Smith Top American Indoors
LANDGRAAF, Netherlands – Just over a year ago, Adam Smith (Tangent, OR) nailed his first World Cup win at the first ever indoor World Cup held in the giant Dutch cooler SnowWorld. But Smith was unable to double up Sunday as he posted the best American finish with 11
th in the season’s first parallel slalom one upping teammate Chris Klug (Aspen, CO), who landed 12
th after making his second consecutive final. Alaskan Rosey Fletcher (Girdwood, AK) posted the top U.S. women’s result with 20
th.
Klug U.S. Leader in Soelden
SOELDEN, Austria -- Olympic medalist Chris Klug (Aspen, CO) led three American's in the finals Sunday, finishing seventh in the opening FIS World Cup PGS in Soelden. Phillip Schoch of Switzerland took the win as the Swiss swept the top four places.
Gorgone Fifth in PGS Opener
SOELDEN, Austria -- U.S. Snowboarding rider Michelle Gorgone led the USA, finishing fifth in the season opening PGS Saturday in Soelden. Austrian Doresia Krings picked up the win, knocking off Swiss Ursula Bruhins in the head-to-head finals on the Rettenbach glacier, one of the highest race courses in the world at nearly 10,000 feet.
Halfpipe Team Trains in New Zealand
U.S. Snowboarding Assistant Halfpipe Coach Mike Jankowski took some time to share his thoughts on a recent training camp in New Zealand. Besides chronicling the camp’s success, he offers an inside look at what U.S. Snowboarding riders experienced at this top-notch venue Down Under.
SNOWPARK, New Zealand (Oct. 15) - Snow is unpredictable. Plans change. Change is good.
This sums up the summer training camp plans for the U.S. Snowboarding Team. After months of planning a 10-day camp in Valle Nevado, Chile, the Team was forced to scrap the Chile trip and head to Snowpark, New Zealand. The decision was a no-brainer – the snow in Chile was weak at best and New Zealand was having a winter of epic proportions. Plus, New Zealand has Snowpark. And there is no place in the world quite like Snowpark.
In its first full season of operation, complete with a brand-new quad chair, Snowpark had already been enjoying an amazing year by the time U.S. Snowboarding arrived Sept. 9. The resort hosted the Middle Earth Superpipe Championships, several ski and snowboard camps and countless team video/photo shoots. In fact, Snowpark had just finished hosting Shaun White and his crew who were busy filming the finishing touches for Shaun’s amazing new movie, “The White Album.”
Snowpark’s director, Frank Wells, said having U.S. Snowboarding riders at Snowpark was “the icing on the cake. Having riders of that caliber putting that pipe to use the way it was meant to be used was terrific.”
The U.S. crew consisted of eight riders, two coaches, one trainer and a photographer. Steve Fisher, Tricia Byrnes, Tommy Czeschin, Elena Hight, Clair Bidez and Hannah, Abe and Elijah Teter made up the riding crew with coaches Bud Keene and Mike Jankowski there to keep the stoke level at a maximum. Scott Bartel was the physical therapist on hand keeping everyone healthy and Mike Arzt was the photo guy getting the shots.
