These three venues will progressively determine which riders truly have what it takes to rock the gold in Vancouver.

The beginning of the official trail to Olympic glory started yesterday with Gretchen Bleiler stealing first at the women’s qualifiers event, with their finals on Saturday.  50 ladies threw down in the pipe at Copper in Colorado, with two heats determining the final eight for Saturday’s event.

1st Gretchen Bleiler:

Women’s Grand Prix Qualifiers:

1. Gretchen Bleiler, 47.1
2. Kelly Clark, 45.7
3. Soko Yamaoka, 43.5
4. Maddy Schaffrick,  43.2
5. Quera Castellet, 43
6. Ellery Hollindsworth, 41.4
7. Holly Crawford, 41.1
8. Clair Bidez,  41.07 (everyone else has her listed at 41.70, but they’re wrong)

Dreams will be made and broken during the 2010 US Snowboarding Grand Prix as the tour makes three stops in its 14th season.  A total of five Olympic qualification competitions will take place at Copper Mountain in Colorado’s Summit County and Mammoth Mountain in the Mammoth Lakes region of California.  The tour will make its final stop at Park City Mountain Resort, the venue for the 2002 Olympics, to announce the 2010 Olympic halfpipe team.

The Grand Prix series will narrow down the competition for Olympic spots through its first two tour stops and solidify the 2010 team at the final event in Park City.  “Copper, Mammoth and Park City are all classic Grand Prix sites and will provide a most fitting stage on which to name the Olympic halfpipe team for 2010,” said Grand Prix Tour Director Eric Webster.  “Copper, Mammoth and Park City all have a proven track record in hosting world class snowboard events, which lends confidence to the riders and coaches in a season with so much on the line.”  Each with their own 22′ halfpipe, these three venues will progressively determine which riders truly have what it takes to rock the gold in Vancouver.

The competition will heat up as Olympic gold medalists Kelly Clark (Snow Mountain, VT), Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT), and Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA), along with fellow Olympic medalists Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO), JJ Thomas (Golden, CO) and Danny Kass (Portland, OR) all look for another shot at Olympic glory.  Joining them in the hunt will be Grand Prix overall champions Steve Fisher (Breckenridge, CO) and Louie Vito (Sandy, UT) as well as Grand Prix podium performers Ellery Hollingsworth (Stratton, VT), Clair Bidez (Minturn, CO) Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, CA) and Olympian Elena Hight (South Lake Tahoe, CA).

2010 US Snowboard Grand Prix Schedule:

1. Dec. 10-12, 2009, Copper Mountain
2. Jan. 6-10, 2010, Mammoth Mountain
3. Jan. 22-23, 2010, Park City Mountain (followed by the Vancouver Olympic Team Announcement)

Check out US Snowboarding for more information about the Grand Prix Tour and its venues.

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Which rider are you gunning for, my snowboarder amigo?

Board sports, for the most part, are about expressing individuality.

When contemplating what to wear on the mountain, most riders will attempt to conjure images in their mind’s eye that stray from apparel conventions and blow away what we know of snow-safe outer wear.  This is why, when the first outfitting of snowboarder Olympians took place in ‘98, Burton took the stance that our sport’s individualistic culture deems uniformity as contrarian.  Burton’s come around since ‘98, deciding that this is a prime opportunity to show the masses you can be truly unique while stylistically conform at the same time, or maybe this is still just another way Burton can rake in the dough and dominate the industry even further.

They are the provider of gear for the US Olympic Snowboard team, and recently unveiled their not-so-uniforms this past week.  This time around they have a fresh idea to take the red white and blue, transpose it into plaid outerwear, and then combine a complementary worn-jean pant look.  Not exactly a lame spandex suit, is it?  I don’t really think the team would be caught dead in those onesies anyways.

As with all product development, Burton purports that this Olympian garb has also been through rigid rider testing and input.  They even held a roundtable discussion with top pro-snowboarders and Olympic hopefuls Elena Hight, Mason Aguirre, Danny Davis, Kevin Pearce, Jack Mitrani, Luke Mitrani, Steve Fisher, Scotty Lago, and Louie Vito to review design concepts for the outerwear before arriving at the final creation.  The main issue was to harmoniously balance individualistic boarder style and team togetherness, and since last time around Burton’s outfits were baseball jersey reminiscent, this year the “sports team” concept has been ousted.

“Board sports, for the most part, are about expressing individuality — that’s what makes them cool,” said Greg Dacyshyn, the company’s creative director.  “So the whole uniform thing, you know, it’s a sensitive subject.”

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I’d def rock this outfit to work if I could.  Well, that’s if I had a job.  Plaid aligns with boarder taste and is back in mass style again, while the ripped and ravaged look is always fresh.  Good job Burton (or the underpaid/unpaid product design intern)!

What do you think of the US Olympic team’s new outfits, my snowboarder amigo?

Change is in the air.

Check out the Thirtytwo Team featuring: JP Walker, Simon Chamberlain, Markku Koski, Marie-France Roy, Chris Bradshaw, Jon Kooley, Nima Jalali, Scott Stevens, Joe Sexton, Chris Grenier, Johnny Miller, Stale Sandbech, Tyler Flanagan and Ben Bilocq.

Here’s their edit from the happenings of this season so far:

Don’t forget to admire:
0:52 where Chris Grenier rides up a set of stairs to the jump onto the outside railing and backside Boardslide down.
1:25 where Scott Stevens does a mighty One-Footed Boardslide.
1:53 where Chris Bradshaw launches of a little trailer to Boardslide a covered one to hop into a 50-50 atop the van.

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My favorite shot is a simple one, but majestic nonetheless.  At 1:56 Simon Chamberlain comes through trees where it feels like his tail will clip the camera, but gracefully launches off the hill into a frontside 180° Backflip, and the cam follows him into the air and down the mountain.

What’s your favorite segment, my snowboarder amigo?

Be able to admire the alternate boarding styles and creativity found in other countries.

On tour for screenings of their film Homies 2: Locked Outside, Homies crew of French heavy hitters are taking over the European Union.  Even if you don’t live in the EU you can still experience their flow here at TheSnowBoardScene.

“On November 6th 2009, the Homies crew left to Manchester for their only UK premiere and on snow demo at the Chill FactorE.

Pierre Rué, Nico Droz, Paul Lambersens, Aymeric Tonin, and Arthur Girault had a blast up there for their first session of the season with local Advita riders John Weatherley and Ross Needham.”

Check my post about the Chill FactorE, and here’s the Homies crew’s indoor sesh:

This is their teaser for Homies 2: Locked Outside:

And for a full length feature by SnowWorld, if you have the hour to kill and want to be healthily jealous in the process, here’s the first Homies film:

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Now, you may wonder why the first crew I presented on TheSnowBoardScene was a European one.  Good question.  I think it is necessary for international relations and world peace.  Or if you can’t connect that, then you have to be able to admire the alternate boarding styles and creativity found in other countries.

Can you tell the difference between styles in Europeans and Americans, my snowboarder amigo?