Team Report 03-11-05
Greetings, fellow shredders! The Winter season is creeping to an end and Spring is just around the corner. A lot has gone down for our ThirtyTwo team riders. Some are on the inevitable injured list, while others are laughing all the way to the bank with their winnings from various contests. Check out some of the pictures along with a little write-up of what our team riders have been up to. Enjoy…
Leanne Pelosi recently got back from a two-week trip out to Iceland. That’s right, Iceland! She said the snow conditions weren’t all that great, but she had a blast making the best of it with some good friends. She was working on a TransWorld Snowboarding story, so look out for details sometime in late Fall or in 2006.
Leanne flew home for a day and then made her way to Colorado to attend the Gravity Games at Copper Mountain. She rode well during the two-hour jam session on Thursday, March 3, but unfortunately, she didn’t make the podium. However, Leanne did end up getting 4th place and took home $2,500.
The next day after the Men’s Slopestyle, Leanne, Laura Hadar and flow/R&D rider Rachel Nelson showed-up to throw down some serious jibs at the Rail Jam in Frisco, Colorado. It was a 45-minute jam format with a Best Trick prize of $1,000 every fifteen minutes, and a grand total of $5,000 for Men’s and $2,000 for Women’s which by the way, Leanne nabbed! A total of $4,500 for a couple of days of riding? Not bad! Congratulations to Leanne for ruling! Check out some of the photos from her Iceland trip as well as the Gravity Games.
Alexis Waite is back in action. After a week of shredding the backcountry in Utah, Alexis drove out to Colorado to compete in the Gravity Games. She rode well for having a broken wrist, but unfortunately, she didn’t make the podium. Lexi placed 8th, which isn’t bad for an injured rider. She’s still up in spirits and will make her way down to BroCal, where she’ll be attending the Queen of the Mountain scheduled for March 12 at Mountain High. Welcome back, Lexi!
Wille Yli-Luoma made it back to the States hassle-free from customs. He’s excited to move into his new apartment in downtown Portland, where he’ll be based for the next year or so. Wille’s on his way up to Tahoe to pick up his snowmobile, and then he’ll drive back to Portland to move into his new bachelor pad. Wille will be concentrating on filming with Mack Dawg and Volcom for the next several weeks and also plans to attend a few promotional trips with his sponsors. Maybe even Japan?
Markku Koski flew home to get his shoulder checked out. Unfortunately, he tore the ligaments, which will take him back a few weeks to heal. He said he’d go through some physical therapy for right now and wait until the season is over to go under the knife. Markku is up in spirits and will continue to ride. In fact, he’ll be attending the X-Box Jam in Europe this week along with ThirtyTwo international riders Hampus Mossesson, Aleksi Vanninen, Joni Makinen and Danny Wheeler.
Janna Meyen continues to dominate the contest circuit with confidence and consistency. She is pretty much unstoppable. Janna destroyed the Slopestyle course at the Gravity Games on March 3 in Copper Mountain. During the two-hour jam session, Janna threw down an impressive run. Her final run included a backside 540 to a Cab 540 to an enormous backside 360 to a straight air, to a 50-50 air over the battleship, to a clean boardslide on the ledge rail, finishing off with a Cab board slide on the final feature. Janna scored an 88.0, placing her in first, 12 points higher than anyone else and $20,000 richer! Congratulations, Janna! You RULE!
John Jackson is on the inevitable injured list for the next couple of weeks, unfortunately. He recently got his knee checked out and from the looks of it, he’ll be taking it easy for the next couple of weeks. Hang in there, John. We got your back.
Tyler Lepore just got back from a two-and-a-half week adventure full of eating soba noodles and soaking up the Japanese culture. Tyler-san said he had a blast in Tokyo and got some good powder in the North Island of Hokkaido while filming for the Oakley project (title still unknown). He’ll be hanging in Vancouver for the next couple of days, catching up on some of his bills. Tyler then plans on heading out to keep filming and shooting photos. He’ll be making his way to Quebec to compete in the third annual Empire Shakedown scheduled for March 26, 2005.
Benji Ritchie drove out to Tahoe right after the Boot Camp to film with the White Out crew in the backcountry. He’s been waking up at the crack of dawn to get the goods. Benji will also make his way back to Whistler sometime later this week and then head back to his hometown to compete in the Shakedown.
B team rider Laura Hadar represented at the Gravity Games in Copper Mountain on Thursday, March 3. She rode well and stomped a few of her runs, but didn’t make the podium. Nevertheless, she earned herself a little cash and placed 6th in the Slopestyle event. She also rode her ass off on the night of the Rail Jam and threw down a handful of tricks. Thanks to Laura for shredding so hard!
B team rider Eric Jackson has been filming non-stop with Standard Films in the backcountry of Tahoe. He’s been getting up at the crack of dawn to get the goods. Check out some of the photos from his last venture in the backcountry, especially the one where E-Jack literally gets ejected out of both of his bindings while jumping a 50-foot road gap. Luckily, he didn’t get hurt, but a lot of laughter was shared after that moment. He’ll continue to film and shoot photos everyday with Standard Films until the U.S. Open scheduled for March 17-20.
Flow team rider Chad Otterstrom slaughtered the Gravity Games at Copper Mountain. Chad was on point all day long and during the two-hour jam session. His runs were consistent and fluid, as he stomped tricks like backside 900s to Cab 720s, backside 720s, frontside 540s, huge Ollie to lipslides over the battle ship rail, 180s on to 180s out of the ledge, and to finish it off, Cab boardslides to 270 out.
He scored a 92.0, which placed him in the money spot the entire day. No one could defeat the local hero. Immediately after the Slopestyle event, Chad brought out his bag of tricks at the Rail Jam in Frisco that night. He stomped a variety of tricks on both rails, rewarding him with yet another win, not to mention a bonus round for Best Trick ($1,000). Chad’s 10-hour workday awarded him a nice $26,000. That works out to $2,600 an hour! Not bad for having fun and enjoying what he loves to do. Congratulations, Chad! We may just have to put you back on the team.
Lot’s more to come, so keep checking back! Here’s a little bit of what else is going on for the rest of the month…
Upcoming Events
March 12 Queen of the Mountain, Mountain High
March 15-19 U.S. Open, Stratton Mountain, Vermont
March 16-19 Then Battle, Faulan, Sweden
March 25-26 Empire Shakedown, Quebec, Canada
March 27-31 Industry Summit, Copper Mountain, Colorado
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