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Kass, Bright Take Halfpipe Titles

Greg — 2009-03-22T15:45:00 00:00

Shaun White wasn't the men's halfpipe winner at the US Open of Snowboarding for the first time in four years. The red-haired one apparently strained his ankle while training last week and was unable to compete in Saturday's finals.

With that opening, not only did Danny Kass pull out the win, but Peetu Piirione, the second-place finisher, clinched the TTR World Title and the $50,000 that goes along with that. Luke Mitrani was third.

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Joel Parkinson Wins Quiksilver Pro Behind Perfect 10

Greg — 2009-03-11T10:46:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

Joel Parkinson kicked off the 2009 World Tour in grand style Wednesday by dominating the semifinals and finals on his way to a season-opening victory. Parkinson scored two perfect 10s, one in the semis against Mick Fanning and the other in the finals against Brazil's Adriano de Souza. Parkinson scored a total 18.83 to de Souza's 11.30 in the final.

In the Semis, Parkinson faced off against former world champ Mick Fanning, who put up a strong combined score of 17.66. However, Parkinson's perfect 10 along with a 9.93 sealed the victory for the Aussie. In the other semi, de Souza had a solid 14.84 against Taj Burrow, who couldn't find his rhythm, managing only a 5.34.

The location for the final was Kirra instead of the primary venue of Snapper Rocks or the back-ups Duranbah Beach and Coolangatta Beach. All three were utilized in action yesterday leading up to the Semis.

For the 27-year-old Parkinson, the win was his second at the Gold Coast and gives him the early lead in the World Tour rankings. The next stop will be Bells Beach in Australia for the Rip Curl Pro starting April 7.

For more about the contest, check out the official site at www.quiksilverpro.com.au/

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Kelly Slater Ousted in Quiksilver Pro Round Three

Greg — 2009-03-08T15:00:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

Kelly Slater's quest for a tenth world championship is already looking a little tougher after Slater was knocked out of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast in the third round Sunday. Twenty-year-old wildcard Julian Wilson defeated the 9x world champ, 15.33 to 13.84, thanks to his second-to-last wave score of 8.50. Slater's best score was a 7.67.

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Shaun White Wins Intelligent Design

Greg — 2009-03-08T12:00:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Snowboarding

Shaun White saw his chances for another TTR title improve Saturday when he took the Intelligent Design Contest in Park City.

The contest, which evolved from the World Superpipe Championships, was unique for its course, which contained big air, half-pipe and jibbing elements.

White was followed on the podium by Charles Reid and Luke Mittrani. The win moved White to fifth overall in the TTR rankings, with Peetu Piiroinen holding onto the lead (Piiroinen didn't compete in the contest).

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Stephanie Gilmore Wins Roxy Pro

Greg — 2009-03-08T10:15:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

Stephanie Gilmore has kicked off her 2009 campaign for a third-straight world championship in good form, winning the season's first contest, the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, Sunday.

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Anderson Wins Slopestyle at Tahoe; O'Brien Takes Dew Cup

Greg — 2009-02-21T17:30:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Snowboarding

Jamie Anderson scored the top spot at the season-ending Toyota Championship at Northstar-At-Tahoe Friday, edging Spencer O'Brien for the win 87.50 to 87.17 thanks to a tie-breaker. Janna Meyen-Weatherby was third.

Anderson won both Dew Tour events but O'Brien was solid in all three stops, giving her the overall honor of the Dew Cup.

"It's pretty amazing," O'Brien said. "I'm so stoked. This whole series has been really awesome and just so much fun. I was really nervous coming into this one, but to clinch the Cup has been awesome."

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Torstein Horgmo Is Tops at Slopestyle; White Wins Dew Cup at Tahoe

Greg — 2009-02-21T15:30:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Snowboarding

Torstein Horgmo scored a decisive win Friday at the Men's Slopestyle Finals at Northstar-At-Tahoe's Toyota Championship, the final stop of the 2009 Winter Dew Tour. Horgmo's 93.50 was almost four points better than second-place Shaun White's 89.67. Local rider Chaz Guldemond finished in third with an 88.00.

White's second-place finish was enough to earn him the Dew Cup. He finished the season with 280 points, thanks to two second-place finishes and one win at Mount Snow.

"I was hoping to be up there with the Dew Cup in hand and drop in and have a fun run, and that's kind of what happened," White said.

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Shaun White Steps Up Again at Winter X

Greg — 2009-01-26T08:59:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Skiing-Snowboarding

Shaun White closed out Winter X Games 13 Sunday by capturing his second-straight gold medal in the Men's SuperPipe -- the first person ever to accomplish the feat.

The winning run came on White's last as then-frontrunner Kevin Pearce watched. Pearce ended up in second with a 90.66 while Antti Autti was third with an 87.33.

The win gave White his ninth career Winter X Games gold medal, a record.

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Surf City's Surf Museum Safe ... For Now

Greg — 2009-01-23T16:51:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

Santa Cruz may or may not be "surf city" to you (for some, Huntington Beach owns the distinction) but it still holds a special place in surfing's history.

Like many other cities around the country, Santa Cruz is having some financial issues (to the tune of a $7 million deficit) and last December the city council voted to close several of the city's public institutions, including the Natural History Museum and the Surfing Museum that opened more than 20 years ago.

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Bright Leads Qualifying For Women's Superpipe at Winter X 13

Greg — 2009-01-23T05:17:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Skiing-Snowboarding

Torah Bright is back in a big way. After being MIA on some of the biggest contests so far this season, she dominated the women's snowboarding superpipe qualifiers on Thursday at the Winter X Games 13.

Following up Bright in the standings were Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter, with Ellery Hollingsworth and Gretchen Bleiler rounding out the top five.

The finals will be taking place on Friday night. Get more about the games here.

Full results after the jump.

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Shaun White: Cover Boy... Again

Greg — 2009-01-22T22:59:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Skiing-Snowboarding

Shaun White's grabbed his latest magazine cover. On his living room wall next to the framed copies of Rolling Stone, Nylon, Men's Journal and those two SI's he can put up the latest issue of ... Fast Company?

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Shaun White, Kelly Clark Notch Superpipe Wins at Winter Dew Tour

Greg — 2009-01-16T11:05:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Skiing-Snowboarding

Shaun White took the men's Superpipe contest at the second Winter Dew Tour stop at Mount Snow, VT Sunday. White scored a 96.25 thanks to run that included back-to-back 1080s. Following White on the podium was Steve Fisher with a 92.75 and Kevin Pearce with a 90.00.

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Robbie Maddison Makes History Again

Greg — 2009-01-02T20:53:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Motocross

Robbie Knievel was in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve doing some sort of stunt but it was another Robbie that people were talking about -- Aussie Robbie Maddison. To help ring in the new year Maddo jumped 120 feet up to land on top of a 96-foot high scale version of the Arc de Triomphe at the Paris resort in the gambling mecca. But the jump up wasn't the real hard part -- it was the trip back down. Maddo had to freefall 60+ feet to the landing ramp below but managed to stay on his bike.

He didn't come away completely unscathed, though. He lacerated his left hand on the landing and needed sutures at a local hospital.

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It's Official: Women's World Tour Surfers Announced

Greg — 2008-12-24T19:32:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

Several days after the conclusion of the Women's ASP World Tour season in Maui the roster for the 2009 Tour has been finalized. While the surfers on tour will include 11 year's worth of titles, there are also five rookies joining the vets - all teenagers.

Sally Fitzgibbons, 18, made history earlier this year by becoming the fastest surfer ever to qualify for the world tour in a season. She will be joined by Brazil's Bruna Schmitz, Kiwi Paige Hareb, Hawaiian Alana Blanchard (all 18) and Coco Ho, 17.

Aussies will dominate the tour, with Fitzgibbons and current world champ, Stephanie Gilmore leading eight of their compatriots.

Seven-time world champ Layne Beachley remains on the tour, though she previously announced her retirement. The move allows her to still compete at some events, although she will not participate in all events (there are eight total events).

The new season kicks off on Feb. 28, 2009 with the Roxy Pro Gold Coast.

Here are the 2009 World Tour Surfers:

1 - Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
2 - Silvana Lima (BRA)
3 - Sofia Mulanovich (PER)
4 - Layne Beachley (AUS)
5 - Amee Donohoe (AUS)
6 - Samantha Cornish (AUS)
7 - Melanie Bartels (HAW)
8 - Rebecca Woods (AUS)
9 - Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
10 - Jacqueline Silva (BRA)
11 - Chelsea Hedges (AUS)
12 - Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
13 - Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)
14 - Bruna Schmitz (BRA)
15 - Paige Hareb (NZL)
16 - Alana Blanchard (HAW)
17 - Coco Ho (HAW)

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Kelly Slater Wins Pipeline Masters; Parko Takes Triple Crown

Greg — 2008-12-13T10:20:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

Kelly Slater capped off an amazing season Friday by winning the Billabong Pipeline Masters contest in Hawaii for a record sixth time. Slater, who clinched a record ninth ASP World Tour title earlier this year, won a total of six out the tour's 11 events in 2008.

Slater was unbeatable in the heats leading up to the final, scoring a combined 19.00, 18.63 and 19.40 (out of 20.00). In his final against Chris Ward waves were sparse, and Slater took the contest with a 14.00 to Ward's 7.23.

"It was disappointing that the waves didn't really turn on for us in the final," Slater said. "That's what we are here for, to put on a show for people - at least give them some big wipeouts or something."

More exciting was Slater's semifinal against Timmy Reyes, when Slater came from behind with minutes left in the head to score a perfect 10.00 and a 9.00.

While Ward's second-place finish assured him of a spot on the 2009 World Tour, he came up short in the final rankings for the Vans Triple Crown honor. Joel "Parko" Parkinson, who scored a history-making perfect 20.00 earlier in the contest, ended up taking the Triple Crown thanks to his performance over the three season-ending Hawaiian contests.

The 2008 ASP World Tour surfing season is now complete and will resume next year on Feb. 28 when the holding period of the Quiksilver Pro commences.

Read more about the contest on the ASP website.

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The 2009 ASP World Tour is Set

Greg — 2008-12-13T09:00:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

The 2009 ASP World Tour roster has been decided with the conclusion of the 2008 season. After the Billabong Pipeline Masters, the top 27 surfers from the current world tour earn a spot in 2009, along with the 15 top-ranked World Qualifying Series (WQS) surfers (who didn't otherwise qualify) and three wildcards chosen by the ASP.

There are few surprises, since most of the list was decided after the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing earlier this month.

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Joel Parkinson Makes History at the Billabong Pipeline Masters

Greg — 2008-12-11T08:35:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

Joel Parkinson accomplished something on Wednesday that only one other surfer in history has done: score a perfect 20.00. Parkinson notched two perfect 10.00 waves in his third-round heat at the Billabong Pipeline Masters, matching a feat only Kelly Slater previously had done. Slater scored his perfect 20.00 in the finals of the 2005 Tahiti contest.

"I never thought I would get two perfect 10s," Parkinson said. "Kelly did it in unreal fashion, mine was a just in a third round heat, but it's at Pipe and it's definitely something that when I grow old, I'll think, 'I did something in my career my name's next to Kelly's on that one.'"

Parkinson also moved one step closer to winning the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing honor following the defeat of front-runner Dusty Payne (who was beaten by Parkinson's 20.00) and second-place CJ Hobgood.

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Pipeline Masters Kicks Off; World Tour Spots Up For Grabs

Greg — 2008-12-10T08:07:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

Kelly Slater may have clinched his record ninth world title earlier this season but there are still three spots open on the ASP World Tour roster for 2009. The season-ending Billabong Pipeline Masters will decide who will get those slots, and Chris Ward made his statement in round two Tuesday, scoring a high heat total of 19.90 out of 20.00. Ward is currently ranked 24th on the tour and the cut-off for the 2009 Tour is the top 27.

Current world tour surfers who were eliminated today from the 2009 tour roster were Daniel Ross, Royden Bryson, Ricky Basnett, Jay Thompson, Rodrigo Dornelles, Luke Munro, Mick Campbell, Roy Powers and Leonardo Neves.

Action on round two is expected to continue on Wednesday and can be watched via a live webcast on the official Triple Crown of Surfing website.

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C.J. Hobgood Wins O'Neill World Cup of Surfing

Greg — 2008-12-05T14:40:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Surfing

C.J. Hobgood took advantage of nice conditions to pull out a win at the O'Neill World Cup at Sunset Beach, HI, edging Tom Whitaker in a four-man final.

Hobgood scored a combined 15.00 in the final, led by his final wave score of 8.50. Whitaker scored a combined 12.67. Jordy Smith, who received the contest's only perfect 10 Thursday in the round of 32, also made it to the final but was fourth with only a 2.86 combined score. Smith had a run of bad luck in the final including a broken board and injury to his leg.

Surfers had huge waves for most of the final, with 20-30 wave face heights.

"It's perfect size and really clean. There was probably one or two sets a heat that were too big," Hobgood said after the contest. "Just some macking nuts waves out there."

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Mountain Bikers Get Sick From Dirty Mud

Greg — 2008-12-03T14:02:00 00:00

by Greg

Filed under: Biking

Before you take that expensive biking trip to the UK you may want to ask, "How clean is that mud?"

Turns out not all mud is created equal. Last July, 161 mountain bikers fell ill after racing in the Builth Wells Mountain Biking Marathon. The culprit? Sheep droppings (apparently).

Riders reported vomiting and diarrhea after ingesting the mud (hopefully by mistake), which was filled with the bacterium campylobacter courtesy of some sheep.

All this and more can be read in a nifty report named "The investigation of an outbreak of diarrhea illness in participants of the Builth Wells Mountain Bike Marathon: Final Report" that was published Monday by the National Public Health Service for Wales.

There were two suggestions made by the authors of the report: One, for riders to eat food from wrappers (as opposed to food sprayed with mud, I suppose). Two, it was recommended that race routes avoid areas that may be filled with sheep feces. Novel idea.

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