SVSS #1 at Carinthia. Slope and Pipe.

Jack G bending it hesh

Carinthia parks at Mount Snow Hosted the first freestyle events of the USASA's 2012 Southern VT Series this past weekend. The venues were stellar. The riding was sick and the riders, coaches and parents of southern Vermont and SMS Snowboarding were very impressed and grateful. I wish I had photos of everyone but too many kids are dressing like Coaches (in black, brown, olive...). It was great to see The Series That Leads The Way get off to such a great start. The jumps have never been so soft and clean and fast so late in the day, and the pipe well, the pipe is the only HP in the East besides the Dew Tour pipe and from what I hear less icy, (better). Highlights include double gold winners Xander Raith and Julia Marino. (It is a contest. Great results are highlights.) Other double podiums were earned by Peter Cerulo with a gold in slope and a silver in HP, (see twisted method at bottom of page.)- I have said it before and I will say it again for those who did not listen the first time...Peter Cerulo: King of Style, Chris Waker used to be The King and then it was Chris Tierney-king-of-style but last year the crown passed and today you can check his business card...Peter Cerulo. K o S.

Julia Marino will represent the SVSS at t X-Games this week. Please watch. You big silly!

The weekend's other double podium winner from SMS is Menehune Girl Kiersten Edwards. Kiersten took third in slope with some montrous and stomped airs off the big side, (read; only girl in age group to ride big jumps). And ruled the division in HP with the large airs as shown in nearby FS air shot. Congrats to all the riders and Thanks to the work put in on the solid course all week long it was a great week and that shows when so many are able to put down, with style and confidence the tricks newly learned and the old stand byes that have been working so well they don't need fixing. Full results from both days events are listed below. Thanks for reading. Keep following these kids and watch for the weekly progression that is SMS Snowboarding.

Fontside air By Menehune Champ Kiersten Edwards

Bye the way, DYK that PG student athlete and class of '11 Spencer Shaw was 6th in the Dew Tour HP finals at Killington sunday? Spencer was also crushing the slope course up there this week just missing finals but taking 16th in the event coming in just in front of 4 year SMS athlete Chis Tierney. '10 Athlete Joe Mensch was 16th in Pipe Semis and of course legends Louie Vito, Luke and Jack Mitrani and Danny Davis all made finals with Louie taking Second place again. Great Job Fellas! We know you deserve more than a mention but dryland is about to begin...and time waits for no man...which is maybe why Lindsay Jacobellis is so Danged fast! Lindsay just won her second world cup SBX of the winter... amazed and humbled to be a part of it all. I love the heart of winter.

Xander 's Vt Sushi Roll. (Stale Fish)

 Methods were dedicated to Craig Kelly. PD pays homage.



Jack Griffin, Front Board train...




Front Board train caboose, Evan Werner



Peter Cerulo Gold in Slope, Silver in HP twisted Method.

SVSS Slopestyle #1 1/21/12                                                             SVSS Halfpipe #1, 1/22/12

Menehune Girls (10&11)                                                            Menehune Girls
3rd Kiersten Edwards                                                                         1st Kiersten Edwards

Breaker Boys (12&13)                                                                 Breaker Boys
2nd Peter Dimitriou                                                                             4th Rekai Tait
4th Rakai Tait                                                                                      7th Peter Dimitriou
9th Benjamin Raith                                                                              8th Benjamin Raith

Youth Wmn (14&15)                                                                    Youth Wmn
1st Julia Marino                                                                                    1st Julia Marino

Youth Men (14&15)                                                                      Youth Men
1st Xander Raith                                                                                    1st Xander raith
5th Jack Griffin                                                                                       6th Jack griffin
7th Evan Werner                                                                                     8th Mason Geils
10th Owen Barth                                                                                    9th Andrew tousignant
11th Mason Geils                                                                                   10th Owen Barth
17th Andrew Tousignant                                                                        11th Evan Werner

Junior men (16&17)                                                                        Junior Men
1st Peter Cerulo                                                                                       2nd Peter Cerulo
4th Daniel Landy                                                                                     7th Mike Boylan
12th Michael Boylan

Northstar@Tahoe REV TOUR and Copper RMS SBX.

Mike Perle with a big double tail grab in the Northstar pipe.

REV TOUR Men's Pipe Podium. Mike Perle 3rd. Joe Mench SMS Alumni 1st.

Joe and Mike.

Noelle Edwards with a frontside air during the REV.

Karen Kobayashi airing out of the pipe with a nose grab.

Phoebe on top of the podium after her awesome slope run.

Biba Turnbull and Marian Lobell charging out of the start during the Rocky Mountain Series SBX

Josh Cohen out of the gate on the way to his 2nd place finish during the RMS at Copper CO.

Marian, Josh, Karen and Biba hanging out after collecting their medals and USASA points towards nationals. Josh placed 2nd in the 16-17 age group. The girls swept the podium in their 16-17 age group. Karen placed 1st, Biba 2nd and Marian 3rd.

While this event was going on Noelle Edwards competed in the Gatorade Free Flow halfpipe in Vail CO with Maverick Shaw. Noelle placed 2nd in the women's and Maverick place 4th in the men's.

The SMS Team have all been riding hard and stepping up the level of their riding. It was great to see the AM Team at a REV Tour charging the pipe and slope. I saw the Elite Team ride the best I've seen them ride learning new tricks and putting down new runs. Phoebe's slope run was the best contest run I've ever seen her have and it was great to see her on top of the podium. With this win and her 3rd in Copper she is well on her way to earning her JR World spot and is currently leading the Rev Tour Slope Overall.

The Speed & Style Team have also been riding hard. It was great for them to get in an awesome 22ft pipe cut by Frank Wells. The girls have been pushing their level of air out of the pipe and working on their 360's and 540's.

The guy's all did some of their biggest airs out of the pipe that I've ever seen them do. Josh doing big frontside airs, Chip backside airs and Mike backside tail grabs.

Mike was a warrior on the Rev Tour Pipe contest day as he crashed first run of practice and bruised his knee. He went on to hit the deck in finals practice and cut above his eye. He placed 3rd with a run including a back side air, frontside 900 tail grab, backside 540, frontside 1080, cab 720 all way out of the pipe.

I'm sorry I don't have a photo of Chip Linton. Chip had a good week in CA. As I said before he did the biggest backside airs out of the pipe that I've seen him do. He worked on his backside 720's at Boreal and put down a sweet backside 360 & 540 during his slopestyle competition at the Rev Tour.

Most of the Speed & Style Team are in Copper CO this week for the Hole Shot SBX races. Ross Hindman's ISTC Team and Copper have done a great job building the course. Hopefully we'll have some more good news to post soon.

A photo tour of the week in Northstar with the Ams.(mostly...)

Jack Griffin throwing out the slob.

 The SMS am team, made its first real Revolution Tour appearance at Northstar in California this past week. To be truthful JP and jack got a start last year at Mount Snow but the snow was deep and sticky. The young guns don't stand a chance when that happens and This was a real trip. Not only was the Half Pipe nearly perfect. The slope course was actually fun, not too big or too small, and it held as well as the pipe did throughout the entire contest day. Thank you Northstar. So what did they do... they landed their first, safety, stock runs close to perfect and got the chance to try harder skills in the next...mission acccomplished when you land what you drop in planning to do. Thank you young gunners. They also got to see two of of SMS' senior leaders show how you get on the podium two thousand miles from home so Thank you and Congratulations to Mike Perle for battling all day on a knee like a grapefruit: 3rd place HP, and Phoebe Novello for rolling out what is perhaps the most technical wmns slope runs ever put down at a Rev Tour slope contest.
One setback. One challenging result of the trip. One reason that one of my usual top models in the am team photo journalism is missing here...JP tweaked his knee in the middle of the trip and had to sit out the contest, awaiting an MRI. JP will be back. The meniscus is suspected and while he feels mostly better he needs further investigating. I want him back now and I know he is more frustrated than I that these great mid January conditions are eluding him. Everybody is pulling for you man. Fear is the mind killer and patience is king....now feast your eyes on your friends getting it done.

Jacks bs 5's air a gateway trick, locked, loaded and perfect for first contest runs...

Jack's stale fish is always a favorite for me. Pretty classic.

Xander. Method air...

I, missed the grab with this shot but there is a story to this mc-twist. "Xander has them on lockdown this week."

This is Xander Raith doing a bs rodeo 5. If you have read this blog through the riding of Eric B and Hunter W you know this is one of my favorite skills to see on a board. The method of inverted tricks.

Rider X.  Boardslide to fakie. (contest). go ahead and launch yrself strait at the end of that bookcase wall...none for me thanks.

Mason Geils with the sick half cab. (contest) How sick is that?!

Mason Geils mute stiffy. (contest)

I love the speed in these two frontside Boardslide shots of Peter D...

...and BtW the "front Board" is "the method" of rail tricks...

PD lipsliding. (from side to top, very few of those out there.)

Peter Dimitriou cab 5 tail. (contest)

Mason Geils getting into nose-press position.

Noelle Edwards practices pipe with a large fs air. I was impressed with Noelle's amplitude and variety. Not the result she was working for contest wise but I'll wager this trip will serve her all year. Nice work kid. Keep it up.

Pheebs sbs 3. (contest)

The woman, the myth, the legend.  The Champion Phoebe Novello cab 540. Scored, 93.00 (possible 100!)

Phoebe Novello Dismantles Rev Tour Slopestyle

This post cost me dinner and completes a 14hr day. But after the show Phoebe Novello put on today, it is worth it.
Gotta keep it short, but I should also point out that Mike Perle placed 3rd in Rev HP yesterday, two spots below champion and SMS grad Joe Mensh. Jen Cohen was just off the podium yesterday also. Ezra just missed finals today and placed 14th in a competitive field. Biba was gunning for finals but a brush of her hand undid her binding 30ft in the air. This unfortunate twist cost her the run, but she shook it off well.
Dave Redden's groms showed nerve and style. Xander was close to a masterpiece of a run, Peter D lipslid a wallride twice his height and Mason landed a clean run, nailing all four features. The aforementioned wallride stood in the way of Peter Cerulo and Dan Landy's well planned runs. These two battled through tough falls this week, it is clear that pain will not keep them from pushing their riding. Connor Callen was in the same boat, but came close to landing a large 720 in competition. Seeing how he just learned the trick, it won't be long before it happens.
Back to Phoebe. She truly put on a show and I could write a paragraph detailing her road to victory. Bottom line is she trained hard, came to win, and showed supreme focus. The rest can be seen in the video below.
We will miss California and its blue skies, but the prospect of a snowy VT has us ready to board the plane.

Sunny California

The lack of blog postings in the past few days should in no way suggest a lapse in the action. It was more like the lapse in internet service at the hotel. Out my window I can see the condemned motel where I stayed 10 years ago with Hannah Teter, Shayne Pospisil and the Pearce brothers as a rookie coach. Internet service meant little back then, how times have changed! The internet (and cell phones) have killed the days when phone calls were special, and you could go through days without knowing every detail of life and society, whether significant or mundane.
BUT, the internet has given us blogs, and allows us to share images of immediate events with the global community. On that note, the California weather has been quite conducive to progressive good times. The team is taking full advantage of the climate and the past few days have showcased the skill and visible evolution of our riders. The jump line at Boreal is where Connor Callen achieved victory over the backside 720. He stomps such a high percentage now that you would never know he struggled at all to learn them.

BIBA TAKES A NEW TRICK NEW DISTANCES. BACKSIDE 180














Biba also took to the Boreal jumps, landing tricks she just picked up off 30ft kickers. Phoebe split her time learning new tricks and mixing her amassing bag of tricks into various lines, spinning off all three jumps.
Dan, Ezra and Peter also enjoyed the jump line, but their skill and creativity were truly expressed on the Boreal rail trail. It would take forever to describe all the features these guys took apart, please check the photos. I also saw some highlights from Jack Griffen and Xander Raith from the chairlift. Jack has a clean Miller Flip and Xander just makes everything look smooth.
I missed the halfpipe action today, but the word on the street is that Mike Perle won practice and Noelle is riding strong. Best of luck to all HP competitors tomorrow. The California sun ain't going anywhere for the remainder of the trip and our kids are riding better than I expected them to be by early January.
Getting back to the internet musings, Dave Redden was quite upset about the inability to blog. He has photos and deep thoughts stockpiling, expect a darn good blog in the next 24!


I'VE BEEN DYING TO SEE THIS ONE GO DOWN. CONNOR CALLEN BACK 720














DAN LANDY AVOIDS THE JAILHOUSE FOR PETE'S SAKE


















PETER CERULO RIDES THE MONSTROSITY FOR KYLE'S SAKE
















DAN LANDY 5-0 THROUGH THE KINK


















PHOEBE STICKS A FIELD GOAL

Northstar Revolution Crew Does Damage on Day 1

WIth nary a trace of snow in 90% of the US (Colorado just got hit), successful resorts rely on parks and pipe to generate business. Two-thirds of the Northstar resort is rocky and barren, bur they created a worthy park and as the saying goes, "If you build it, they will come".
Enjoy the images of our first day here, and know that:
Dan Landy linked switch back 5 to front 7 on the comp jump line, the kid is ready to do damage.
Marian Lobell is inches away from stomping back 360s, and has 4 days to dial them in for the Rev Tour.
Ezra Racine landed a cork front 5 to cab 9 on the comp line, and confused the many rail features with his switch/reg mash-ups.
Connor Callen pushed through his foot pain and shredded rails and jumps all afternoon. He is stoked to be in Cali.
BIba now has legit backside 180s and is itching to spin the bigger jump tomorrow.
Phoebe gaps to lipslide on the down-flat-down rail and stomped some lovely backside 360s off the bigger comp jump.
Peter Cerulo continues to please all viewers with his style and landed his first front 720s of the year (I believe).


JOSH COHEN FIGURES OUT SHAUN WHITE'S CREATION










MIKE PERLE GAP TO LIPSLIDE WITH A TOUCH OF STYLE






















MORE MIKE PERLE



















PHOEBE ALSO GAPS TO LIPSLIDE





















BIBA TURNBULL GETS STALE

Back in the Saddle At Carinthia

It's kind of a saddle in the ridgeline between Mount Snow proper and Haystack. The old Ruben Snow farm aka carinthiapark. Nitro is up and running with sweet hard corduroy, three jumps a smattering of jibs and the sound of snowguns. Lower T has some mini jumps, a flat rail and a street rail.The gulch is being rebuilt after serving the holiday crowds their fair share of ice jibs, the HP snow reserve is piled almost high enough for working and the natural jib park as well as lower nitro are just about ready to groom and open. It's college week so watch out for the goofballs on break. Pretty good training for most levels and plenty to do out there in the cold temps.

JP McCabble 5

Jack G BS 5

IK fs3 off Toes Yo.

Very cool to see all of the different teams riding together for the first time all year- season. Kids are getting their skills back up from the Holiday break and should be ready for the trip to Northstar this weekend. Northstar has worse weather than we do so far this year but they did get snow blown for the pipe so we will get a good week of HP training as well as our Rev contests.