ToRoxy

Hot Dog Wins 2009 Mascot Superpipe Competition

In front of cheering fans rookie Hot Dog beat the defending champion Woolly for the Mascot Superpipe gold. Hot Dog is Mammoth Mountain local Luke Wynen. He got to take home $3,000. Second place went to good old Mammoth Woolly taking home $2,000 and third went to the Raccoon Patrick Reddy who won $1,000.

Over thirty mascots competed in the Mascot Superpipe Competition at this year’s Chicken Jam. The youngest mascot was a little 6 year-old ripper dressed up in a shark costume. He was a Mammoth local and totally had the crowd cheering. For him, the 18 ft superpipe was more like 50 ft tall! Joining him in the competition we had two different Chickens, a Racoon, a Sandwich, a Gorilla, Alf, and two little pieces of Sushi among other loveable creatures. The judges for the competition were the official judges for the Superpipe and Slopestyle competition and they took judging the competition very seriously.

This is the second year that we've held the Mascot Superpipe competition. It's open to guys and girls of all ages. The only requirement is for you to wear your costume from head to toe.

After the awards ceremony I interviewed the Hot Dog to see just how someone becomes champion of the Mascot Superpipe Competition:

MH: “How did you train?”

HD: “I gotta eat a lot of hot dogs and do a lot of push ups. I spent a little bit of time trying to figure out how to stick my head out of the hole in the front. There’s not a lot of space to see, it took some faith and some good luck.”

MH: “Ummm, doesn’t eating hot dogs kinda make you a cannibal.”

HD: “It does, doesn’t it? maybe we shouldn’t say that I eat them.”

MH: “Nah, it's okay. Do you plan on competing next year at the Chicken Jam?”

HD: “I do, I think this could be a fun thing for me every year to try to take down Woolly.”

Cool, thanks Hot Dog! Good luck next year and great job to all of our Mascot Superpipe competitors.

Congrats to Kelly Clark Superpipe Winner!

Congratulations to Kelly Clark! She took home the gold at the 2009 Roxy Chicken Jam Superpipe Competition. This is the second consecutive year that Kelly has won the Superpipe at the Roxy Chicken Jam, taking home the $15,000 prize purse. Kelly Clark’s winning run consisted of a frontside air, backside 540 mute, frontside 540, method, front 720 Lein, and a Cab 720. Kelly is excited to compete tomorrow in the Slopestyle competition and is hungry for the TTR World Championship.

The Canadians had a strong showing, taking home both the silver and bronze medals in the Superpipe. Mercedes Nicoll’s silver run consisted of a frontside air, backside 540, frontside 720, Cab 360 backside grab, and a backside 720. She brought home $7,000. Sarah Conrad took home the bronze. Her winning run consisted of a method, frontside 540, backside 540, air to fakie tail grab, a cab 540, and a switch alley oop 540. She brought home $3,000.

The energy in the Superpipe was infectious. These killer ladies tackled the Superpipe in front of a huge crowd. Spectators lined up at the base of the Superpipe and on the balcony at the Main Lodge.

Results from Superpipe Main Event

This afternoon, the Superpipe Main Event session was full of amazing tricks, stiff competition, and great camaraderie as the riders competed for the top twelve spots in today’s Superpipe finals.

Lisa Wiik from Norway put through two inverts in her run in the 18 ft Superpipe and qualified in third place for the finals. She is currently ranked number two for the TTR Top 5 Women. Depending on the rest of the competition, she is in the race for the TTR Champ.

Cheryl Maas had an incredible session, she is mainly a slopestyle rider but managed to qualify for the pro finals against the pipe savvy competition.

Kjersti Buaas took a big jump in the superpipe on her first run. She landed flat and unfortunately injured her hamstring. Right now she is working with a physical therapist to see if she will be able to compete tomorrow in the slopestyle competition. Anything can happen tomorrow with the TTR Championships up for grabs.

Conditions on the mountain were perfect, warm 47 degrees. Stay tuned for the results from the Superpipe Finals.

Below are the top 12 riders from the Superpipe Main Event who qualified for the finals:

1. Kelly Clark
2. Cheryl Maas
3. Lisa Wiik
4. Sarah Conrad
5. Nicoll Mercedes
6. Silvia Mittermueller
7. Kendall Brown
8. Sarka Pancochova
9. Molly Aguirre
10. Linn Haug
11. Conny Bleicher
12. Elizabeth Beerman

Some Super Facts about the Superpipe

I sat down with Oren Tanzer, Director of Youth Sports Marketing at Mammoth Mountain, to learn a little bit more about the Superpipe course. 

The superpipe was built by Pipe Supervisor Bill Gamley. They started pushing the pipe two weeks ago and it is 100% made out of snow (meaning that there is no dirt work under it). This is pretty amazing and not a lot of other resorts are able to do this.

To start construction they build two even roads and then cut them out, first with a blade on the front of a Snowcat and then with a Swiss halfpipe cutter machine called a Zaugg. The pipe is 18 ft. tall with 22 ft. of transition. It has been in the same location for many years and Mammoth's pipes are world renown.

This pipe started as an 8 ft. pipe, and then a 10 ft. pipe, then a 15 ft. pipe and now it's 22 ft. The pipe is about 465 ft. long, 60 ft. wide at the top from vert to vert. The pitch is 16 degrees and the wall at the top vert is 82 degrees.

In practice and qualifiers we have seen a lot of stuff coming down the pipe. The best stuff is coming from pro riding women who haven’t competed yet. Oren has seen all the spin variations and even some of the mascots coming down.

If you're feeling inspired after today's superpipe competition, you're in luck! Starting tomorrow it will open back up to the public and anyone can ride it.

Wrap Up Video from Day One of the Chicken Jam

Watch our wrap up video from day one of the Roxy Chicken Jam. Torah introduces the competition and there are some great shots of the riders and the crowd at the qualifiers.

Congrats to Our Qualifiers!

The first day of the Roxy Chicken Jam was a huge success! 32 snowboarders competed in the in the Slopestyle qualifier and 32 snowboarders competed in the Superpipe qualifier. The conditions were perfect for spring, warm and beautiful. Congratulations to our six slopestyle and six superpipe qualifiers:

Superpipe Qualifiers
1. Jessica Huege (USA)
2. Kelly Marren (USA)
3. Conny Bleicher (GER)
4. Summer Fenton (USA)
5. Thea Stenshagen (NOR)
6. Erica Montgomery (USA)

Slopestyle Qualifiers
1. Tania Detomas (ITA)
2. Julia Baumgartner (AUT)
3. Lynn Neil (USA)
4. Maribeth Swetkoff (USA)
5. Emily Blewitt (USA)
6. Conny Bleicher (GER)

Behind the Scenes with Torah Bright

I love Torah Bright: she is fun, is an amazing athlete, and has a great attitude.

Unfortunately, Torah injured her shoulder yesterday during practice. She is taking the rest of the event off to rest her shoulder and relax in the beautiful spring conditions up here at Mammoth. Fortunately, she doesn't need surgery and has had a great season overall. Torah isn't easily stopped. Even with an injured shoulder she has had an amazing season winning first in the halfpipe at the Burton US Open, first in the Superpipe at ESPN Winter X Games 13 and first again in the Superpipe at the Toyota Championship - Winter Dew Tour.

Torah is definitely a fashion icon on the slopes. She like feminine cuts, girly outfits, and definitely values individuality, "the cool thing about snowboarding fashion is that you can have your own style," said Torah.

It is a lot of snowboarders dream to be part of the Roxy team, and you wonder, is it all that it's cracked up to be? For Torah it is. According to her, being on the Roxy team is like being part of a huge family. You're surrounded with a bunch of amazing people who are great at what they do.

Be on the look out for Torah next year, she is looking forward to the Olympics and more fun times riding.

Qualifier Day Is Off to a Great Start!

The riders in the Superpipe and Slopestyle Qualifiers are super pumped to start the day. The conditions here are so beautiful, warm, sunny, and not a cloud in the sky. Check out the snowboarders at the Qualifier Riders meeting this morning.

Woolly Trains for the Mascot Superpipe Competition

Check out how Woolly has been training for the Mascot Superpipe competition at the Roxy Chicken Jam. Last year Woolly walked away with the gold medal after beating the Roxy Chicken, looks like he's up for the challenge again this year! Good luck Woolly!!

The Mascot superpipe competition will be held on Saturday, March 28th at 3 pm.

The Roxy Bus Goes to Chicken Jam

I was lucky enough to ride in the Roxy bus to the Chicken Jam! We left headquarters in Huntington Beach at 9 am and made the 7 hour drive in STYLE!

This bus is so awesome. It's wrapped in a hot pink Roxy wrap and has cushy seats, a bed, full kitchen, table, and a TV. Definitely the only way to travel.

Cory was our awesome bus driver! We stopped at a gas station on the way up and met a dog named Roxy! 

When we got to Mammoth it was beautiful! They were getting the superpipe and the slopestyle course all set for the competition on Friday. Looks like it's going to be a great weekend for Chicken Jam!