open, I would be really happy to spend more time there and have more training.”

Four-time Canadian champion Brad Martin of Ancaster, Ont., posted the top Canadian score in the men’s contest with 27th place. Derek Livingston of Aurora, Ont., finished 33rd while Justin Lamoureux of Squamish, B.C., came in 35th.

Whistler’s Mercedes Nicoll, who posted an impressive sixth place at the 2010 Olympic Games, was 10th Saturday, while Alex Duckworth of Nova Scotia, who won a World Cup in slopestyle last year, placed 11th, barely missing the finals. Defending Canadian champion Palmer Taylor of Collingwood, Ont., was 16th.

The Grand Prix at Copper Mountain marked the first contest by Canadian freestyle snowboarders under the direction and leadership of new coached Leo Addington and Abe Teter. The new coaches received praises from the riders, including Conrad.

“Thanks to Leo and Abe, taking part in their first contest working with the team. They work really well. The background they have and their huge wisdom really benefited today. We're pretty lucky to have them coaching the team. I think it’s going to be a good year,” added Conrad.

Addington was happy with the performance of the Canadian riders at the event. “It was a great first contest, and we had a great training camp leading into it,” he said. “Everyone worked well and started to put stuff together. We just sort of did in the contest what we trained on. Everyone landed their runs. It was a great start to how we are going to compete in the future and what things we’re going to do, and what kind of systems we’re going to employ.”

“It’s the first competition with the new coaches, with the new program. We weren’t going for gold — not yet. We had in mind the World Championships qualification, so landing a solid run was really important. The athletes did what they were supposed to do and we’re happy with how it ended up.

“We’re incredibly pleased with the women’s program. They were all clustered in the top quarter of the field. We’re really happy to have that program back inside with coaches’ attention, and they have really stepped it up from where it was four years ago.

“At this stage for 2010-2011, we’re looking for contest consistency and landed runs.”  S-Magazine

2011 Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix, Copper Mountain, snowboard halfpipe results

Men
1. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 27.90
2. Luke Mitrani, Mammoth, CA, 26.70
3. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, NH, 25.50
4. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, CO, 25.30
5. JJ Thomas, Golden, CO, 25.00
6. Kohei Kudo, Japan, 24.30
7. Kazuumi Fujita, Japan, 23.70
8. Zack Black, Breckenridge, CO, 22.90
9. Nathan Johnstone, Australia, 22.10
10. Spencer Shaw, Stratton, VT, 21.90
11. Brett Esser, Breckenridge, CO, 21.80
12. Ben Farrow, Mount Holly, VT, 19.90
13. Tore-V. Holvik, Norway, 19.80
14. Kosuke Hosokawa, Japan, 14.10
15. Broc Waring, Edwards, CO, 13.90
16. Greg Bretz, Mammoth, CA, 9.90

Women
1. Kaitlyn Farrington, Sun Valley, ID, 28.30
2.  Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 26.80
3. Rana Okada, Japan, 24.20
4. Soko Yamaoka, Japan, 23.40
5. Holly Crawford, Australia, 22.50
6. Queralt Castellet, Spain, 20.90
7. Ellery Hollingsworth, Stratton Mountain, VT, 18.80
8. Sarah Conrad, Canada, 18.10