Stratton Hosts a USASA Slope Contest Once Again

2/21 The Southern Vermont Series was back at Stratton after a season off. It was nice to be home and see the crew doing their thing practically right on campus. Hopefully someone will contribute a photo and you can see it too. The contest venue was a little tight with tall boxes and little jumps but guess what !? The usual suspects were on the podium. What it comes right down to in most contests is: among those with fairly equal skill levels and training opportunities the ones who care the most win the most. More importantly than that they succeed most often at putting down the run they set out to do and they make it look the most fun. Judging likes that. For the most part.
Everyone did such a strong job of making runs that count I am doing something we don't usually do here... don't get too used to it but it's a mid season blogger shakeup-FULL RESULTS !

                Menehune boys

1      40 Shaw, Maverick (out of 17)

                Breaker boys div.

4      66 McArdle, John Patrick

9      62 Sweitzer, Scottie (out of 28)

               Youth Wmn.

1  79 Kennedy, Kiley

2  77 Novello, Phoebe

3  81 Lobell, Marian

5      80 Kobayashi, Karen

               Youth Men

1      87 Perle, Michael

2      104 Tierney Jr., Chris

4      86 Charron, Jameson

5      100 Cohen, Josh

8      90 Callen, Connor Patrick

9      95 Landy, Daniel

15   99 Linton, Chip M (out of 30)

                Junior Wmn.

 1  114 Kuchera, Lena

                Junior Men

5   130 Stacy, Randall

8  121 Dorfman, Kyle

                Jams Men

2  135 Howe, Cameron

               Open Class Wmn

1 138 Cohen, Jennifer

2 137 Shaw, Serena

3  74 Stephenson, India

               Open Class Men

1 150 Beauchemin, Eric M

3  76 Mensch, Joseph 

4 149 Haffner, James 

6  96 Wood, Hunter

Training Resumes and Hudson Steps Up

It is nice to be back on home turf for a few weeks.  The crew needs some training time and they have been getting it at Mt Snow.  The pipe and slope course for the Dew Tour are being maintained and, along with all the other Carinthia parks, it makes an ideal training area.  HUNTER WOOD, who has been held back by injuries and other misfortunes, is on a tear right now.  The last two jumps in the Nitro Park are large and hard to link, but Hunter has stomped various combos of front 3s, cab 5s,  back 180s, cab 900s, and one line consisting of cab 7 to switch back 540.  The style is all there too, as seen in this shot of a front 360.

The chairlift we use at Carinthia goes right over the park, which makes the lift rides quite entertaining. Watching the other crews from the lift allows us all to see what each other are doing.  Some sights I have caught from the lift include SERENA SHAW landing frontside 540s all day in the jump line, KYLE DORFMAN'S unique and technical rail activity, and PHOEBE NOVELLO lipsliding any rail put in front of her.

JOE MENSCH in NITRO Park

CHRIS TIERNEY almost too big for the shot.

I would like to announce that after months of hard work and great comp results, CONNOR HUDSON will be riding with the Elite Team.  Today was his first day and he not only fit right in, he threw down on rails and jump.  The proof is below, CONNOR HUDSON 60ft front 720.

Louie looking pretty focused in Ralph Lauren.

Shaun White, Louie Vito (06), and Scotty Lago trying on some sweet new clothes in Vancouver.

Tune in Wed the 17th to watch it all unfold.

All the best, see you there!

Mike

Slopestyle Finals Wraps Up Copper Rev Tour

An awesome weather day with cold temps and sunshine heralded great riding for SMS Snowboarders. Yesterday's men's qualies started with 80 men from around the country and as far away as NZ. Sixteen made it to finals today and three were from SMS. Eric Beauchemin, Connor Hudson and Spencer Shaw all made the heavy cut with smooth, huge and tech runs. They were joined in the final today by Serena Shaw, India Stephenson and Kiley Kennedy. The girls made the cut with Serena qualifying in First Place out of forty. Kiley followed in fourth and India in sixth.

In the mens final Beauch-face-killa Eric Beauchemin put a hand down on his front ten following a sweet cab nine to bs rodeo sev to settle for fourth place. Making mistakes the kid beats 76 FIS level competitors. Connor Hudson wrapped up his killer week of competing with smooth cab fives and threes but could not get the landing gear in place for the seven during the final heat. Top fifteen and big congrats from the coaches. Two hundred and fifty for best trick added to Spencer Shaw's dream week while he finished second with a cab sev, switch back nine (best trick of the finals) to frontside ten. Man on fire. 

                                          

For the women's final Serena couldn't land the beautiful Half-Cab to BS three, to mute grab that earned her the top qualifier spot. I know she was disappointed but everyone is extremely proud of the riding display she put on all day long.  Check out this method from first run which was also a top run of the day.(on right). Another strong performer all day long is getting to be a regular SMS highlight reel star. Kiley Kennedy's consistency on the jumps and in the pipe this year promises huge returns for the future as she gets her technical tricks a little more dialed. I doubt any female rider rode those jumps as error free all week long. She rarely missed a grab and the switch 180 method grab(aka half-cab method) is one of the more articulated tricks of the contest. Check the style below left. Congrats on being sixth out of forty of america's best                                                                                      Top SMS female slopestyle riding honors went to India Stephenson today. India put together her best runs of the week after working the jump line since friday. India paid the price getting her Backside three-sixty dialed on these big and closely lined up jumps. At least once a day there was a premature landing, an edge catch or an overshoot and she stayed the course. You can see the height that these riders are sending every time to clear and I promise it's not easy to shake off a crash out there. The courage and toughness award and the fifth place spot went to India. I'm glad it finally paid off for her in the seasons most competitive Rev Tour Stop. Thanks again to all the other riders not mentioned here. It has been an impressive week and an honor working with the athletes and coaches. Scotty and the ProAm Crew represented in full with Connors riding leading that charge. Ian Kirk stepped off of snow today and got us a new flight leaving Denver at 12:45 tonight/tomorrow morning. Our Flight tomorrow was cancelled already and Kirk's footwork gets me home to my family and everyone else here back to theirs. Some are headed to the Olympics and Dan Landy is staying on course to go visit his Brother Jeremy in Tahoe. Thanks for another great trip y'all.                                                      

Yeah Indie.

                                                                                                                         

Rev tour slope shots

SMS makes Rev tour finals

The SMS crew once again has made it to the Rev.Tour finals. It was along way to the top if you wanted to rock and roll, and three did! Eric Beauchemin,Connor Hudson,and Spencer Shaw made it in. Best of luck to all that rock! Stay tuned!

PIPE SHOTS

Images from the Rev Tour HP

It was a classic Colorado day with blue skies and low temps.  Perfect HP weather.  Not much time to give details tonight, but they are on the way.  I can share some images.   

The powerful duo  RANDALL STACY and JOE MENSCH.    

SPENCER SHAW ally-oop.  

DAVE REDDEN and SHELBY SIMPSON commence Operation Podium.

CONNOR HUDSON landed a killer run today

                                                                     and JAMES HAFFNER saw it coming.

The Next Level

SMS athletes Spencer Shaw, Mikey Perle and Phoebe Novello charged into the 2010 Mt. Dew Tour and Gatorade Freeflow tour final at Mt snow over the weekend.  These contest serve as the next level of competition and the SMS riders were up to the challenge.  Spencer has been charging hard all year and got the call at the last minute to test his skills against some of the best for the night time qualifier.  Ten were chosen from the Friday night qualifier to meet at the epic Mt Snow pipe on Saturday night in front of thousands of fans and a light show that would stand up in any disco tech.  Spencer rose to the challenge and combined huge stylish airs with the technical skills to qualify 2nd to the big dance.

At the final against some of the best he brought the same intensity and quickly became the "rookie to watch" and did not disappoint.  Spencer landed a solid first run that included a 14 ft alley oop  to back five, to front 10, to cab seven to fs nine and a solid 6th place in his first ever big time final.  It was everything i could do to drag him away from signing autographs and relishing in the moment.  Well deserved and more to come from this young gun.

Sunday met Phoebe and Mikey with a blustery blue-bird day for the freeflow tour finals.  The winners of the tour from around the country were flown in by Gatorade to test their skills in the Mt Snow ditch.

Mikey had practice runs that would have brought the house down.  His run consisted of a huge air fs 5 bs 9 to fs 7 to cab 7 to alley bs rodeo.  Mikey rode like a champ and though landing on his feet on the first run was not clean enough to find his way to the podium.  The front fs five proved to be the hang-up but he scratched through the lip and then made it up on the fly going bs nine to huge alley rodeo melon.  This stellar new found combo will prove to be beneficial down the road. He finished just off the podium in 4th.  Phoebe struggled in her first run but then proceeded to stomp a style air, air 3, 3 5, 5 for a solid 4th and a run that counts as her first bs five to date. So stoked for Phoebe as were the Fuel Tv producers who will be featuring Phoebe and our school in an upcoming show. New tricks and insane progression for both of these up n comers, and i am looking forward to getting back to the pipe with them on Tuesday to keep things rolling.  Stay tuned for highlights from tomorrows Rev Tour pipe show.  Good luck to everyone in Colorado.

Some love at the tour for Danny Davis.


Thanks,

Mike

Here it Goes Again at Copper and Beyond

Right now Scotty J is meeting up with SMS rising star Kiley Kennedy and SMS World Cup Snowboardcross Racer Jackie Hernandez. They will get on the athletes' only 8:30 lift for inspection and a few final speed laps before individual time trials and seeded Heats. Ian and I will ride some slope and mostly pipe with the Rest of the Team for the final two to three hrs of available pipe training before tomorrows contest. The following day will be mens slope. Followed on the final day by women's slope and the men's slope final. On the east side Last Night was a dream coming true for Spencer Shaw taking sixth place in DewTour Finals in front of a roaring crowd. Phoebe Novello and Mike Perle are competing in the same venue today in the Gatorade FreeFlowTour Final and hoping for their shot at next years Dew Tour.
SMS Snowboard Athletes are representing strong and having a great time all over the Competition Map this week. Their hard work and the support of all our parents and staff at school are coming to fruition and I expect great news daily. Thanks.

KK Triple Jump Line

Rocky Mountain High

Its our second of three trips to Colorado and things are off to a great start.  Conditions are great, mild temps and light snow each night.  The jump line for the comp is nice.  In the past it was tough to clear a few of the jumps, but this year the 3 jump line is set up great.  The kids are taking right to it.  My crew has been hitting some big jumps this year, so these medium-sized ones are easy and fun for them.  Eric B is back to throwing double rodeos.  He put his base down on three in a row, but went to his butt.  He is stoked to get back to it and it will be an everyday trick for him soon.

The pipe is also in good shape, but the light has been super flat and there has been no dye on the pipe or jumps.  The crew has still gotten some work done in HP with more planned for tomorrow.

 Once again WOODWARD COPPER is providing us with amazing training.  Randall is throwing switch backflips and monster Japan Rodeos there.  Hunter Wood is mixing up his grabs on rodeos, stomping double rodeos and enjoying some front flip lawn darts. CHRIS TIERNEY JR is nailing double back rodeos as well as Beaucheface and will soon be ready to try one on snow.  Joe Mensch threw a real nice looking rodeo 720 which should also appear on snow soon.  James does his rodeos with an indy grab and it looks like a whole new trick.

JAMES HAFFNER SPINNING WITH STYLE.

YOUNG MISS KENNEDY REACHING FOR THE DOUBLE GRAB ON JUMP 3

GOOD LORD CHRIS TIERNEY JR, COULD YOU TWEAK YOUR BACK 7 JAPANS ANY HARDER?  THAT WOULD RUIN MY BACK!

SMS back for more action

The SMS crew is back again at Copper mountain for the Revolution Tour. We all had a safe trip and we are all in good spirts. From the view of our rooms,the pipe looks great. We will be out early to see what the mountain has to offer us. Stay tunned for more hot snowboarding updates!

Classic Climate in Southern VT Series

Sully's full list of results tells the complete story but I have some photos from The SOVT Series slope and pipe events this past weekend at Okemo. I'm kind of a southern Southern-Vermont-sissy I guess because that place is always cold as far as I'm concerned. Saturdays slope was the toughest day of the year outside on snow- weather wise. The southern VT series is the best USASA series on the planet and they hosted a banger despite the weather. The snow was freeze dried sticky dust and dry ice. The SMS athletes wrestled and played above the start and threw down on the jumps and jibs below. I love to see the attitude in our backyard as enthusiastic as any Rocky Mtn or Sierra trip of the year. Highlights of note include getting to see the Dev Team in person. I have spent years at SMS with the teams youngest kids and it was great to see some of these new faces bring it on the cold jumps. SMS's newest athlete JP McCardle nearly tripled the first jump spinning. It did not land but that kind of attitude shows the kind of spirit we all want to work with. From the Pro-am crew I saw Cameron Howe attack with more aggression than most riders have on warm days.

Dan Landy too; Fully committed switch backside five like no-one could call switch without knowing. Heavy stuff.
The girls continue to Dominate and treated the contest as a progression test.
Final notes; some of the riders I have gotten the most used to watching ride well at the SOVT Series weekend were back doing their thing. They are Chris Tierney taking it easy coming back from the scary crash at MT Snow Rev to just easy style his way to a podium. Mike Perle winning that largest of age groups with serious tech tricks stomped.( It was Tierney and Perle taking first and second next day in pipe too). The run of the day over the icy course was James Haffner's cab seven to switch back spin. I can't make a toeside turn look as easy as he did that. Big ups to the whole crew for being smoothe in the single digits. It was not much warmer on sunday either after a big and great night at the Winter Ball. Only SMS has weekends like this one. Thanks for being the heat.

First USASA slope and pipe of the season

Bellow is the list of results of our SMS athletes from both USASA contests this weekend. Some information on this weekend; there were 143 competitors at slopestyle on Saturday, the temps were in the negatives but the spirits were high.
The winter ball was amazing it was great to hang out with the coaches all dressed up and fun hanging out with our athletes parents.
Sunday was a little warmer and with the T bar spinning the athletes got in a lot of practice runs in. There were only 90 competitors for the halfpipe but the competition was still fierce with 10 to 20 athletes in each age group, big airs and big spins being thrown down. Congratulation to everyone, you all rode amazingly. One rider shout out from the Development team, congrats to Jaime Charron for landing his first backflip in the halfpipe in competition.


http://usasa.org/images/stories/svermont/2010Results/SVSS_Slope_1_13010_Results.pdf
Results List
USASA - Southern Vermont Series
Slopestyle #1 1/30/2010 Slopestyle, 143 Competitors

Menehune Boys (10-11)
3rd Maverick Shaw

Breaker Girls (12-13)
2nd Jennifer Hawkrigg


Breaker Boys (12-13)
15th Scottie Sweitzer
21st John (JP) McArdle

Open Class Women
1st Serena Shaw
2nd India Stephenson

Open Class Men
1st James Haffner
2nd Joseph Mensch
3rd Spencer Shaw

Youth Women (14-15)
1st Phoebe Novello
3rd Marian Lobell
4th Kiley Kennedy
5th Karen Kobayashi

Youth Men (14-15)
1st Michael Perle
4th Chris Tierney Jr.
5th Daniel Landy
8th Chip Linton
13th Josh Cohen
20th Connor Callen
23rd Jameson (Jaime) Charron

Junior Women (16-17)
1st Lena Kuchera

Junior Men (16-17)
2ns Randall Stacy
4th Connor Hudson
10th Kyle Dorfman
14th Oran Pearce

Men Jam's (18-22)
1st Cameron Howe

http://usasa.org/images/stories/svermont/2010Results/SVSS_Pipe_1_13110_Results.pdf

Results List
USASA - Southern Vermont Series
Superpipe #1 1/31/2010 Halfpipe, 90 Competitors

Menehune Boys (10-11)
3rd Maverick Shaw

Breaker Girls (12-13)
3rd Jennifer Hawkrigg

Breaker Boys (12-13)
4th John (JP) McArdle (#36) Northport, NY

Open Class Women
1at Serena Shaw
2nd Jennifer Cohen

Open Class Men
1st Joseph Mensch

Youth Women (14-15)
1st Kiley Kennedy
2nd Phoebe Novello
4nd Karen Kobayashi
5th Marian Lobell

Youth Men (14-15)
1st Chris Tierney Jr.
2nd Michael Perle
5th Josh Cohen
9th Daniel Landy
10th Chip Linton
12th Jameson (Jaime) Charron
15th Connor Callen

Junior Women (16-17)
1st Lena Kuchera

Junior Men (16-17)

3rd Randall Stacy
7th Oran Pearce
9th Connor Hudson
10th Kyle Dorfman

See you at boardercross at Bromley next weekend. And good luck to the ProAm and Elite teams at the Revolution Tour in Copper CO next weekend.

Sully