SMS Snowboarding

The Main Event. Bretton Woods 2012

2012-02-14T23:50:00.001-05:00

Never before have I seen 8 riders so completely dominate a contest of 50 or so other worthy competitors. A mutant crew of SMS Snowboarding, half Elite-half AM Team and one Dev Rider loaded-up on friday afternoon, travelled four hrs north to shack up in North Conway NH and UNLOAD all day long upon Bretton Woods New Hampshire's final stop of the 2012 Main Event Contest Series.
The Main Event is a different kind of contest. It has been an east coast staple for independent minded and progressive slopestyle pros, groms and ams for ten years. It is a simple idea. A short slopestyle. One Rail(or "jib") and one big Jump. Short is easy to judge and while not easy to build, there is a much better chance of the features being GOOD. So for those in need of an explanation here it is...

Who dares to Enter The Octogon?!

the Main Event Series is a contest on features you want to ride with prizes you can really use... now here is what went down...
It would be disrespectful and rude not to acknowledge the riding level of the field. Everyone killed it or took a beating trying. This is a knockout format as they like to call it and the judges take into consideration "punches landed" during the two "rounds" of Jams. Is it Sun Tzu's The Art of War that so famously recommends respecting one's opponent? This crew was full of respect and was in turn rewarded. The announcers at the start and judges vantage soon knew them by name from far and near when dropping their bombs. Here comes Ezra...your going to want to pay attention...boom! Racine!

Ezra Front five to the body!

Here comes Dan Landy and he is tucking and bombing in. He is no stranger to the Main Event his whole family was raised competing on the east coast!

Danbo grabs the back of the head and winds up...

PD demos tiger style boxing tech.

... Here comes lightweight Peter Dimitriou. Check the style that won the Nike Boots last Weekend...


and again from underneath!

JP back seven over the top!

A flurry of Damage From the Nantucket Raith Bros. Don't blink...or you'll get the wrath of Jack G and his Giant back three! These guys are swinging Kettlebells and they mean business. Just wrecking the place.

Bam! Xander


Off the Top rope!

Bonk! Benjo


HIIIYAH! Peter C

Back 3 Jack Griffin. 60 plus feet.

And Peter Cerulo with the Clean style all day...I dunno it may just be that the simpler moves with the crisp

EXECUTION might win out over the big spinny flails today...And we've seem some technical maneuvres out of Ezra. Lets see what he's left, OHHH MYYY!

So the boys won the overall title. Ezra gets the Belt and some $ and a trip to Argentina courtesy of SGT. JP and Xander won Jumper titles: a pair of Binders each. Peter Cerulo won 2nd place Lightwieght Contender Overall: Binders and more Headphones. Xander took away the Lightweight title with a wildcard for the US OPEN. The week before Ezra and Peter D both took away Nike Boots for railriing and best trick on the hip. Jack and D and Benjo all won Headphones for throwing punches all day and the Crew made SMS look great on the road with a constant flurry of stoke and huge tricks over the 55 foot table and the assortment of jib features. The best course all year and a great ride home. Thanks boys. Well done.


Probably the first round knockout. YES he's heading left, backwards, folded. Nasty fellow.

Definitely the final Blow. Front 3 on sbs 5 off! Rope a dope!

Lets give em a hand!

Front Boarding and Fighting Irish John Patrick McArdle

Canyons Utah SBX Grand Prix Feb 2012.

2012-02-12T19:29:00.007-05:00

Karen Kobayashi getting ready for her time trial.

Josh Cohen stepping up onto the butter box at the start of the course.

Mike Perle hitting the big hip.

Josh Cohen also airing the hip during practice.

Karen doubling down to generate speed for the step up butter box.

Mike Perle in his 1st heat in which he was top two and advanced to the round of 16.

Friday Feb 10th were the Grand Prix time trials. Karen qualified 11th which put her into the heats. As 16 women qualified for Sunday Feb 12th finals. Mike Perle time trialed 22nd which put him into the 32 men's final. Josh Cohen stepped up his riding this trip hitting huge features like the 70ft hip. With a few mistakes in his time trial runs he was unable to make the 32 men's cut. This was Josh's first Grand Prix and he went for it which was great to see.

Many of us have been wishing for it to snow all season and the one day when we don't want it to snow it was dumping. The course still ran pretty well with the snow but the visibility was tricky.

Karen had a hard first heat with Dominique Maltais, SMS alumni Jacqueline Hernandez and another USA racer. Karen placed 3rd in the heat. Dominique who is this years X-Games Champion went on to win the Grand Prix. Karen placed 10th for the day earning herself 130 FIS points. She was the 3rd Junior as well.

Mike Perle was also racing an SMS alumni first heat. Mike and Alex Deibold went one two in the first round to advance to the round of 16. In the round of 16 Mike was in 3rd behind US Team athletes Graham Wantanbe and Alex Deibold. Mike went for the inside pass on the turn after the big hip. He unfortunately went off balance and fell on the step down. Mike was going for it, riding fast and holding his own with top ranked riders. Mike placed 16th and was the top ranked Junior which really helps him towards earning his Junior World spot.

Markus Schairer from Austria won the men's. Nate Holland placed 4th earning himself the USA National Title as he was the top American. Graham Wantanbe placed 5th and claims retirement after the event. He's still one of the top racers in the world and will be missed on tour.

Utah has been a good trip. Now the team is excited to travel back to SMS to join up with everyone. We'll see you soon.

I received some good news on SMS results last night and today. Spencer Shaw placed 3rd at the Dew Tour halfpipe finals and Louie Vito Won. Noelle Edwards placed 3rd in the Gatorade Free Flow halfpipe finals. Which was also taking place in Snow Basin Utah at the Dew Tour Finals.

Hinterglemm in Photos

2012-02-10T09:34:00.006-05:00

Biba has been at work touching up our photos. I will let them speak for themselves. The shot of Biba below was posted on the Roxy page!

Speed & Style at Park City Mountain Resort and the Canyons Utah.

2012-02-08T18:19:00.010-05:00

Mike Perle with a front board in the Park City Park.

Another angle of Mike on the flat down box with a stair set.

Karen Kobayashi airing one of the PC jumps getting ready for the Canyons Grandprix.

Josh Cohen with a mellon over jump 3 at PC.

Josh kicking out a method.

It hurts to put this up being a Patriots fan, but Josh's Giants are the 2012 Superbowl Champs.

This is the start section of the Canyons Grandprix SBX. It's pretty tech.

This is the big hip jump at Canyons in the SBX course. 60-75 feet to the knuckle depending on the line riders take. There is an alternate route to the left but it will be much slower.

It has been cool to be in Park City. It brings back great memories and it is even the ten year anniversary of the 2002 Olympics. The Speed & Style team that is out here spent a few days at Park City getting their boardercross boards ready and playing in Park City's awesome park. Today was our first day at the Canyons for the SBX Grandprix. Josh, Mike and Karen tested out the course which has some technical features and some big jumps. Canyons and USSA did a great job building the course. Qualifiers are Friday and Finals on Sunday.

Three Peaks Challenge

2012-02-08T10:33:00.010-05:00

With powder turns fresh in our minds we awoke a bit sleepy today and dragged ourselves to breakfast. I kept thinking about how I would like to sleep a bit more and wondered where I would get the energy for the day. I am still unsure of where I got said energy, but I'm sure glad I did.

Phoebe and Biba's eyes are opened to the joys of powder turns and the folly of spending your entire young lives lapping park runs, never turning your head to the mountaintop. We must have hiked for 3 hours combined today and covered miles. As we reached our final peak it was impressive to look miles across the sunny valley and see our morning cornice-drop tracks.

I neglected to say that Phoebe was a bit miffed yesterday because she didn't stomp her cornice drop. Today she had made up for it well before noon. She also beefed up her "backcountry" (we never left the resort boundary) knowledge as we chatted up and down the Austrian peaks. We bagged at least 3 today, which brought PETE DAVIS' name to our lips. Aside from the 3 Peak thing, we knew he would be stoked to be with us, and probably had some local knowledge.

Last night we hit the comp park again where Biba ran the 3 jump line in two runs. The girls will be up against the stiffest competition in their lives this week, but I already know they will make me proud. They are sponges for experience, knowledge and progression, so fun to work with. As we stumbled home around 3pm with jellied legs, we ran into Danger Dave and Ty Walker in the streets. The airlines lost their bags and they have been here for 3 days without the ability to shred. This made us realize our amazing fortune so far on the trip.

Gettin' Pow. Sorry!

2012-02-07T09:08:00.004-05:00

I hate to do this to all the peeps back at SMS, but I gotta blog and this is what I have to post. Our jet-lagged behinds got to sleep in a bit today (8:30am), which was nice. We then hit the best breakfast spread ever at Hotel Edelweiss before headed out into the snowy village. This resort is huge. Last night I compared it to 3 Strattons. It's more like 8!
I always dislike leading a crew around a new resort. Local knowledge rules and it is tough to not know where to go, especially at a massive resort with tons of fresh snow.
Well we didn't quite know where to go, but we soon figured it out. We headed to the outer confines of the resort where we saw a nice, mostly untouched bowl with a mellow cornice leading into it. I checked in with a Mt employee to ascertain safety. The lack of tracks made me a bit nervous, but the dude told me it was good to go. I guess with all the terrain available most people avoid hiking.
A scenic half-hour hike got us to our drop zone. The girls were a touch nervous as I broke down some basic cornice/slide concepts. I dropped first (not just being selfish, but safe), and enjoyed exactly what I had been missing this winter-powder turns! The girls got a bit ragdolly on their first cornice drop, but ate up the pow turns and demanded another go. Second time around the hike went a bit quicker, Phoebe pretty much ran up. The attached video sums up how run two went. Nice line Biba!
What I had not realized was that this was a new take on snowboarding for Phoebe. I take for granted that anyone on a snowboard is on it for pow turns and has had some real ones. Now that Phoebe has she is hungry for more. We will track out this zone again tomorrow then head for another hike that we spotted.
It is 3pm now and we just finished some slamming shnitzel and are resting up. At 6pm we will hit the night park and get our comp practice on again. We are loving our new routine (grub-pow-grub-park-grub) and, once again, no one wants to leave.

Austria Round 2

2012-02-06T15:33:00.008-05:00

NIGHT RIDER PHOEBE NOVELLO

It was a nice feeling to hit the ground in Austria and not feel like a complete tourist. This is my 4th trip in 3 years and I am starting to feel comfortable with the Frankfurt Airport and Highway A10 out of Salzburg. The girls have spent enough time here to be casual, and they have both become great travelers. We chat with the locals and get our drops in the park without hesitation or uncertainty.
Aside from our evolution, the day of travel just seemed to work out perfect. Shannon McGee helped us get to Boston and things went smooth from there (the girls even got their own rows of seats on the long flight). We arrived to plentiful snow and a private shuttle that whisked us right to our hotel. Austrian hotels have become my favorites and this one is better than most. We unpacked and headed out to the slopes at 4pm for some night riding. After ripping some powder turns on the mountain, Phoebe and I then made our way to the competition park just as the lights were coming on (Biba had double the travel and opted for some down time).
The park looked great, and after I knuckled jump one and overshot jump 3, Phoebe stepped in to show me the speed (the student has become the teacher). By 6:30 she was comfortable with the course and we had enjoyed some of the best night riding I have experienced. Back to the hotel for a 4 course meal and now its time to shut 'er down.
Tomorrow is a free day for us and we have a snow-filled resort 3 times the size of Stratton to explore (9am-9pm).
The Elite Team males have been on our minds and in our conversations. Keep in mind guys that this trip was proposed by Phoebe and Biba, and approved quickly. Let's hear the next proposal guys!

OUR DIGS

THIS IS THE ONE I OVERSHOT IN THE DARK. PHOEBE NAILS IT.

PARK FROM ABOVE

SVSS #1 at Carinthia. Slope and Pipe.

2012-01-24T17:19:00.001-05:00

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.

2012-01-16T13:36:00.012-05:00

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...)

2012-01-15T19:34:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-13T23:20:00.004-05:00

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

2012-01-11T18:35:00.014-05:00

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

2012-01-08T18:19:00.012-05:00

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

2012-01-04T16:46:00.000-05:00

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.

Phoebe Novello, Eric Beauchemin and Spencer Shaw Podium at Copper Rev

2011-12-20T18:22:00.007-05:00

RANDALL STACY TELLS DAN LANDY ALL ABOUT COLLEGE

Stratton Mt School athletes enjoyed some podium time at the Copper Rev Tour. On Monday Spencer Shaw won Mens Halfpipe. Spencer is just getting back to it after a summer of rehab, so this was an important win for him.
Today's slope event saw blue skies but an icy, poppy course. It was a battle to make it top to bottom, advancement aside. Clean runs were landed by Phoebe, Biba, Marian, Quincy, Eric and Dan Landy. Biba spun front and back 360s, a great breakthrough. Quincy had a run that could have qualified, but a missed grab kept her points down. Ezra almost landed a qualifying run, but fell at the end. Ezra has made most of the qualifying rounds in the past year and this was a tough break for this ripper.
Phoebe blazed through the course, sending jumps and rails deep. Her nerve earned her a spot in the finals, where she stepped up her run and earned a 3rd place podium spot. Eric Beauchemin commanded the event from start to finish, but a fluke slip out in finals run 1 forced him to hold back a bit in his second run. Even so he ended up second. Our second trip of the year has come to a successful finish and all are ready to head home for the holidays.

PHOEBE IN ACTION

Frontside Airs

2011-12-16T17:19:00.008-05:00

Phoebe and Quincy tried to blog last night but ran into technical difficulties. Stay tuned for that one, as it covers a remarkable day at Keystone.
Today we returned to Copper which now has a 3 jump line leading down to the halfpipe. Productive would best describe the day. Chip Linton spun three directions off the line, starting with a very smooth backside 540. Dan Landy decided to develop his cab spins in Austria and now starts his jump line with a cab 540 (one month later). Peter Cerulo chooses switch backside for his 540 on jump one, and it is as smooth as Chip's. Ezra inverts his 540, and can put various runs down with ease on this line. Biba's Austria goal was backside 360s and darned if she didn't land one on jump one today, which she can follow up with a combo of 180s. Quincy runs a floater switch backside 180 into an equally floated frontside 360 (solid grabs here). That leaves Ms Novello who is quite proud of her line, switch back 360, cab 540 backside 360......
Halfpipe went well also, with riders landing 5s, 7s (Maverick Shaw stood out here), and even getting upside down (Quincy of course). Josh Cohen was blasting some nice frontside airs, so I ran down to shoot one. We had a few more show-offs after Josh as you can see in the photos below. Josh wanted to go bigger so I shot him twice.

JOSH COHEN

MARIAN LOBELL

PHOEBE

QUINCY

An Invite to Paradise

2011-12-14T21:39:00.019-05:00

What a treat our crew received today! Pete Cerulo and I were at Woodward last night where we met up with Rick Shimpeno (who has some amazing news for close friends). Being the cool dude that he is, he invited a few of my riders to a private session on the Grand Prix rail garden (where grad Eric B just placed 2nd). Ezra, Dan, Peter and Chip took Rick up on this offer and rode the set-up from 10am-2pm. Needless to say, tricks were landed and footage/photos were amassed. Dan Landy busted his ass to land trick of the trip, and did so (although Ezra had a few comparable bangers). Aside from straight hammers, many smooth tricks were landed and all aspects of the set-up were shredded. Oh, forgot to mention that Mike Perle came by to shred also. The kid was on his pipe/bx board which was not ideal for the rails, yet he landed the best wall ride of the day and got busy on the rails also. Mike was also blasting some of the biggest airs in the pipe today and some front 1080s. He is one of the strongest riders I have seen. An afternoon workout and protein-rich sushi diner with Mike revealed part of his secret.

EZRA

DAN

CHIP

MIKE

The halfpipe took a bit of a backseat to the rail garden (this was our only day to ride the rails), but much work was done in the pipe regardless. Phoebe landed most of the tricks she knows in her first day in HP in months. Pete Cerulo showed his style and Quincy has a arsenal of new straight air grabs, including a "man method".

COACH GITS HIS

THANK YOU RICK FOR MAKING THIS AMAZING DAY POSSIBLE

Great to be Back Home

2011-12-13T22:26:00.000-05:00

I was shocked amazed and inspired by the enthusiasm of our crew to be back East. With one day to gather our wits and energy for riding we went to pick up our passes this morning at Mt Snow. Since it was sunny and twenty five, and we picked up every pass for the team without a hic-cup we figured we may as well shred. The kids rode the New Six Pack Bubble chair to the top and down across Long John to Carinthia. They said the chair was ill but the park was sicker. I gotta try that chair soon.

I read a caption about how"you" just don't see any good methods any more. "Peek a Boo!" Rakai Tait.

bs 1 on. f.t. Jack

2 on 2 off. Busy Peter.

Celebrity Shred Day at Breck

2011-12-13T21:40:00.016-05:00

After shredding in Austria then being weather-delayed in VT, my Elite Crew took to the Breck line today with frothing jaws. With the Dew Tour and Kevin Pearce's return to snow both at Breck this afternoon, the place was packed with pros, industry leaders and plenty of SMS graduates. The funny thing about this scenario is that my crew could sorta have cared less about the hubbub. Sure we were overjoyed to see Hunter, Kev Mattice, Eric B and Randall, and it was funny to see The Tomato, but aside from Peter Cerulo asking Torstien to play of game of In Your Face, it was all about getting tricks. And tricks we got!
First of all, PETER CERULO sure made up for lost time. This young ripper missed out on Austria and wallowed with us through two weeks of rainy VT training. To say he was itching to hit real features is a massive understatement. Peter regained his style quickly and then moved on to developing some new tricks. Switch back 540 was his goal, and in an hour he rode out of a switch back 720. I was floored. Peter was the only one with energy to hit Woodward after the day's riding and we had the park to ourselves. Respect to Peter for working hard all day and killing it with style!
Please don't take that to mean Peter was the only one working hard, the Elite Team is stacked with workhorses. Phoebe landed one of her best Cab 540s, Dan Landy continues to pursue new tricks and is on the doorstep of a corked backside 720. Biba is grabbing her frontside 360s, which is a great breakthrough for her. She will be stomping them in no time. Quincy is thriving like weeds in the sun and was a bit disappointed in me when I held her back from getting upside down.
We also enjoyed some runs with Chip Linton and Mike Perle, who is one of the strongest riders I know. Check the style on his backside 180s. It ain't easy to show style without a grab, but it can be done, as Mike shows here.

PETER CERULO HAS THE PARK TO HIMSELF

DAN LANDY DEVELOPING A NASTY-LOOKING BACKSIDE 7

EZRA'S FRONT RODEO 540 WAS THE TRICK OF THE DAY, AND IT'S JUST A LEAD-IN FOR 900s+

Sweet Lou! Again!

2011-12-10T18:11:00.001-05:00

Nice of L.V. to take the time to block the sun from my camera

Check the LV graphic on his boards.

After qualifying in the number one spot two days ago Louie Vito put on a great show in today's finals of the US Snowboard Grand Prix at Copper Mtn. Colorado. Louie put on a hard charge in his final run with three variations of the double cork 1080, one "conventional" ten and a stylish method but landed his final trick smacking his edge into the wall so settled on his first run score to take second place. Luke Mitrani of Mammoth Lakes and formerly Bondville won the event with his own bag of doubles and incredible on the edge style. Greg Bretz was third in the event to round out the all american podium. It was a great event and the riding of the entire final field was indicative of a mind boggling progression in store for the winter.
In the woman's field the riding is getting progressively more tech but my friend Kelly Clark is not giving up win streak. Kelly has not failed to reach the top of the podium since sometime before the 2010 US Open. She was followed by Madeline Schaffrick of colorado and Carolle Castellet of Spain.
SMS and US Snowboarding rider Serena Shaw was 26th with three 540's and a seven- kinda tight scoring. Ellery Hollingsworth was 29th due to crashes but El was going for it dropping into a back rodeo first hit and crashing on a very nice looking crip-7. Serena's older sister Brooke was 30th and Jenn Cohen was 32nd out of the field of 46 pro riders from around the globe. Congrats on a great effort and a beautiful show from all the riders.

Luke about ten feet over head. front 9.sick.

Nice Job Louie Vito.

2011-12-08T20:21:00.001-05:00

SMS Alumnus Louie Vito won today's semi finals at the Copper Mtn US Snowboarding Grand Prix Halfpipe. It was the first day of competition for the first Professional Halfpipe event of the year in North America. Louie led the international field into Saturday's Final. Out of 85 Starts today Jack Mitrani was 21st, Danny Davis 27th- (in his first contest since breaking his back two years ago!), current PG Spencer Shaw was 42nd and Joseph Mensch was 72nd. After Nearly two weeks of nothing but flurries the snow and wind were hitting pretty hard all morning slowing conditions for the riders and pushing the women's qualifying heats to tomorrow. Good luck to Serena Shaw and all the women riding.

Devo team is holding it down

2011-12-08T00:18:00.004-05:00

The development team has been working hard and holding it down here in Colorado. A great highlight of the camp was the WOODWARD @ COPPER bowl jam. Rakai Tait entered the contest with a hurt shoulder due to a back side 540 fall during snowboarding training that day. He was hesitant on entering the contest,due to the fact that he was one of the youngest competitors in the contest. After a few practice runs under his belt,he was ready to skate and destroy ! With the development team shouting and yelling and stoking him out his amplitude built. Rakai had front side airs and backside airs to the liking of some of my favorite old school skaters. This kid is something else to watch skate as well as snowboard. His determination to stomp tricks is inspiring to me and others on the team. When it was all said and done Rakai placed 3rd in the bowl jam. I want to thank WOODWARD @ COPPER for putting on such a fun contest that makes the sports we do even more fun !

SMS-Amplosion @Area 51

2011-12-07T19:36:00.001-05:00

Keystone's Area 51 has been holding down the early seasonslopestyle training ground title for years. One of the World's most diversely featured parks since it's inception it takes a day to just to begin to get used to. There are so many options it has been called neurotic and the perfect answer for attention deficit disorder. We had a great day. Highlights include Peter's return from an ankle sprain to near full recovery. Xander Nailed two laps of cab five, back three, front seven in the tight and lifty triple line. Jack has learned half cab "on", on numerous new jibs. Jp can front board just about anything and is compiling a hefty roll of "footie" for his supporters. Mason board slid the entire double down barrel where Seb Touts is filming all day and along with me enjoyed the morning ride to the park more than any trail we have ridden out here yet. Also always important to me at fall camp is running into the alumni crew. Connor Hudson and Randall Stacey rolled right up on me in front of the hectic bomb jib intersection, Chris Tierney lapped the morning with us and Eric-Beachfaced-Destroyer-Beauchemin was ripping solo all day. Jacki Z was out riding fast too. What next? The "slide show" through the lens of my trusty casio...

SMS Riders: A Band on the Run

2011-12-06T21:28:00.001-05:00


X.


Peter D

I'm sitting in Woodward. I've been watching Xander and JP try to kill each other with a game of Jib on the tramp boards then over to the bowl where Rakai Tait is repping VT Skates and SMS in the bowl Jam with 5 foot airs. Rick Shimpeno is howling into the mic about how tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak and I just giggle myself off the couch watching our elite crew transformed into elven Rocky Balboa's back east on the stratton rail garden. Just trying to catch everyone up here from Woodward. I have been missing a few days and have limited eye candy for you because my memory cards are constantly in the hands of the riders to download.

Jack G.

We took saturday off and then rode pipe at copper sunday. Great pipe and I can't believe how quickly these guys adapted to the full 22 foot size of that beast. Many pipes claim "super". Few are every inch of it like copper's... I started my day with a hug from Jaqueline Hernandez and one from Joe Mensch at breakfast. A hug and a High five from Jenn Cohen up at the pipe and two warm hugs from Louie Vito. Danny Davis showed after lunch and rounded out the SMS alumni blast of the day. Spencer and Serena Shaw were training with US Snowboarding for the impending Grand Prix as well. Finally Dave Edry did a back-pack run, with Carson at the end of the day. Of course the best part of the day were the blasted airs from Josh, Peter D, Jp McA, Xander and Jack and Mason- O.B., Chewey, Rakai, Julia Marino, Kiersten Edwards, Mike Boylan and Benjo.

JP slob...

...to nose poke

The next two days were cold in the low single digits. Hard snow and stinging faces kept the crowds thin and our east coast riding bunch took to it appropriately. It felt like February and they rode like it. I'm impressed with the way these guys have tuned into the park lines and steadily moved through the spins. As many cab and switch back 5's as front and back. These after poked and shifty threes and the daily jump line trains that make any fan of the classic method proud. After one flat back seven that left him in the back seat JP decided to cork it and landed the next three. They look good out here. Despite hard thin snow here and no snow at home we are super grateful for the training we are getting. One other rider not afraid of the cold weather each day is India Stephenson. She is sending front one mute, back three (indie) to front three all day. She is riding great and of course showing the current kids yet another strong rider to follow.
This morning Scott and the dev crew will ride Copper again. there are two small parks, more freeriding opp's and some nasty Grand Prix pipe training to watch. The Am's and I are checking out Keystone. Josh and Jay are also riding here at copper, getting ready for Josh's two days of racing in Steamboat Springs. Good luck, have fun and train hard.

Beasts in the East

2011-12-06T12:55:00.020-05:00

I was fortunate enough to be a young man when Rocky 4 came out. I enjoyed it in the theater and, like many who have seen this film, came away impressed by Rocky's training regime. While his Russian competition prepares in his state-of-the-art facility, overseen by scientists, Rocky gets creative in a snowbound barn. Pull-ups on the loft, tossing bails of hay and running in knee deep snow all contribute to Rocky's eventual victory.
Now, I have to admit that SMS is quite state-of-the-art itself. That being said, the Austria crew returned to find the mountians closed and temps high. After the European experience, a week of dryland training was tolerated. We were fortunate enough to have Okemo and Stratton open for our second week back, and the riders went to work like Rocky in the barn. Narrow trails have been blazed and shaky rails have been humbled. Suddenly the warm temps are OK, corn snow is shredded in hoodies.
In four rounds of Okemo Mt Top Boardercross (one run switch), NOELLE EDWARDS took 3 (and was playfully held back in the final run by Dan Landy). A trip to the Stratton Rail Garden turned into a true Rocky 4 moment. The progression session was highlighted by Ezra's regular and switch back lipslides, Noelle Edward's 50-50 back 180 out, Connor Callen approaching back-lip pretzels, and Peter Cerulo's list of bangers.
With rain forecasted for tomorrow, our meager training grounds might actually get worse. Whatever comes, I will be on the trail with the baddest group of riders on the hill, training Rocky style.

NOELLE EDWARDS

CONNOR AND PHOEBE WORK THE BACK LIP

EZRA IN WARM-UP MODE

ICY GRANULAR WITH A CHANCE OF FOG

A QUICK LOOK AT TODAY'S ACTION (SORRY THE IPHONE FOOTAGE MAKES THEM LOOK LIKE MINI-SELVES).

2011-12-04T00:07:00.004-05:00

King tutor

Jay and father Boylan

Mike Boylan,Evan Werner,JP McArdle,Andrew Tousignant,Mason Geils,Julia Marino,Kiersten Edwards,Raki Tait

3 Great Riding Days+1Busy Saturday=Day Off!

2011-12-03T15:08:00.001-05:00

Chewey is suprised his stylish RTF is so tall.

Call him Half-cab-Jack. Smooth.

In the interest of keeping sharp we are skipping this crowded saturday and splitting up towards Breck and Woodward. Dwaine, Jay and Scott took a group to buy Christmas and Hanukkah Presents for their parents and other wonderful Sponsor's like DC Outerwear and Boots, Mervin Manufacturing, Smith Optics, AG Clothing, Mtn. Riders Snowboard Shop, Groovy Gaiters, Snug Life to name just a few. Thanks for all the support folks.

Days two and three on snow were perfectly productive. Everyones riding is much smoother and more tech.


Mason Geils is dropping Front Boards all over

Young guns are linking threes. The kids are sharing their stoke freely and really help push one another. Rodeos and boned out front threes done like Old school pros are the norm near the top and we even have a 5-7-5 with style. I am remiss to cover the jibs but I blew the shot on Pete's lipslide on the vert wall. Got some Front boards and styley airs as proof and of course the most all-american of sports...your viewing pleasure.

Josh Cohen Def took the Method Shot of the Day Award.


BS Five. Courtesy, Gnu Snowboards, AG and McSizzle


JP is having a day out here. Ya'll can be proud.

Development and Am Squads Hit The Ground Running In Summit County

2011-12-02T00:15:00.001-05:00

2011 Fall Camp Has Arrived for the Development and Am Teams. Thanks to Shuttle help from Ross and Ian SMS snowboarding made bradley airport in two hours. We easily rolled through check-in and security to board our nonstop to Denver. Nobody lost a bag but Alamo gave away a couple of our trucks so we were forced to suffer the upgrade to four 2012 suburbans. Not so bad. We look like the secret service rolling through Eisenhower tunnel and all over Summit county. It did set us back twenty minutes though and this time loss was increased when we were given a slightly confused lodging list to accompany our slew of keys. We had just enough time to figure out our answers, match athletes to keys and keys to accomodations and get into Woodward@ Copper for our 4-6 session...Dave was getting a little tired by now but the kids were stoked.

tail press. Petey D

nose press to...

Four snowboarders and one coach plus two freeskiers and a coach filled up the one hit wonder orientation program. That would be Jay Belanger and Jesse Mallis attending with Evan Werner, Peter Dimitriou, Kiersten Edwards Rakai Tait, Finn Kennedy and Nikita. The rest of our crew out here has all been through the intro. Trampoline and Foam Pit hucking was enjoyed by the rest of us: athletes Julia Marino, Mike Boylan, Owen Barth, Jack Griffin, Mason Geils, Josh Cohen, Xander and Benji Raith, Andrew (Chewey) Tousignant and John Patrick (JP) McArdle and Gideon LeGros. Scottie J, Dwaine Tait, Greg Raith and myself were just as fired up as the kids if a little less Bouncy. Woodward is an amazing facility. Five tramps and a tumble track as well as some portable mini tramps on one side of a foam pit, a springy soft gymnastic tumbling floor on the other side. Another, larger pit is surrounded by the snowflex surfaced jumps. Skateboard pool, two mini ramps and a street course round out the options. This place is inspiring copycats as well as Woodward's own project being built in the Tahoe region, USSA's center of excellence in Park City Utah and the recently permitted Stratton Mountain School Air Awareness Facilty. It is a playground on steroids. It is host at different times to nearly every national Snowboard and Free-ski team in the world as well as just about any competing professional you have heard of or not. Great to see Rick Shimpeno and Phoebe Mills and have them in the SMS family circle again. The improvisational bouncing and parcour or freerunning moves being thrown by all these differently trained athletes is clearly at the forward edge of human athletic evolution. I love it. I love watching it. I love trying it myself and working with the kids to see what they can find out about themselves and how they can expand their movement skills. I'm so amazed that we will have such a place and know that everyone with an interest in this blog, our school, our kids will get to see the looks on our athletes' faces as they do their own training dances in such a place at home on campus...awesome and onward. I took a quick leave to go round up our meal vouchers for breakfasts and just barely fit under the garage door that was closing at group sales, just in time like on Get Smart. In and out with our 388 meal tix back to the Barn. Pick up the crew, we're all half out of breath half the time. 3:00 am wake up call at sea level, travel 1600 miles and working out at 9 thousand feet, finishing some moving-in of bags and kids, getting new keys that work better for Chewy, Mike and Pete. Time for dinner.
Day one on snow starts with breakfast at Copper. The pipe is olympic size and straight edged right in front of the lodge. We enjoy the view while we fuel ourselves. Over to Breckenridge to wrangle 18 seasons passes. Of course one birthday is entered wrong and one name spelled with an M instead of a G so we are being told these guys are not in the system and close to buying two more before sorting it out. Our last serious logistic completed and we are up and riding in a sunny forty degrees on snow that stays pretty hard somehow. These first days on snow each season are always interesting. New gear and time off make confidence a rarer commodity. Its also part of the plan. Rediscover certain skills, manage risks. we are teaching these guys and girls that keeping themselves healthy is an important tactic toward continued skill development. We are likewise riding at Breck right now rather than Copper because athletes need time on snow before time in air and before time in the HP. We will ride Breck for one more day tomorrow, our third before training some Halfpipe for a few days. Then we will go to Keystone to ride a larger and more diverse Park set up.

Evan Werner BS3

It has been great to see the new young blood on snow. The big young crew we have had all fall and the new winter term riders are full of surprises and going to become the next great SMS athletes. Day two on snow was a big step up for just about everybody. The commodity less rare. I can't list everybody again and don't see all that goes on with the Dev crew but in the Am squad I have to mention that Peter D has shifty threes right out of the gate, and super energy on his butter tricks, Mason has some knee tendinitis but is doing a pretty front board on a flat down box/rail and fought through some landing issues to get his front three today. JP is already landing sevens and cab fives, Xander already getting back rodeos, and spinning on and off down rails. Jack is getting his threes back and front boards and he tail-pressed a 25-30 foot down barrel in his first two tries on it. Jack was told not to skate all summer by a therapist so he has come from feeling pretty shaky yesterday to pretty styley today. It's getting late and we will keep you more in touch as we are settled in better now. The energy is great the kids look and feel fit and strong. We have study hall every weeknight at 7 and have been to woodward three times. We will skip that part tomorrow to get some extra leg rest for giant halfpipe riding the next day. It is great working with Scott, Jay, Dwaine and Jesse. Its great to see these kids fighting for their "dreams" or just what they want to be and do. Thanks for the trip.

Jack G fb on the dr

rider x. front one on, back one off.

Fall camp 2011 Colorado

2011-12-02T00:02:00.005-05:00

Mason Geils holding down for the 802

Julia Marino with the right colors for the right shot

Mike Boylan sending all day

Peter Dimitriou won't let a grey sky cramp his style

Speed & Style in Hintertux.

2011-11-14T14:23:00.024-05:00

MIKE PERLE CRANKS A METHOD

MARION LOBELL IN THE BX COURSE

KAREN GETS ON EDGE

The Speed & Style Team has been enjoying Austria and riding hard at Hintertux. We've been spending our time on the park jumps and in the sbx course. Everyone has been working on new tricks on the jumps and moves in the sbx course. Mike Perle nailed the sbx bmx jumps second try and landed a backside 900 off a jump. Chip Linton has been riding hard on everything. Stomping backside 540's and going for back 720's. Josh Cohen has been styling some airs in the park and gaining speed in the sbx. He also made it through the tech bmx jumps. All the Speed & Style girls have been pushing each other all over the mountain. Marian Lobell, Karen Kobayashi and Noelle Edwards have been locking in frontside and cab 180's and working on their frontside 360's. The have also been working the berms in the sbx and cleaning up their lines. I've been very happy with the training in AUT and very happy with the riding of all the SMS athletes over here. I'm looking forward to the next three days on the mountain. I'm sorry it took me so long to get up a blog. My computer quit working on day #2 and is still down. Thank you to Ian and his computer for making this blog happen.

MIKE PERLE BRINGS STYLE TO BX

CHIP LINTON BLASTS THE POLEJAM

JOSH COHEN KICKS IT OUT

WHEN NOT TAKING KILLER PHOTOS, CHIP IS CORKING BACK 540S

NOELLE EDWARDS GETS CREATIVE

AUSTRIA TEASER!!!

2011-11-13T14:25:00.002-05:00

The Team Reconvenes

2011-11-13T10:43:00.011-05:00

The entire crew is back together at Hintertux, which is nice. The Horsefeathers crew was received warmly and were happy to shred with their team mates again.
The Elite girls worked on backside 180s (a must-have trick that they passed by for 360s). Dan Landy and Connor Callen developed their switch frontside spins and Ezra is getting his frontside spins corked out. Progression for all came quick, which signals a bountiful year.
As the T-Bar passes the BX Course I was able to witness some of the work Ross' crew was gettin' done. Josh easily ran the line of 4 BMX style kickers and Mike Perle easily runs the entire course. I came across Noelle Edwards in the slope course and saw some smoothly grabbed 180s get stomped. This young lady is enamored with Austria and making the most of her time.
One thing I did not witness but heard plenty about was CHIP LINTON'S backside 720 in the jump line. I am going to make sure I see it tomorrow.
With all the work getting done I was not able to shoot many new shots, so I am sharing some of my unused shots. Enjoy!

EZRA RACINE STALEFISH AT HORSEFEATHERS (MAKE SENSE?)

BIBA MEETS THE FAMOUS LICHA

PHOEBE NOVELLO SENDS A BACKSIDE 180 OVER LUNCH LAND

Special Guest Bloggers Biba, Quincy and Phoebe Give the Austrian Low-Down

2011-11-11T13:04:00.031-05:00

Oh hey! Didn't see you over there!
So0o0ooo, here's the down low of the Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam. In short, everyone killed it, no finals, but the vibe was über positive and happy.

Ezra had a killer run consisting of a back 540 maneuver, to a cab 900 degree rotation, to a stellar frontside 720, leading into some wallride thing, which looked cool, although not totally sure what it was. This beautiful run placed him in 8th which is just one spot out of finals. YAY! Great job, Ez-brahhh!

TEEN CRIBS

The girls...tried really hard. solid effort. Biba just coming off of her third broken collar bone killed it and landed a run. YEWwWW, as the aussies would say. Quincy had a fantastic run and held on tightly on her second run to keep it together and make it look STEEEZyy. Way to go team Canada!! Phoebe landed but forgot about the second jump all together. woops! But she stayed very positive by dancing with Quincy at the top. Everyone at the start got to hear them belting out their favourite songs. Nicely done females!

THE ICE QUEEN

Austria has been amazing thus far and Dachstein has truly delivered the goods with blue bird days, sweet shred, and great hospitality. Tomorrow we return to Hintertux where we will reunite with fellow elite team members and speed and style cr3w. We have really been missing Dan and Connor out here and are pumped to meet back up with them and see what new tricks they've got to show us.

Getting caught in the tourist traps......or tourist crevasses.....of Dachstein

Watch your step!

The view from the top of the course

Ezra Corking out a back 540 manoeuvre

Elite SWAT Team Touches Down in Schladming for Horsefeathers

2011-11-10T10:27:00.011-05:00

After an amazing, sunny day at Hintertux, Ezra, Quincy, Phoebe, Biba, India and myself jumped in our van for a 3 hour drive across Austria. Our destination: Schladming and Dachstien for our third trip to the Horsefeathers Pleasurejam. This 4-Star TTR event has always been a fun and legitimate way to start our competitive year.
The drive was a treat. Livestock, architecture, waterfalls and a full moon made for much discussion (dominated by Phoebe). We arrived at Pension Tiefenbach where Veronika welcomed us back for our third stay. She had not seen Phoebe or India in three years and the reunion was heartfelt.
Sun greeted us again today and the course at Dachstien was perfect. I had some apprehension letting the girls loose on a 4-Star Slope course so early in the year, but they made me proud and rode with confidence. The girls quickly decided that the big line was just fine for them and by the end of the day Quincy and Biba had full lines with front 360s. Phoebe landed her 360 early and moved onto Cab 540s on jump one.

QUINCY JUST ABOUT CORKING A FS 360

PHOEBE RELAXES ON AIR, 3000ft ABOVE AUSTRIA

Ezra is a quiet, contemplative ripper and I enjoyed helping him as he adjusted his line, mixing up back 540s, cab 900s (almost cab 10), frontside 900s and disgusting straight airs on the hip. Keep in mind this is day 3 on snow.
We also met up with SMS alum Eric Beauchemin and his girlfriend Anna Gasser who assaulted the course as a couple. Eric landed a lovely cab 10 in front of me and nearly landed a backside double-cork 1080. I love seeing graduates come up, and India and Eric made me happy today.
Qualifiers are tomorrow and my young crew is set to make a splash in the International Pro pool of riders here. We expect no podiums but I can see that they will make me proud and land stylish runs. Wish us luck.

ERIC B SIGHTING

SMS Elite Fall Camp in Austria off To a Great Start

2011-11-09T15:08:00.007-05:00

The Elite and Speed and Style Teams arrived safely in Austria after extensive travel. I'm talkin' bout Trains Planes and Automobiles here. The scenery, food and shredding are all above par and the kids are so happy to be here. I have not had much time to blog. After two days at Hintertux I drove Phoebe, Ezra, Quincy, Biba and India halfway across Austria to meet our old friends in Schladming. That crew will be competing at the Horsefeathers Jam over the next few days. As soon as we arrived in our Pension, Eric Beauchemin showed up to say hello. He has been living and riding in Aus with his girlfriend for the past two months. India has also been here for a few months and she is SHREDDING. Such a good influence and example for the other girls. India also guided me across the country, no easy task with the crazy road signs and language barriers. I am so proud of Indy and Eric. It is amazing to see how far they have come, and they are both on the DC Team. Alumni extraordinare indeed (not sure I spelt that one right!)
Brief Highlights (aside from today's India Show)
-Dan Landy is quickly cementing his place on the Elite Team. Switch back 540 to reg back 540 in the jump line and nasty rail moves on his first day on snow.
-We all witnessed a few of Ross Power's legendary methods today, and they are as pleasant to watch as ever.
-Ezra Racine is terrorizing quiet towns all over Austria on his skateboard and is taking to European life quite well.

We would all like to thank all the family and staff that made this trip possible. It is so much bigger than snowboarding.....

Parents Weekend Brings a Sunny Day

2011-10-15T11:29:00.001-04:00

Ross Welcoming the new year's parents.

Josh Cohen staying sharp on the passed ball.

Its nice to see a campus full of adults for a change and the support is overwhelming. Some individual coach/parent meetings are still taking place but while I have some time between meetings and before the BBQ lunch (to be followed by soccer games). It's a nice time to say thanks to everyone who could take the time to come and support their kids and get up to speed on the upcoming season. Thanks.
Be sure and speak up if you missed the meetings and feel out of the loop. If you have not done so please register your athlete for USASA(membership at USASA.org). If your son or daughter is in the Elite, Speed and Style, or Am Crew within the larger team and you have not done so get registered also for USSA/FIS (USSA.org). Your point man coach will fill you in on your son or daughters individual contest schedule and relevant registration steps.

World Gym.

Looking forward to the snow more and more. In the meantime here are some more shots from the 1st Annual Sideways Standing Bootcamp at Rye Beach New Hampshire...

Speed is Strength.

Elite Team and Skate Team Coach Ian Kirk Demonstrates the proper Technique

Bowling Team Captain Andrew Tousignant

First Annual Sideways Standing Boot Camp Underway!

2011-10-05T11:06:00.001-04:00

On the deck at the Dunes Motor Lodge in Rye Beach New Hampshire. Its tough to sit here and see the waves passing me by each minute but the sets have been rolling in since before we arrived yesterday afternoon and my shoulders badly need a break from paddling so its a great time for a trip update.
Straight to the point, here's the score. Aussie Girl Biba Turnbull is a Champ shredette on the water. Nantucket lifeguard Chip Linton is catching more waves than a fishnet and popping dislocated 180's on his deck everytime the wave slows up on him. Is He goofy or is he regular? I don't know! Dan Landy caught at least ten waves this morning...I had no idea our crew was so able on the surfboards. Clearly I should have.

Dan, Mace, PD, JP. Pitching is Pter C, at bat Josh, Chewey,Mav,Finn, OB...

We left school yesterday at 9:15 and drove in hard pouring rain across southern VT and NH. We checked into the Dunes and met up with Travis Moore of SGT who escorted us across the lot to Summer Sessions Surf Shop. Everybody got a board and a wetsuit and we hit it. Kinda cold, 4-5 foot swells, details, details, light rain, a break and everyone back into the water for session two. Chest high waves. Second session glassier than the first and everyone cashing in on hardier rides. We stayed out til well into dusk. If you were in the living room you might have looked outside and called it dark but out on the water the glass was legible. Some of the crew is very new to water and we have a good layering of different abilities so nobody is ever alone out there and all are improving. Safe and sound we had a team dinner at the North Beach Grill and I haven't seen such a tired crew since last fall's powder days in copper.

Noelle and Biba heading, am. The view from the deck.

First kids out of the lot and across the street to the water at this am at 6:30 were Biba and Noelle. Proud coaches squirming into wet suits on the deck. Kid after kid out of their rooms in the near dark and back into the water. A couple took breaks but the session lasted 2.5 hours. We have broken. We have lunched.
We are going back out now before our mid-day KettleBell workout on the beach, (we are going to look pretty cool I know...) for an hour, skating hampton public park or Rye Airfield and hopefully getting into the water again for the late afternoon session to finish the day...bonfire permit for the beach tonight...Standing sideways by the fire.

Ready, Aim,...

Thanks. It is a tough job as we always say but somebody has to do it. Rough Edit for now, squirming back into that suit momentarily.

Fire! JP launching an ollie.

Rider Profile: Biba Turnbull

2011-09-27T10:59:00.027-04:00

Stratton Mt School has a long, rich history of working with international athletes. Continuing in this tradition we find Biba Turnbull enjoying her junior year at SMS.
Hailing from Sydney, Australia, Biba brings a heavy surf influence with her. As a big Shayne Pospisil fan, I'm a sucker for that surf style as are most judges and camera lenses! Her passion is slopestyle, but she can be found getting down on natural mountain features as well (a good habit for aspiring slope champs to get into).

It was difficult for me to see Biba's first year at SMS marred by a broken collarbone midway through the season. She stuck it out at the academy, almost re- breaking the bone in a spring soccer game. My pity soon turned to envy when I heard how she made up for her lost season. Biba returned down under for the Australian winter and had a near perfect season. Working with an excellent Australian coach,Peter Long, Biba regained her confidence and edge. She learned new tricks, amassed photos and footage, and won almost every contest she entered. Her grand finale was a rebreaking of the same collarbone in August but, it seems to me, its impact was reduced and overshadowed by the successes of the winter.
We just returned from a dryland surf trip to Rye Beach NH, where Biba finally got to show her classmates what she is all about. Tenacious and stylish are words that pop to mind when seeing her surf. It was her first East Coast surf experience and she enjoyed it heaps.

Biba's upcoming season will begin early November with a training camp to Austria. A young globe trotter indeed!

"Biba has a really nice touch on the ball and has a great sense of the game." - SMS Soccer Coach Jessie Mallis

'Showing the maturity and confidence of a healthy seasoned athlete, not one fresh off a double collar break this past northern winter, Biba dominated the podiums (and websites) down under setting the standard in Junior Snowboarding winning 8 out of the 9 events she entered. As always, it's been an absolute pleasure to shred with her each and every day, it truly is about the perfect balance of both fun and creativity for Biba, and progression soon follows. Its this, combined with her great work ethic that will for sure see her kick every goal she sets in snowboarding.' -Snowboard Coach Pete Long

"Meeting Biba Turnbull only a few times over the last year, and then seeing here back healthy this year was an amazing experience. I had the pleasure of shredding waves with this Aussie, watch out, she is a ripper! From the moment she arrived at Jenness Beach with the SMS crew she knew one thing and one thing only, she was going to surf her brains out! and she did. It was very difficult to get her out of the water. She did cutback's and floaters for three sessions a day. Thanks for the good time's Biba, keep that positive vibe and stoke, have a great season!"
Travis Moore SGT (Sass Global Travel)

Cheers Biba! Here's to a great 2012.

Rider Profile: Chip Linton

2011-09-14T09:37:00.021-04:00

Back from the beach and already putting in work, SMS junior Chip Linton is this year's first Blog Profile.
As SMS coaches, we expect our riders to enjoy thier summers, yet stay in shape. Chip idealized that request by lifeguarding and surfing in Nantucket this summer. He returned to campus with sun-bleached hair, high fitness, and the foucus and responsiblity that true lifeguards should possess.
Dave Redden has designed a demanding new fall workout for the team. Chip has quickly mastered the routines and his example aids both team and coaches. The Russian Kettlebell is an integral dryland tool this year, and Chip's technique is something to see.

Entering his third year on the storied SMS Skateboard Team, Chip was pleasantly surprised to be elected Team Capitan. In his time on the team his skating has improved by leaps and bounds, quite literally. His ollie heights are unchallenged on the team. Yesterday a massive funbox ollie (see photo) earned him a victory in the Tuesday Frends Headphones Challenge.

Some words from the SMS world:

"Chip's deterination and drive are astounding to me." - Scott Johnston

“Chip doesn’t give himself enough credit. He is an awesome guy who has worked hard in his own simple way to come as far as he has. Whether it be skating, where he has the highest ollies in the rec, or on the hill where he silently slays his landings, he is always killing it with the best attitude.”

-Phoebe Novello

"Ever since I've met him, he has been trying hard." JP McArdle

"Chip saw the most improvement in his Functional Movement Screen over the past year." - Dave Redden

2011 SMS Mt. Hood Oregon Summer Snowboard Camp.

2011-07-21T19:04:00.039-04:00

Mt. Hood towards the end of July. Still with a good amount of snow. Thank you Timberline Mt. Hood and Windell's for great summer camp sessions.

Mt. Hood in June with the most snow I've ever seen this time of year.

Karen Kobayashi getting ready to ride.

Karen doing a lean air out of Windell's big 22ft halfpipe.

Multnomah Falls Oregon.

Josh Cohen with a nice frontside air out of the halfpipe.

Josh spinning a 180 grab in Windell's jump line.

Owen Barth with a sweet tail grab.

Harry Burt sliding the top of the pyramid.

Charlie Burt getting sideways on the picnic table.

Julia Marino sliding the table.

Karen board sliding.

Gideon Le Gros hitting the down tube with style.

Xander Raith with a frontside 360 nose bonk.

Owen Barth kick flipping up the euro gap in Windell's B.O.B.(Building Out Back).

Gideon getting upside down on the tramp.

Tamanawas Falls. Our 4th of July hike.

Owen chilling at the water fall. You can go behind the falling water which is cool.

Fire works from Hood River park.

Marian working on her frontside board slides.

Noelle Edwards with a nose press across the table.

Owen sliding the big tube.

JJ Thomas showing us how it's done in Windell's pipe.

Will Steller nailing a frontside board slide on the down rail.

The view from the top of Windell's during the Bonfire Pipe to Pipe contest with the Bag Jump in the back ground. Windell's also had the Pipe Bag Jump which was sweet.

Marian, Karen and Noelle getting ready for the finals in the Pipe to Pipe. Noelle Won the Am Women with Karen placing 3rd and Marian 4th.

Noelle kicking out a big backside air over one of the Windell's jumps.

Will Steller and Abby Lancour. Our KMS friends.

Marian airing out of the 22ft pipe with a mute grab.

Abby jumping with a nice backside air.

Eric Beauchemin SMS class of 2010 showing us how to flip with a skateboard into the foam pit.

Will with a 360 into the foam pit.

Checking out a baseball game in Seattle during one of our in between trips after visiting K2, Ride and Line. We also did some fun adventures to the OR coast to surf, an industry trip to Bondfire and to Hood River to check out all the outdoor activities.

Evan Werner with a frontside grab over jump 1.

Evan board sliding the down bar in one of Windell's jib lines.

Day 4 on the 5th Day

2011-07-02T02:21:00.001-04:00

Two days ago we hung in for a full day in chilly winds that chased away the feint of heart. There was poor visibility and rain threatening but it cleared just as we hit the parking lot. It was chased out by a surprising wind. Sweitzer and Raith closed the joint as usual. Riding past all lift access and using the gaps in the cloudbank (that had returned) to keep flipping onto the deck and then working the alley-oop back rodeos when everyone else had left the mountain.
The next day the mountain was socked in and the lifts did not run. We went bowling in the am, cart racing in the afternoon and then some watched Pirates! of the.... while others skated the pre and post dinner hours. While my bowling is miserable my go-cart racing comes highly enthused. I will race again even though I did get back at Josh for beating me at Ping Pong...

Dave, Ross, Harry, Josh and Charlie. Not quite the order of finish...

It was a long day without riding and the camp really gets to feeling short when you lose that day in the middle. Lucky for us the weather today was stellar and the exceptionally smart snowboarder Randall Stacey who goes to Dartmouth was the only one who really got sunburned! Funny for us but it is great to see Randall and he is riding very strong in just one day. Randall will be joined by others, more recent SMS grad Hunter Wood, Serena Shaw and Chris Tierney at next weeks Project Gold Slope Camp out here. Surely they will connect with new Coach Eric Beauchemin over at HCSC and perhaps even Danny Davis who I was lucky enough to see this afternoon. These guys are always great to see and keep our youngsters motivated to reach similar heights. We pushed the halfpipe riding again for the morning and expanded to full laps for the afternoon. Highlights for me are watching Josh Cohen nearly get his first front nines after a great morning with the sevens, Owen B nearly get sev's after a few days of good fives and Marian Lobell nailing her first front five. We were so greedy for these full top(Windell's Park) to bottom (public park)

These shots may have cost us that final chair ride now that I think about it...

Mace, Sending it.


X. Back one off

laps that we pushed our luck just past perfect timing, making the final chairs on the bottom lift but not getting on the next/top. Ross brought Mason, Julia and Marian's bags but Xander, Benji and I hiked up to the Windells Park for that last hour of riding. Well worth it to see Xander scrape out a back rodeo, half cab, front sev line and me to spin a couple front threes. When you get as many days as I've had it's the little things that add up- little jumps, little spins and little friends! Another great day to be up riding and see some serious work taken in as serious fun.

Good Morning Mt Hood

2011-06-29T10:27:00.001-04:00

It's great to be back with the gang at work doing what they do best: snowboarding. It's our third morning of the session and the forecast is pretty gray and damp but that didn't stop us yesterday from having a great day.
SMS riders Karen Kobayashi, Marian Lobell, Josh Cohen, Mason Geils, Scott Sweitzer, Xander Raith, Owen Barth want to welcome New Team riders Noelle Edwards, Charlie Burt, Mike Boylan and Julia Marino. We are also joined by Charlie's Brother Harry Burt, Xander'd Bro Benji and SMS freerider Gideon Le Gros. We enjoyed a nice and sunny day one lapping the top to bottom options to get used to riding and yesterday put in a more serious morning of hiking the Public Pipe and saw some great push in the progression as the snow was soft and forgiving to invite flips and spins all around. In the afternoon we did our public park laps as the top chair was having issues and we did not need to risk spending extra time on it!

Day one dryland was some good core and pushup practice followed by a two plus mile run on the Salmon river trail nearby. The cold leg soak helped to disperse the lactates and Charlie earned a "blizzard Shake from Ross for being first to swim across the icy river. More in depth updates will follow but Im off for the Hill. Enjoy yr day.

USSA Project Gold SBX Camp, Mt Hood OR. June 9th-17th 2011.

2011-06-28T00:40:00.010-04:00

Mt. Hood with a ton of snow this summer. Also the Project Gold private high speed quad and start of the sbx course for the camp. What an amazing setup and great camp. All the SMS athletes rode hard, improved their technique and trained with US Team athletes.

Josh Cohen, Michael Perle and Karen Kobayashi. The SMS Project Gold SBX athletes.

Karen on the right racing down the track against a fellow Project Gold athlete.

Michael Perle in the black sweatshirt charging off the first feature. Jackie Hernandez SMS alumni in purple and Chris Mahaney in plaid.

Josh Cohen in yellow making a good move on the drop. Karen on the right flying over the feature as well.

The Project Gold SBX athletes and coaches. This was one of the best sbx training camp setups I've ever seen.

11 Out Of 13 Boys Tested tied or beat their Personal Best In Box Jumps per minute!

2011-06-03T09:42:00.000-04:00

Strong Work. The two who did not excel beyond their previous best were one off their november scores. November testing is done after three full months of serious training so this has been a productive growth period in explosive strength endurance in a month and a half...very happy for you guys.

Springtime in VT. Sendoff.

2011-05-26T16:44:00.001-04:00

After weeks of rain we have had two beautiful days of tropical rain forest-like weather. My yard smelled like carrots and lilac this morning and there is no place I would rather be. The winter is long and the spring flies by around here. The kids have been putting in three power workouts per week plus some plyometric and cardio work. The cardio is well disguised and well worth mention as we have had EPIC speedball and ultimate frisbee games. The ultimate is not textbook for you frisbee geeks but the kids run hard getting after the "bee". Speedball is a ton of fun. A cross between soccer, touch-football and ultimate type ball movement: I'm seriously thinking of starting the Southern Vermont Speedball League. This game gets your kid running. Some of our crew is golfing two days and others playing tennis or lacrosse two days per week but most or the snowboarders are skating three to four days and the action is hot.

Our boy JP's knee is healing well and he is getting his groove back slowly. O.B. is mixing the old and new school tricks. Hunty and Chip are going large and Pete Cerulo was killing the mini ramp while my camera was out tuesday.

This year has been a strong one for SMS. We are getting ready to send off some really incredible snowboarders in the next few days. Kyle Dorfman has only been here for two years but is an incredible athlete who has been top 5 at nationals in slope. Connor Hudson is a guy who rode in my crew for two full seasons and has been here for two more since then. Spencer Shaw was here before High School and came back to finish his last two high school years at SMS. He may have had the best halfpipe season of any High School Athlete in the country this year. Quite Possibly. He put himself on the US Team for next year. Hunter Wood is another guy who rode in my crew for two full years and has been here for two more. He has twice made late rounds in the US Open Slopestyle. Crushed the southern Vermont Series year after year. He has been invited to US Team Gold Camps for this summer and destroyed the Snowboarder Magazine "Launch" photo shoot of names you will soon know in snowboarding. These guys are all graduating High School tomorrow...


Chris T. This is my favorite carinthia shot still.

The Tierney family is also moving on. Chris Tierney has been here for four years, rode two years in that same group with Hudson and Wood (and Perle). He has himself a national Title, three kinds of doubles! His sisters Makayla and Meghan have been here three and two years apiece also and they too are constant National title contenders, consistent Southern Vermont Series Heroes.

Hunter Wood USOPEN 2009


Kyle Dorfman FS 7,visiting SMS '09

Mak T HCSC Summer '10

This past winter I had a development group that rivaled the one(s) mentioned above. The School is well stocked with strong young riders. Maybe even more than I've seen in my six seasons but this group that is moving on will be missed. They are what people see when they see SMS snowboarding over the past few years. We've been proud and lucky to have riders like this being our living banner. We will stand behind them on or off snow. We will be proud in the future when they are throwing down and standing out and people say (or don't) "didn't they ride with you guys...?". Thanks guys. It has been exceptionally special...It is humbling. You are doing great and we are looking forward to seeing you on the mountains for a long time. More than friends, you are Team and more than a Team, You are our friends.


Keep Charging PitBull


Spencer Shaw Back 7 USOPEN 2011

Peace, Congratulations!

Connor Hudson Mt Snow Pre season '10-11

SMS at ParkCity?!

2011-05-24T21:14:00.000-04:00

SMS at Park City in the springtime? You betcha. Powers, Kirk and myself had the good fortune and support of Mr Kaltsas this past week to go out to Park City UT. and spend three days at the Center of Excellence. While there we attended the classroom component of the USSA/USASA 300 level coaches certification. It was both informative and a great reinforcement of the methods being applied by the staff here. Ian and Ross dismantled the skate bowl and I threw a few tricks on the trampolines as well as getting a great workout in at the Newpark Rec Center. It was cool to share my new Kettlebell teaching cues with Ross while Ian and some other coaches skated the PC Cement Park. We were probably all expecting sunny spring Utah days when we committed but the weather was anything but nice. Snowbird received three feet while we were there and PC was damp and chilly.
On our third day we attended the USSA Snowboard Sport Committee meetings and learned about preliminary contest schedules, new helmet legislation proposed rule changes as well as hearing all regional reports, the US Team report and a report by the Newest member of the USSA Board, Rider Rep Danny Kass. Sort of exciting.

Ross then headed to a fund raising event in Reno and let Ian and I go and accept The USSA Snowboard Club of the Year Award at the seasonal USSA Awards banquet. Quite an honor to be accepting an award on behalf of the SMS Snowboarding Community and even more so to be on a stage and at a banquet with so many Olympians and "lifers" in the snowsports world. As a coach, this is really a humbling pleasure and we are grateful to everyone who makes this thing roll.

SMS Athletes Finish With Some Hardware.

2011-04-07T23:47:00.007-04:00

Scratch my last post on Mike Perle. Mike ends up winning Open Class BX. Cheever in red coat is dqed for not qualifying for the race through proper events. Mike donated his $3000. back to USASA to to show his support. Way to go Mike on your win and generous donation.

Josh Cohen places 2nd in 14-15 age group slalom and also places 2nd overall which is a combination of his results from all five events. Josh must be tired from all his hard work.

Xander Raith also placed 2nd overall for his age group(12-13). This is a picture of Xander doing a backflip which was a trick he pulled off at nationals.

I want to thank the SMS team for their hardwork this season and at nationals. It's been great working with you this winter. I look forward to spring, summer camp and next season. Enjoy your springbreak!

2011 USASA Nationals.

2011-04-07T16:45:00.012-04:00

The SMS team joining the rest of the Southern Vermont Snowboard Series for the opening parade.

Peter Cerulo and Chip Linton getting ready for halfpipe. Peter placed 5th in the 16-17 age group.

Tanner Barrett doing a method on his way to finals.

Josh Cohen with a frontside air on his way to halfpipe finals as well.

Meghan Tierney in the BX gate on her way to an 8th place finish.

Marian Lobell free riding. She placed 8th in the 14-15 youth women BX.

Makayla Tierney racing through the first wu-tang in the BX on her way to small finals in Open Class(top 8 finish).

Chip Linton jumping down the staircase on his way to his 5th place finsh in the 16-17 age group BX.

Mike Perle staying low over the wu-tang. Mike placed 1st in Open Class BX which was an amazing finish.

2011 Nationals @ Copper Mtn. Official Results through Three days

2011-04-06T19:00:00.001-04:00

We have seen four days of charging from the SMS Snowboarders and here are our official Team Results through three days plus Day 4 "unofficials" as far as I know so far. There are some events still getting done and nothing is official until awards tonight. With most of the Elite Crew off (resting from Jr Worlds and Pro event injuries or pursuing pro media exposure at "The Launch"), we have turned to the younger up and coming riders to carry the SMS Snowboarding torch at the Awards Ceremonies. Great Job Kids!

Day 1
Breaker Girls Halfpipe...Meghan Tierney 6th place.
Breaker Boys SBX...Xander Raith 3rd, Maverick Shaw 5th, Scott Sweitzer 26th place.
Junior Wmn HP...Marian Lobell 8th, Karen Kobayashi 10th place.
Youth Men GS...Josh Cohen 2nd, Mason Geils 10th Place.

Day 2


Josh Cohen frontside Slob

Breaker Girls Slopestyle...Meghan Tierney 7th place.
Breaker Boys Sl...Xander raith 20th, Tanner Pentony 67th place.
Youth Wmn Slopestyle...Karen Kobayashi 7th, Marian Lobell 12th place.
Youth Men HP...Tanner Barret 6th, Josh Cohen 9th, Jack Griffin 22nd place.
Junior Men HP...Peter Cerulo 5th, Chip Linton 20th place.
Day 3
Breaker Girls SBX...Meghan Tierney 8th place.
Breaker Boys GS Xander Raith 5th place.
Youth Wmn SBX...Marian Lobell 8th, Karen Kobayashi 11th place.
Youth Men Slopestyle...Jaime Charron 11th, Dan Landy 27th, Josh Cohen 37th, Tanner Barret 51st place.
Junior men Slope...Kyle Dorfman 14th place.
Open Class Wmn HP...Makayla Tierney 5th, Serena Shaw 6th. (Alumns Brooke and Jenn 11th and 15th)
Open Class Men HP...Mike Perle 13th, Connor Hundson 28th place.(Alumns James Haffy Haffner 4th and Joe Mensch 16th.)

So far so good and today's unofficial Results have been at least as positive for most of our team that was riding...James and Eric B are out there in Open Finals right now. Unh. Yeeah!

Pit Bull Time Trialing

If there is one thing as cool as winning as it's probably going the biggest and getting second. Maverick Shaw.

Breaker Boys Halfpipe was very tight and our boys were heavy in the mix. Maverick Shaw was the clear title holder in AMPLITUDE and he posed for what is easily my best shot of the week without even interrupting his 2nd place run. Very Rad. Xander rode solidly into 9th or tenth and Scott Sweitzer was tied for 22nd. The tie will be broken by the riders highest single score used for the total score. Very Proud of these boys for riding high among 70 competitors who were invited for winning around the country from Alaska to Jersey.

Youth Men raced on the SBX track and darkhorse Chip Linton riding in his first Nationals SBX made finals. Chip took 5th and that is one of the coolest things I've heard out here. Nice Job. Less pleased but still proud I hope, are Josh Cohen and mason Geils. Mace slipped in time trials and missed the cut-off to brackets by one. I know he wanted a piece of those heats but it was a success to reach Nationals already. Josh rode strong through trials and one round but had an issue in round two and did not return to semis like last year. Josh is still in hot pursuit of the Overall Combined title going into tomorrow's Slalom.
I know I missed someone somewhere and apologize with emphasis but I have one more captains meeting to make and some photos to load. Thanks for checking in.

Nationals Photo Update

2011-04-06T09:17:00.001-04:00

Dan Landy, Back Lip, Youth Slope

Jameson Charron, tail slide, 270 off,
Youth Slope

TPentony. Run 1,
Sl.


Breaker boys SBX, semi#1.

The time schedule has been relentless but the events roll on and most of our kids are still riding hard...Unfortunately however, we will not get to see JP McArdle in HP and Slope. He has torn an mcl in training but will be back on his feet and skating in three weeks. Jack Griffin overflipped in slope and could not do his contest runs. Phoebe took a big fall in Ms. Superpark after making a great impression but she will not be competing today (or yesterday). We miss you guys out there but you had some great runs this year and will all slay it as soon as you get the chance again. We appreciate all the hard training and competing that brought you to this point in the season. It was a great one.
Good luck to everyone in the final two days. I will be updating results after HP today.

Busiest Day In Snowboarding

2011-04-03T02:28:00.001-04:00

Mason Geils Training the staircase on the SBX course

Kyle and Jack front and center for the Slopestyle Practice about to start the day.

Today was the official venue practice day for each age group here at the 2011 Copper Mtn. USASA Nationals. My Day started at a seven thirty lift. I was up at the 8:00 am, group 5 Slopestyle practice with Kyle, Jaime, Dan, Tanner, Josh and Jack. It was a beautiful sunrise and the fastest day we have seen between those "LIFTY" jumps. The boys reeled it in. Kyle and Dan had particularly good runs but everyone had progress by the end of the hour and fifteen minute session. I am proud to say our guys made the most of the tight window by being first to drop and quick getting back up. Not Many competitors got four runs but every SMS rider did.

Mav with the big front five. Sic.

Xander Stalefish.

So from 8:00 am slope to 9:30 HP practice with Maverick, Scott, JP and Xander. Mav was one of the big air guys of the entire hr. Scott found his fives, JP tweaked his Methods and Xander landed his combos. Strong work done in the winter shows in the short, final pre-nationals tune up... Back to Slope for the 11:00 am gusty wind over wet-pack show. Progress every run...a quick slip with Ross, Scott, and Maverick in the SBX at 12:30 and then it was off to the Alpine Race Venues to meet up with Tanner and Xander for gate training until 3:00. Tanner did almost thirty runs in the slalom course today and Xander was out there ripping ruts in GS and then SL til we packed it in.
3:30 captains' meetings for all of tomorrows venues, 5:30 opening ceremonies parade and some tuning round out the day. the whole staff and Team had just such a day and tomorrow am Scott, Mav and Xander will race SBX. Josh and Mason will race GS and Karen, Marian and Meghan will compete in HP. Good Luck to all. A strong result can punctuate the season but we are proud of the training, and competing that these kids put in all winter. Lets have some fun doing what we do best.

Here We Are Back at Copper...

2011-04-01T10:12:00.001-04:00

Benj Raith, Connor H,Tanner B, Jack G, JP McA, Ian K, Kyle D, Peter C, H Wood.

Copper Mtn. Co. has become our home away from home with Fall Camps and Nationals trips year after year and it's great to be back. The snow is deep, the jumps are lifty and the SBX course is smoothe. There was an SBX training yesterday and Ross, Scott and Kevin scoped it, raked it and coached it with Marian, Karen, Josh, Mason, Xander. I get to go there today for round two. The rest of us on the hill yesterday began with some freeriding in the park and some back bowl riding for two hrs. Epic snow and low visibility in some high winds made for an excellent educational adventure. We hit the Park for three laps before lunch and after lunch it was Park to Pipe. The kids really adjusted well so far to the very different style of features built out here and today will be more of the same with greater focus on really finalizing the run plans. Stay tuned for some great pics, vids and stories of this years nationals as the week unfolds. Thanks again.

Tanner B Bs Rodeo


Xander FS 7

1st East Coast Banked Slalom At Sugarloaf ME.

2011-03-21T14:42:00.013-04:00

Seth Wescott showing us the 1st East Coast Banked Slalom that he helped create at Sugarloaf.

Mike Perle using the banks racing down the course.

Josh Cohen using his alpine skills on the challenging course.

Ross going for it.

Mike, Kevin, Mike Mallon and Josh hanging out at awards. Thank you Mike for the hospitality.

Mike winning some goggles for his 3rd place finish in the 15-19 age group.

Kevin and Ross winning some Lobsters.

Seth Wescott invited SMS Snowboarding to come up to Sugarloaf Maine for the first ever East Coast Banked Slalom. Kevin Mcmahon, Mike Perle, Josh Cohen and Ross drove the 5.5 hour drive up to Sugarloaf. The course was very challenging with 28 banks and 9 other turns. Some of the gates were set pretty tight and some open like a boardercross course. The finish was a 180 degree banked turn so the riders finished up hill.

The SMS crew rode hard and all placed in the top 10 overall out of the 141 athletes who competed. Josh placed 8th overall and 4th in the 15-19 age group. Mike 7th overall and 3rd in the 15-19 age group. The overall podium was Seth Wescott 3rd, Kevin Mcmahon 2nd and Ross Powers 1st. The event was fun and should be an annual event from here on.

Carinthia Open

2011-03-20T08:55:00.006-04:00

Dorf-style

Hunter the man

Jamie Charron 1st place -men Am.

Hunter Wood 1st -Kyle Dorfman 2nd - Men pro

Carinthia Open

2011-03-20T07:58:00.004-04:00

The Carinthia Open has been a long running skier event held at Mount Snow.This event is the mega-event for the top pros and amateurs in the ski world.This year they decided to let snowboarders join in the event.With a pro cash purse of $2000 and a truck load of sponsor prizes for amateur first place. I knew the level of skiing and riding was going to be intense.After the jam style qualifiers were over,l knew that HUNTER WOOD,KYLE DORFMAN,and JAMIE CHARRON had a chance at standing on that podium.The course was a challenge to ride do to the fact that the landings had giant bomb-holes and washboards on the landings.I was impressed that our riders could land a simple straight air on those jumps.As l watched the SMS riders land their finals runs,l knew my perdiction was dead on.HUNTER WOOD would stomp his way to first place and take home $2000 as well as best trick which was a Contour HD camera.KYLE DORFMAN would take second place in the men's pro with $1200 in his pocket.Last and never to be counted out was JAMIE CHARRON. He also took first place in the men's armature.Winning a snowboard and a wheel barrel full of product.To see the smiles on they winners faces is one of the best things about my job.These guys work hard every day and today they reap the rewards!

Rider Profile: Tanner Pentony

2011-03-17T17:01:00.007-04:00

Today I got a chance to ride with some of the younger team. I spotted TANNER PENTONY early in the day and remembered him asking me about "what it takes" to get on the blog.
"A cool photo is a start", was my reply. I figured today was a great day to get that photo. Turns out we got two shots, a nice pole jam and a daredevil leap over two Elite females (Mak and Quincy). Nice job Tanner, two shots in 3 runs, puttin' in work.
I wish I had a bit more to share about Tanner. I do realize he is a very young boy with big dreams, surrounded by the best, most competitive young riders on the East Coast. Stick with it Tanner.

Hunter and Serena dominate Rev Tour and more...

2011-03-16T17:38:00.014-04:00

KYLE DORFMAN

HUNTER WOOD

While the Rev Tour at Mt Snow threw riders a wicked curveball of bipolar weather, two SMS riders showed their mastery of East Coast riding and stood on both HP and Slope Podiums. SERENA SHAW won yesterday's HP event with the help of her frontside 720. This win gave her the Overall HP Ladies Champ of the Rev Tour. Prizes and cash flowed like Gatorade. Not one to rest on her laurels she showed up to slope today and took second place in the face of brutal "wintery mix" conditions.
HUNTER WOOD was glad to see the sun come out yesterday and enjoyed his pleasant path to 2nd place HP. What made it even more enjoyable was seeing alum Joe Mensch land in first place with a final-run clincher. Youngster TANNNER BARRETT also flourished in the sunlight and ripped his way onto the podium in 3rd. A Rev Podium for this kid is a big move, great to get one under your belt. Tanner also rode well in today's storm and just missed finals.
The weather for slope today was a barrier that overcame most riders. This was not the case for the many SMS riders in the event who enjoyed superior wax techs. Clearing the jumps was not even an option for the majority, but Hunter led the charge and landed rodeo's, backflips and 900's, placing 2nd behind a ripper from Alaska. Hunter also won best trick of the day and prizes and money rained again.

T BAR

Other Highlights of the Rev Tour
MIKE PERLE was ruling the Mt Snow pipe for days before the event. Although he struggled on the day of the event, he fought his way through. He made finals despite falling in his run (but riding out the rest of the run, great lesson). His finals run was botched a bit but still put him just off the poduim. Oh yeah, after the last runs of the event,Mike hiked up twice and stomped the Cab 1080 he was planning on in his runs. Anyone film that?
EZRA RACINE and KYLE DORFMAN rode through the storm into finals today on a tough course in tougher conditions.
KAREN KOBAYASHI caught my eye with her boardslide on the flat down as she went on to run the entire big side of the course. Few ladies can say they ran it all and Karen had a stylish run.
JOSH COHEN landed a nasty HP run yesterday. Fronside 720 and a McTwist sent him out the gate smiling. Nice one!

MIKE PERLE

Good Night Usopen...

2011-03-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

After two days day one is in the books and SMS riders past and present were all over the leaderboards and moving through the heats with great, hot snowboarding action...


Randall spinning uphill.

First I want to remind everyone to welcome our alumns home with pride. Eric Beauchemin was the men's slopestyle top qualifier from heat one this morning. India Stephenson qual'd in third and Ellery-don't call-her-pipejock-Hollingsworth took the fifth spot for the wmn. In This Mornings HP we got to see James Haffner qualify in the final automatic spot with a tenth. Joe Mensch and Tyler Emond just missed but rode great while Mike Farnum was throwing Nines and big airs in one of his first days of HP in 2011...Randall Stacy's first hit alley oop was my favorite alumni air of the day and it shot well too.
Current SMS student athlete's stars continued to shine this season with The heat two slope crew of Wood, Shaw and Tierney all qualifying through to the next round. Hunter's giant back flips, Spencer's nollie fronts off the cannon and Chris' style were announcer favorites on the course.
Our crew rode some great Halfpipe again today also with Spencer finding his run just when he needed it to qualify in second on the day. Clutch and consisten riding all season for Spencer. Mike Perle is just outside the bubble spot at day's end, just Like Phoebe Novello. TOUGH SPOT but at the US Open that spot can be as good as day one gold when invited riders leave a spot available. Let's hope they get another chance and make it count.
Serena and Hunter each just missed by a small few places in pipe, riding well but not quite clean enough.

Spencer Shaw's immaculate backseven.

Marian, Quincy, Karen, Makayla, Kyle, Dan, Connor, Tanner and Josh all put up strong bids to advance as well but either couldn't hold on or didnt quite bring the amplitude or style the Judges were looking for today. Congrats to everyone who stepped up and took at Shot at this years US Open. Good Luck in Slope Q's and Pipe practice tomorrow.

Pheebs Back five.

Q.C-K. Boosting


Mike P Indy -air

winter wonderland.

Good Morning USOPEN...Southern VT Wraps It Up

2011-03-07T12:47:00.002-05:00

This morning's weather made for a stop and go at the Open as once again the Snowboarding-world-at-large is treated to another dose of classic VT weather. Heavy rain overnight and well into the morning turned to sleet for a couple hrs and settled into a windy rain as all HP practice was canceled, wmn's Slope Q's canceled, and the Mens Slope Pre-Q's were delayed four hrs, and then bunched together into one 75 Man Heat that may or may not have just started practicing at Noon...Good Luck and great Patience to all riders. Man I wanted to see that crew ride the slope course after watching the beautiful riding from Mammoth on the blog. I can hardly believe how well everyone is riding and I've been watching these guys for a while.

Over the weekend our local crew got their US Open-bad-weather-training in the form of the Final Weekend of the 2011 Southern VT Series. Okemo Mtn and SVSS hosted a slopestyle on saturday and a Halfpipe on Sunday.
While the slopestyle had its share of fog and visibility issues I have to agree with Scott Palmer who said that sunday "may very well (have been) the worst weather in the 11 year history of the series." during the HP contest. I have been colder. I may have been wetter but not by much and I definitely have never seen such poor visibilty. Or never not seen so much! Photos from the weekend are foggy but the camera is drying and they will be up shortly along with an Open Weather Update. Full results are posted on the SVSS site through USASA.org but there were some strong highlights to note.
Top dog Tanner Barret was a double winner. Some people ride just as hard in little to no visibility and bumpy snow as they do in the sun. That's cold blooded and I love it. Huge airs in the Pipe like something from a pirate/ghost movie or fevered dreams.


Tanner Barret. Big mute.

Mike Perle's air-air-alley-oop-back-nine-frost seven was tough enough to win Open Class Mens Pipe but I couldnt see a lick of it from the start gate. Luckily for me I know how sick that looks on him. Josh Cohen's amplitude may have been his best yet. I'm guessing the judges had a harder time seeing Maverick and Marian's run's yesterday. I thought they both did a little better than the guys whose opinions counted at the time. Strong efforts nonetheless.
Xander Raith put up another particularly man sized effort in the slopestyle saturday to take first and clinch a series slope title. Peter and Kyle both killed the down flat down so dead in practice there was no where to go but down from there.

Karen Kobayashi took a beating on the Gatorade rail in practice and bounced back to win her for the youth wmn in solid style... The list goes on and as always I apologize to anyone I'm leaving out but thanks to everyone who came and rode and watched this weekend and all season long. SVSS is The Breeding Ground of Great East Coast Riders year after year and it's a great thing to be part of.

P.S. "huge moves" award to JP McArdle. JP had a hard time in slope on saturday so, having already secured a Nationals worthy ranking in HP, he and his dad drove over to Hunter Mtn Early sunday am and JP took the slope contest over there to boost his national slope ranking to somewhere around 40th place and most likely well within the National invite list. Congrats on making that drive count.

Marc Shaw came through in the clutch with a hot box o' coffee.

P.P.S The Open did not Open this morning or this afternoon...

Chris Tierney and Spencer Shaw Shake Up Grand Prix Slope

2011-03-04T23:12:00.005-05:00

HUNTER WOOD FLIPS OUT

It is coming up on 9pm here and I've been at it since 7am this morning. Im not complaining here, just justifying my shortage of coverage of today's amazing event. After 2 days of snow and comp cancellations we had a perfect day for the Slope finals.
Ezra Racine, in his first GP event, landed both runs and stepped up the second run with an 80ft front 1080. He was so pumped as was all who saw him ride. The days winner, superpro Chas Guildemond even complimented one of his runs. Great job E-Z Race.
Hunter Wood rode better than ever, truly at professional level. It is amazing to see what he is doing after 5 years of riding with him. The run that he was trying could have won the event. I gotta take some blame for toning his run down after the first attempt failed, but I thought he would qualify easily with the monster dub backflip in his run. Sorry Hunter, but man you are ripping and that is the important thing. US Open is next week bro!
I finally got a personal look at CHRIS TIERNEY'S dub back 1080, as did a majority of today's top slope pros. It was the same feeling as watching Hunter today, I have seen Chris come so far. Not taking any credit here, just so happy to see kids come up and achieve so much. We sat in the finish gate watching the final runs to see if he would get bumped off the podium by full pros, Chas being one of them. What a feeling that must have been for this young ripper!! He ended up in 5th at his first Grand Prix slope event, again what a feeling...
In a day full of amazing highlights, Spencer Shaw standing in second spot on the podium was the big payoff. This kid puts about 30% of his time riding slope and can put a podium run down with ease. He has so much more up his sleeve and is sparked to dominate slope now. Once again, US OPEN right around the corner.

Cancelled Practice=Mountain Shredding

2011-03-02T17:09:00.006-05:00

PHOEBE, EZRA AND HUNTER LOG IN

Practice was cancelled today due to dumping snow and howling winds. The downside is we really would have liked to get used to the large slope features. The upside is we get to explore this amazing resort, ride powder, drop cliffs and find natural features.

As you can see by the photos, that is just what we did.

USASA TODAY

2011-02-26T16:56:00.005-05:00

I don't have all the results from today's USASA Slope Event at Mt Snow, but I can share a few photos from the day. Tailgrab 360s by Mav Shaw and Xander Raith. Good to see the youth are developing style early. Both stood on the podium.

Quincy Tastes Gold at Canadian Winter Games

2011-02-25T13:13:00.002-05:00

Wow, the success keeps coming for this year's Elite Crew. The latest to stand atop a podium is Quincy Korte-King. Quincy has been on tour with the Canadian Team north of the border, hitting a long series of events. She peaked at her final venue, winning Womens Halfpipe at the Canadian Winter Games. Doing so she joins SMS graduate and Canadian Team Rider Alex Duckworth as winners of this event. Great company if I say so myself. Quincy is back with the SMS Team next week for the Grand Prix in Mammoth CA.

Below is the text from the OttawaRegion.com, who reported on Quincy

Nova Scotia may not offer the most exciting mountains in the world for a snowboarder to go, but for Rockcliffe’s Quincy Korte-King, the latest stop in a young career that is poised to take her big places is a special one nonetheless.

That’s because the 15-year-old former Ashbury College student will be participating in a competition that is a little different than the rest when she tackles the halfpipe at the Canada Winter Games on Thursday, Feb. 24 in Windsor, NS.

“From my point of view, it’s like a mini national Olympics,” says Korte-King, who was expecting it would be “really cool” to be part of Team Ontario in a multi-sport environment. “Obviously I want to ride as well as I can and I would love to land on top of the podium. I’ve been having trouble with consistency in competition this season, but I guess that’s my goal.”

The daughter of a national development team alpine skier, Korte-King was on skis since age two until her prized snowboard arrived under the Christmas tree three years later. As she got older, Korte-King started going to bigger hills in the area, starting at Camp Fortune, then moving to Mont Ste. Marie, followed by Mont Tremblant.

Korte-King fared well in regional contests, but an eye-opening experience set her on a new course when she attended a U.S. Open competition.

“It was just so crazy,” Korte-King recounts. “They all had personal coaches there.”

So she started visiting a coach in Vermont every couple weekends who also worked at Stratton Mountain School – a specialized ski and snowboard academy that has produced over 30 Olympic snow sport athletes.

Occasionally, Korte-King would beat riders from Stratton, but often she wouldn’t.

“They had such an advantage,” the former swimmer, volleyball player and gymnast recalls. “They’re riding every day and the coaching there is so great.”

So, this past fall, Korte-King enrolled at Stratton Mountain School, where she’s on the slopes from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and then in class after lunch until past 5 p.m.

“I’ve been having such a good time,” notes Korte-King, who believes moving away from Ottawa was a necessity to continue progressing in snowboarding. “In Ottawa, there aren’t that many girls competing. Having gone down there, there’s a whole group of us that push each other every day.”

Team Ontario snowboard cross coach Cassandra Smith of Ottawa acknowledges a forced move is the reality for most elite area snowboarders, although the Merivale High School grad who recently returned from Alberta is trying to put together a viable program for young local snowboarders through her new Akademy team.

Still building in its first year, Akademy wouldn’t be a major help to Korte-King at the moment – especially without a halfpipe in the region – but it’s Smith’s hope that down the road snowboarders will have the possibility to seriously develop their talents locally.

“There are some athletes to have come out of here in snowboarding in the past, but it really hits that point where they leave high school and have to go west to pursue that passion,” explains Smith, who was impressed to hear that Korte-King recently competed in her first World Cup competition at Stoneham, Que. “It definitely shows that she’s quite talented because they’re not just going to let anybody go.”

Nerves of steel

Whether it’s a World Cup or a Canada Winter Games, Korte-King says she never feels nervous.

“I always just tell myself, ‘I have nothing to prove at this competition,’” explains Korte-King, who’s almost always one of the youngest entrants. “I want to put pressure on myself so that I ride better, but I try not to worry about it that much and I tell myself that I have all the time in the world.

“I don’t need to be worrying about this, I just want people to notice me, and do what I came here to do, which is snowboard my best.”

Down the road, Korte-King would like to get invited to an X Games, or make an Olympics team, but she feels thankful for the chances she’s already received through snowboarding.

“I’m really lucky to have parents that support me so I can actually get this far in my sport, and to have coaches and people to ride with that push me this much,” Korte-King says. “A lot of the people I know have talent, but they might not have the resources, or their parents don’t want to send them to school for sports.

“I’m really lucky to have had all these opportunities.”

HOLIMONT NY ALPINE NOR-AM

2011-02-23T21:22:00.005-05:00

Josh Cohen getting ready for his first run at the Holimont Nor-Am.

Josh charging the start of his second run.

Josh racing down the course of the Nor-Am.

Josh Cohen, his dad Saul and I traveled to Holimont Mountain for the Nor-Am alpine races. The drive was long but has been worth it for the race hill and event Holimont has put on. The town and mountain are small but fun and inviting. Josh fell on his first run and had a smooth second run on race day one. Josh placed 22nd which moved him up 8 spots from his start number with a fall. He missed the round of 16men. Tomorrow is the second race and after Josh's smooth second run he is planning on putting the two combined runs together. There were some National Team Canadian riders and some top US riders competing today. I think Josh had his best FIS point race to date today which is great.

Big News for Phoebe Novello

2011-02-23T15:26:00.005-05:00

Readers of this blog know by now that Phoebe Novello has had a great season. This weekend things got even better when the Team Manager of DC Snowboards invited Phoebe straight to the finals of the Roxy Chicken Jam and to the exclusive Ms Superpark. Phoebe will be attending these events with DC Pros Kimmi Fasani and Raewyn Reid. These ladies represent the entire DC Female Team and Phoebe is being pulled in as an introduction to the team she could well be joining soon.
Not one to rest on laurels, Phoebe continues to progress and add tricks to her bag. This week she has perfected her Cab 540, as can be seen in the clip below.
Man it feels good to see Phoebe up on it! Keep up the hard work girl.

Mikey Perle Grand Prix: Mission Accomplished.

2011-02-13T08:34:00.000-05:00

Among a field of the World's Top SBX Racers Micheal Perle of Saddle River NJ and SMS Snowboarding placed fifth in Friday's time trials and did better than holding his own in Saturday's elimination heats. Saturdays first round of eight heats lined Mike up against the event's number two qualifier, (Olympian Graham Watanabee), number seventeen and number thirty. An action packed heat saw Mike cross the line first to advance well tested and warmed up, with confidence rising for the next round. In the second Heat Mike was lined up with Three current US Team members including Watanabee, Jason hale (another Olympic Team SBX'er) and SMS Alum Alex Deibold. After falling just behind in the start and first "Wu-Tang" features Mike rode hard and fast through three banks and over the first Step up jump to have enough speed for a pass attempt through the next step-to-pump roller to "double" to roller before the thirty foot tall bank (number 4)...That complex section was dubbed "michelin man" and Mikey P showed the speed and will to take the passing lane but just went a little too deep over Michelin to make that next big turn without a spin out. Going for it. Only way to move on in the Heats at this level of Snowboardcross. Couldn't be more proud of Mike's effort and performance at this major event. The Field included the last 6 X Games SBX Gold Medalists and the Two Time Olympic Gold Medalist pulled from the event due to undue risk. The banks were entirely necessary to make turns that headed fully across the hill in places and even back uphill from one to another. The double-pump-double sections of rollers between the step-up's, banks and step downs made this one of the most technical and Hairy courses ever built and raced upon.

Mikey P. over Wu number two

Mike was the Number Two USSA junior finisher and appears to have accomplished his mission here of securing a spot at the Junior World Championships in Italy this spring. Congratulations Mike and enjoy a well deserved rest.

SPENCER 5TH AT DEW TOUR FINALS.

2011-02-12T22:19:00.007-05:00

Spencer getting ready to drop in for the Dew Tour halfpipe finals.

Jack Mitrani doing a huge frontside alley-opp to start off his run.

Spencer spinning a frontside 900 in front of the big Dew Tour crowd.

Luke Mitrani on top of the Podium winning the Dew Tour halfpipe finals.

FEB 12th 2011. DEW TOUR HALFPIPE FINALS.

Spencer rode well on his first run but had some problems with his frontside 1260 on his last hit. His second run was the best run I've ever seen him have. His run was: frontside 900, backside 900, fronside 1080, cab 1080, frontside 1260. He stepped up his run for this Dew Tour by adding the cab 1080 which was a great addition.

Louie Vito won the first two Dew Tour stops. He was riding great in practice but didn't have his best runs in finals. His 7th place was enough to earn him the Overall Dew Tour Cup.

Ellery Hollingsworth was also competing tonight and placed top 6 on the women's side.

Congratulations to Spencer and all the SMS alumni for their great performances in the finals.
1st Luke Mitrani

2nd Greg Bretz

3rd Steve Fisher

4th Jack Mitrani

5th Spencer Shaw

SNOW BASIN UT DEW TOUR FINALS.

2011-02-12T10:34:00.007-05:00

Spencer Shaw checking out the awesome halfpipe at Snow Basin for the Dew Tour final stop.

Spencer starting his run off with a frontside 900 tail grab during his qualifying run.

Serena Shaw getting some tv time during an interview for the news.

Feb 11 2011. Dew Tour Superpipe prelims. Snow Basin UT.

Serena Shaw rode hard with some of the top women in the world. She was unable to land her frontside 720 in her first run. But put down a nice and smooth second run to earn her 10th pace. They only took 5 women to the finals to meet up with one that was already qualified for a total of 6. So Serena placed 11th in the Women's Dew Tour Finals halfpipe which is a great result for her age.

Spencer Shaw has been really liking the halfpipe at Snow Basin. He fell his first run on a Frontside 1080 so he had to have a great second run. Which he did. Back to Back 900's Frontside 1080 Cab 720 and Frontside 1260. Spencer placed 6th in qualifying and earned his spot in the finals.

Finals are tonight from 4-6pm MST. Check your listings to see when the Winter Dew Tour finals will hit your tv. Spencer and many SMS alumni will be putting on a show in the halfpipe. Spencer is also in the running for Dew Tour Rookie Of The Year.

Boreal Rev tour Slope

2011-02-11T21:35:00.011-05:00

Stop 4 of the Rev Tour is over. With the warm temps and first-class parks and pipe, this event was a pleasure to attend. Thursday was the HP event and Phoebe Novello and Chris Tierney were the fortunate two to make finals. Both athletes went for it, going down while attempting the best runs they are currently capable of. Rolling the dice, if you will. It was time for Phoebe to bring out the rodeo and, had she stomped, it would have made her $1000 richer. 4th place and the knowledge that she went for it were enough consolation. Chris went down on a back 900 which he had not practiced recently but almost landed. 4th for Chris also.
Today's slope event followed in this year's tradition of sunny slope comps. Phoebe entered the event an easy favorite, but had to battle the course right up to her last run, which was a true masterpiece of planning and execution. Second place for the birthday girl!
Kyle Dorfman showed that style counts by earning the highest scoring run without a 900. He just missed the cut. Ezra showed up to play but overshot his front 10. Chris Tierney combined style and difficulty to breeze into finals. Two hard falls in practice almost ended his day, but he took his finals runs in pain. His second run may have been the best run by an injured rider I have seen since Torstien's X-Games big-air victory. Hunter Wood just made finals and breezed in to improve his final result from 12th to 5th, his best Rev Finish.

Second 2nd place at last two Rev Tours, Phoebe Novello

Ezra Racine

Finalist Chris Tierney

5th Place Finisher Hunter Wood

BOREAL Rev tour - Random shots -

2011-02-10T20:01:00.012-05:00

OUR OFFICE
BIG AIR JOSH
SWIP & HUDSON
TREE

EZRA RACINE
THE LADIES
THE WORK SHOP

Revolution tour Boardercross

2011-02-07T23:03:00.009-05:00

We have been on a boarder cross whirlwind tour. The Southern Vt. series two event days at Alpine Meadows and now the Boreal Rev tour. The team has been riding super well and have been awesome to work with. Everyone had fast qualification times in the morning and all made it into heats. Mike Perle was up first in the second heat. Mike had a killer start and was out front and charging. Blazing his way into the second turn with riders on his tail,Mike's heels dug to deep into the soft snow and he went down. Next up in the gate was Josh Cohen. Josh wanted that hole shot bad!maybe to much? Unfortunately he bumped the gate before it feel. Josh was still able to react and pull it back together and hang with the pack. With the harsh reality of racing shown to the athletes as well as myself. I looked to the ladies for redemption. Karen Kobayashi and Makayla Tierney were both in the semi-finals and looking for the front. Both had awesome starts. Watching the smooth controlled style of both Makayla and Karen into the last set of rollers and out of sight,I was confident that was the way they were going to end up,1ST and 2ND. And I was right! Being in the semi-finals that would place Makayla 6TH and Karen 7Th. In boarder cross there are super highs and super lows. I have seen all of these athletes deal and learn from both of those.

Revolution tour BX

2011-02-07T22:57:00.001-05:00

Revolution tour Boreal

2011-02-06T23:06:00.004-05:00

The longer we stay we stay the more we grow. With the Rev tour at BOREAL we have seen the team grow two more riders. Maybe it's all the sun we have been getting the past week ? Chris Tierney and Makayla Tierney joined us this morning for some runs. Makayla will be racing in the boardercross event on Monday with Josh Cohen,Karen Kobayashi,and Mike Perle. The course is very busy and there is not much time to second guess yourself. The crew put in some good solid practice runs and made good time of the day. Stay tuned for more BX action.

Phoebe Novello and Hunter Wood Win Main Event Finals

2011-02-06T15:38:00.008-05:00

This friday I drove up to Sugarloaf Maine with Phoebe and Hunter for the Main Event fianls. The 5 hour drive was filled with good conversation, strategy talks and scenery. We arrived at CVA to see our good friends Mike Mallon and Travis Moore. Travis was promoting his Argentina camp SASS. Apropos as one of the prizes up for grabs at finals was a free session at said camp.

Saturday graced us with one of the nicest days Sugarloaf has seen in years. Clear skies, mild temps, leftover powder and a great contest set-up made for an idyllic morning on the slopes. Hunter and Phoebe have new confidence and focus at comps this winter and their rise through the Main Event series has helped greatly. They rolled into the event like the champs they came out to be.
After casing a backside 360 on the 50 footer, Phoebe came back in the second run and stomped one deep. Hunter put himself high on the scorecard with a backside 900, but felt he should seal the victory with his double backflip. This trick was also sent to the bottom of the jump and stomped. One-two punch, KOs the judges and announcer...

Hunter and Phoebe both stood proudly atop the podium at day's end. Phoebe won all three stops, making her the points winner in this reputable East Coast Institution. Both riders will have their names engraved on the heavyweight belts joining a short list of current pros like Alex Duckworth, Shayne Fortier and Brandon Reis.

What else was in the purse for the Champs?

Overall Winner - Free session at South American Snow Sessions Argentina camp this summer. Phoebe won but in a shining example of showwomanship handed it to Hunter.

CASH- Hunter $500, Phoebe $250

PRODUCT- Both riders won Burton snowboards, $500 Nixon watches, helmets, hats and more.

US OPEN SLOPE SPOTS- Perhaps the sweetest prize, Hunter and Phoebe get to skip the slopestyle qualifying rounds at the US OPEN.

The trip home was tough. 7 hours in the worst driving conditions endured by this coach. Hail, lightning, rain....
Our spirits could not be dominated though and we pushed through like the Heavyweight Entourage we had become. Hunter staid awake the entire trip to keep me sane and as the sun was setting and we neared the NH border we saw a real Maine moose. As I lay safe in bed before midnight, I knew full well that one of my best days at SMS was behind me.