Danny Kass, Gretchen Bleiler Win Halfpipe at Burton Abominable Snow Jam 2007
Jul 12 2007 / Mt. Hood, OR
|
The Abominable Snow Jam Halfpipe Compeition Goes Off at Mt. Hood
It was a bit overcast up on the hill today, but the pipe was in prime condition for the Abominable Snow Jam halfpipe event. The BBQ was fired up and spectators were spread out at the top of the pipe watching all the action go down. The Dingo and Preston Strout were on the mic with the play-by-play, the tunes were rocking and the yetis were getting down on the deck of the pipe making for a perfect summertime shred event. Snowboarding in the middle of July just doesn’t get any better then this, especially with a perfectly shaped 22-foot halfpipe built by Planet Snow Designs at High Cascade Snowboard Camp. The ASJ halfpipe competition is also a five star event and the first official stop on the 07/08 TTR World Tour, so riders had the opportunity to get some points under their belts for the upcoming season.
The ladies dropped first in an hour-long jam session and you could tell they were loving the soft 22-foot transitions. Clair Bidez was spinning to win and got a nice 900 around to claim a brand new Mac Book Pro for the best trick award. Clair also got third place overall in the women’s field and will go home with an extra $1,250 in her pocket. Kelly Clark was clearly going the biggest out of all the women and stomped some nice spins including a frontside 720, backside 540 and backside 360 which earned her second place and $2,500. Gretchen Bleiler was on point with a run that included a frontside alley-oop, frontside 540, backside 540 and a frontside 720 to take first place and $5,000.
The High Cascade Diggers raked and salted the pipe following the women’s competition as the sun broke through just in time for the men’s 90-minute jam session. Mason Aguirre and Kazu Kokubo were in the top spots early on with smooth runs and large airs but Danny Kass, Kevin Pearce and Scotty Lago stepped things up to nudge them out of the lead. Kazu had a fluid run with a frontside 1080, a frontside 720, backside 900 ending with a Michalchuk. Mason was going huge on the first hit with some McTwists and straight airs. Japanese riders Takaharu Nakai and Takahiro Ishihara were throwing some of the biggest airs of the day but neither could get a complete clean run in. At one point during the competition, Wyatt Caldwell and Sammy Lubke dropped together for a tandem run putting on a straight air clinic. Chas Guldemond was also looking good with some lofty stylish spins. Keir Dillon was going for broke boosting super high on the first hit. He had an amazing alley-oop McTwist that had the crowd cheering, giving him the best trick award. Scotty Lago was charging into the pipe and threw a double-corked 1080, frontside 900 nose and a crippler shifty for third place and $2,500. Kevin Pearce had some solid runs with large airs and dialed spins that were good enough for second place and $5,000. But it was Danny Kass who put down a flawless run which included back to back 1080s and an alley-oop backside 720 to earn the top spot and $10,000.
The fourth annual Abominable Snow Jam wraps up tomorrow with slopestyle at Timberline resort and the course is looking sick. The Volvo C30, Harley-Davidson XL 1200N Nightsters, Sony HDV Cams and more cold hard cash are all still up for grabs, so stay tuned for more action from Mt. Hood. In addition to the all the prizes, riders will have another opportunity to increase their ranking for the 07/08 TTR World Tour at the slopestyle event upping the competition for the top spots.
Final Results:
Men:
1. Danny Kass
2. Kevin Pearce
3. Scotty Lago
Best Trick - Keir Dillon (alley-oop McTwist)
Women:
1. Gretchen Bleiler
2. Kelly Clark
3. Clair Bidez
Best Trick - Clair Bidez (frontside 900)
- Press Release
