Westbound Boarder

A couple weeks ago (March 25 – 28) top female snowboarders from around the world all came together for the sixth annual Roxy Chicken Jam at Mammoth Mountain, CA.  The Roxy Chicken Jam is one of the premiere industry events for females, and it plays a huge role in raising the profile for women in the snowboard industry.  And in case you missed the event live, no worries, because you can catch the recap on FUEL TV (schedule below).

The Roxy Chicken Jam women only snowboard contest gathers the world’s best pro riders to compete in both a slopestyle and superpipe competition at Mammoth Mountain. With more than 100 girls from around the world, Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark, Rana Okada, Olympian Elena Hight, X Games gold medalist Jamie Anderson and Cheryl Mass all compete for a chance at $15,000.

“ROXY CHICKEN JAM 2010″ Air Dates:
Monday, 5/10/2010 8:00 PM ET / 5:00PM PT
Monday, 5/10/2010 11:00 PM ET /8:00PM PT
Wednesday, 5/12/2010 12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT
Friday, 5/14/2010 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT
Saturday, 5/15/2010 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT
Sunday, 5/16/2010 11:30 AM ET / 8:30 AM PT
Monday, 5/17/2010 3:30 AM ET / 12:30 PM PT
Wednesday, 5/19/2010 6:30 PM ET / 3:30 PM PT
Saturday, 5/22/2010 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT
Sunday, 5/23/2010 9:00 AM ET / 6:00 AM PT
Tuesday, 5/25/2010 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT
Tuesday, 5/25/2010 11:00 PM ET / 8:00 PM PT
Friday, 5/28/2010 2:30 AM ET / 11:30 PM PT
Saturday, 5/29/2010 9:00 AM ET / 6:00 AM PT
Tuesday, 6/1/2010 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT
Wednesday, 6/2/2010 12:30 AM ET / 9:30 PM PT
Monday, 6/7/2010 3:30 AM ET / 12:30 AM PT
Tuesday, 6/8/2010 9:30 PM ET / 6:30 PM PT
Wednesday, 6/16/2010 6:30 PM ET / 3:30 PM PT
Monday, 6/28/2010 12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT

It’s always fun to watch unsponsored amateur riders throw down, and this season some of them threw down hard during the Gatorade Free Flow Tour for a chance at the big leagues.

I was lucky enough to catch 2 Gatorade Free Flow stops this season – one at Vail and one at Mt. High.  The lovely folks at FUEL TV put together a recap vid so you can watch highlights from the 10 stop tour event.  Below are air dates and times.  Check it out and let us know your favorite riders in the comments below!

“Gatorade Free Flow Tour Winter 2009″ Air Dates:

Tuesday, 3/23/2010 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT in Snow Pack
Tuesday, 3/23/2010 11:00 PM ET / 8:00 PM PT
Saturday, 3/27/2010 9:00 AM ET / 6:00 AM PT
Tuesday, 3/30/2010 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT
Wednesday, 3/31/2010 4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT
Tuesday, 4/6/2010 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT
Saturday, 4/10/2010 1:30 PM ET / 10:30 AM PT
Wednesday, 4/14/2010 6:30 PM ET / 3:30 PM PT
Tuesday, 4/20/2010 9:30 PM ET / 6:30 PM PT
Saturday 4/24/2010 1:30 PM ET / 10:30 AM PT

Tara Dakides, a legend in women’s snowboarding and perhaps the first women to really push the boundaries in the sport for women, will be appearing on “The Daily Habit” on Fuel TV tonight, along with Boris Said, Sal Masekela and the cast of “Frozen.”  The show will air tonight (Wednesday) at 6p.m. PT/9p.m. ET.

From the press release:

Today, X Games gold medal winner and Baja 1000 driver, Tara Dakides is back on the Habit, joined by X Games host Sal Masekela. Plus, NASCAR and Baja 1000 driver Boris Said stops by. Also, actors Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell and Kevin Zegers are here to tell us about “Frozen,” a thriller that takes place on a ski lift.

Tara Dakides’ sponsors include: Vans, Sessions, Omatic, KMC Wheels, Wide Open. Boris Said’s sponsors include: Spy Optic, No Fear. Sal Masekela’s sponsors include: Quiksilver, Nixon, and Celtek.

Check it out!

Follow my blog with bloglovin

I know we have all been anxiously waiting to hear who will be riding on this year’s 2010 Olympic Halfpipe team.  This weekend, Park City, Utah will play host to the fifth and final round of the Olympic qualifiers, where 30 riders will be vying for the remaining spots on this year’s team.

The US Snowboarding Grand Prix made stops earlier this year at Copper Mountain and Mammoth Mountain, so Park City will be the third and final stop of the tour where the 2010 Olympic team (four men and four women) will officially be announced.

We know that Shaun White, who has already seen two first place finishes in former qualifying rounds, has already solidified his spot on this year’s US Olympic team in the men’s category.  Louie Vito, with two second place wins, is in good shape as well. Other probable contenders include JJ Thomas, Zach Black, Scotty Lago, and Mason Aguirre, though the last two spots remain somewhat uncertain.

On the women’s side, Kelly Clark’s two earlier wins in qualifying rounds have already secured her a spot on the team, with Gretchen Blieler being a shoe in as well.  Elena Hight and Hannah Teter also have the odds in their favor, though Ellery Hollingsworth will give them a good run for their money.  Between these five ladies, the four open spots up for grabs this weekend in Park City seem fairly predictable.  The only question now is, which one won’t get to see Vancouver this winter?

Catch the US Snowboarding Grand Prix on January 23, 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT on Fuel TV or via the live stream here: http://www.fuel.tv/USSnowboarding

Busy week in snowboard land; here’s some of our fav picks from around the Web!

• Catch the Olympics on Yahoo!: Today, Yahoo! announced it will provide Olympic fans with an exclusive Web site and mobile experience for the 2010 Vancouver Games. (Check out the microsite here).  Less than one month to go!  Also, starting January 25^th, fans will be able to submit their favorite winter sports photos for a chance to win multiple prizes, ranging from digital cameras to a trip to the U.S. Freestyle Skiing Championship at Squaw Valley in March 2010.
• Haiti Disaster; How You Can Help: By now, many of you already know about the 7.0 Earthquake that devastated Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 12.  Check out this blog post from Spectacular Adventures for more info. on how you can help.
• Bearics Teaser: Inside Etnies and Bear Mountain’s private snow park; sweet vid!
• Surf Expo 2010 Gallery: The 2010 Surf Expo is currently going on, and Transworl has the low down (in 140 pictures or less) here.  I’m really digging some of the new swimwear lines.
• Dew Tour Comes to Utah; Results Are In: After a successful first event at Breckenridge earlier this month, the Dew Tour, Round Two, moves to Snowbasin.  Elena Hight and Elijah Teter lead in the Pipe Prelims (surprised?)  Be sure to catch the Pipe Finals on Sat.

News Bits

• FUEL TV launched an iPhone application.  The application is available here in the iTunes store, free of charge.  The content is syndicated from the Fuel.tv website and includes nine video podcast channels, updates from the FUEL TV blogs, and Twitter integration. There’s also a community photo blog; FUEL TV show information, news updates, and schedules; and all of it can be seamlessly shared via a simple Twitter button. The app will also allow for streaming live events, and will be able to download a selection of FUEL TV shows in the near future.  Sounds pretty sick (I wish I had an iPhone!  Maybe now I have incentive to go buy one…)
• College Night returns to Mt. High.  Last year, Mt. High announced a series of three College Night Events, and apparently the series was popular, because it’s back!  And this time with six events.  If you’re in college and live in SoCal, this event sounds like a lot of fun – $20 Night passes, half-off appetizers, half-off draft beer (21+), $1 hot dogs, live DJs, and hookups from industry partners. College Night will take place from 5pm to 10pm in the Bullwheel Bar & Grill on January 14th, January 21st, February 4th, February 11th, February 25th, and March 4^th, 2010.  This season the January 21st, February 11^th, and March 4^th events will also include a rail competition complete with its own prize pool.
• Gatorade Free Flow Tour, the official amateur series of the Dew Tour, coming to a town near you.  We watched part of the pipe tour go down in Vail this past weekend, and it was pretty sick.  Now, let’s see some ladies!

Tonight, FUEL TV‘s the Daily Habit will feature female snowboarder extraordinaire Spencer O’Brien.  In case you aren’t familiar with Spencer, she’s one of the hottest up-in-coming female snow pros; also the reigning 2008 Dew Tour Slopestyle Champ, Transworld’s Rookie of the Year 2008, and she placed third in the X games 12 slopestyle competition.

The show will air at 6pm PT (9pm ET) so be sure to check it out!  Other guests include pro surfer and filmmaker Stefan Hunt who will talk about his new documentary “Somewhere Near Tapachula.”

Back in late July, one of the largest surfing events of the year flooded the beaches of Huntington Beach – The Hurley US Open of Surfing.  In case you weren’t around to check out the event live in SoCal, FUEL TV’s bringing it to your living room this week, with a highlight reel of the best moments of the week.  It will air this Thursday (yes geniuses, that’s tonight) at 8:00pm and 11:00pm ET (5:00pm and 8:00pm PT) on FUEL TV.

And in case you’re not quite sure what the Hurley US Open of Surfing even is, well, it was a nine-day event where some of the best surfers in the world came together to compete for the $100,000 first place prize purse… and it was awesome.  The comp. included big names such as Kelly Slater (ever heard of him?), Andy Irons, Mick Fanning, and CJ Hobgood, and up-in-comers Brett Simpson, Adriano de Souza, and Michel Bourez, to name a few.  Music and a fashion show also played a key role in event turnout, which will also be highlighted on the show.

If you can’t catch the event tonight (and don’t have DVR or TiVo), here’s a full schedule of when it will air on FUEL:

“Best Of The Hurley US Open of Surfing 2009” Air Dates:

• Thursday, 11/12/2009                                    8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT in SurfSpot
• Thursday, 11/12/2009                                    11:00 PM ET/8:00 PM PT
• Saturday, 11/14/2009                                     10:00 AM ET/7:00 AM PT
• Sunday, 11/15/2009                                       11:30 AM ET/8:30 AM PT
• Sunday, 11/29/2009                                       10:00 AM ET/7:00 AM PT
• Monday, 11/30/2009                                     8:00 AM ET/5:00 AM PT

As we here at Westbound have been promoting the heck out of the Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour, we hope that you were able to witness the insanity that was the finale this past Saturday. The event could not have been more perfect – with the sun blazing, temperatures in the near 90′s and the Wests best riders boasting their skillz – perfection is an understatement.

The competition began with round one where the male snowboarders set the bar quite high, then moved into the women’s snowboarders, followed directly by the co-ed ski session. The jam style enables all riders to take as many runs as physically possible during their heat. Each heat lasted about 30-45 minutes and was action pact. These guys and gals were sweating bullets and their runs only improved as the heat and pressure rose to unprecedented levels. Grady Skelton, one of the founders of Civil Brand Clothing, was on the mike during round one and increased the pressure further by sounding the 5 minute and 1 minute warnings and ended the heats by finally calling the dreaded last run.

The judges handpicked the best of each heat to advance to the Cricket Campus Rail Jam Finals. At about 3:30pm the finals commenced and the bars rose, yet again, to extraordinary levels of intensity. These guys and gals were throwing nutter butters and back fives out like there was no tomorrow. As the snow began melting away and the rail ruts grew, things got pretty sloppy – although this was not about to stop any one of the competitors from pushing through in order to stomp that one last trick – in hopes to be the recipient of that grand ca$h prize. The results are finally live so check out the official Rail Jam Finals here.

On top of the sick snowboarders and skiers we had entertainment from Fuel TV, Todd Richards, Grady Skelton of Civil Brand Apparel and all of the sponsors of the event, including (but not limited to) Cricket Wireless, Spyder, Hillcrest Sports, Atmosphere Clothing, Zagg – the list goes on. In between heats, Todd and Grady had a hell of a time taunting the audience and offering prizes in exchange for their pride. Whether they were asking to see the worst tattoo in the house (note picture above, view discretion is advised), the largest beer belly in attendance, or for your first born, everyone was willing to embarrass themselves for a chance to meet Todd Richards and get laughed at by him all at the same time.

We hope you were able to witness this event in person. If ya didn’t, check out our photo gallery at the westboundboarder flickr page. Interested in competing or attending next year? Let us know, we can send you in the right direction.