Tuesday, April 24

Oh Canada

By Dave Finger
EXPN.com

Border crossings always fill me with a sense of excitement. The potential of seeing something new, mixed with the possibility of fitting some official's profile, is a better buzz than any cup of Seattle coffee or Taurine-infused energy drink.

This feeling rides along inside me as I head north to one of the world's best-developed ski resorts for one of the world's largest and most prestigious competitions, the Sims Classic in Whistler, B.C. This invite-only gathering of snowboarding's best riders is a gold pass to the top performances in the sport today. Big names like Todd Richards, Danny Kass, Tara Dakides, Kevin Jones and Peter Line battle it out for big money and a high-profile win at this spectacular mountain. The best pro riders in the world, perfectly built competition terrain, big cash prizes, beautiful women, and the blingin' after parties ? this is big time professional snowboarding.

Fisheye view of the skateboarding demo in Whistler Village.

Incredible riding is on display from the get-go. Cold and cloudy conditions make the hardpack Slopestyle course very difficult and clean landings are at a minimum. The riders loosen up and get into the swing of things with the king of consistency, Todd Richards, fending off the men's competition with his winning run combining style and power. He ends it with a clean McTwist off the 25-foot quarterpipe.

Jussi Oksanen is in first place going into the finals with Travis Parker also busting out clean 900s and Kevin Jones throwing down incredible rail jibs to the crowd's delight. Todd's consistency proves too much, however, and he runs away with the check.

Tara Dakides cleans up the women's field with a rodeo flip off the first kicker. She is also the only female to boardslide the scary kinked rail. Her competitors, Roberta Rodger and Annie Boulanger, are going a solid eight feet out of the quarterpipe, stoking out the crowd by showing their tough stuff.

The winners take in their achievements and trickle into the live as hell Friday night party, located at Garfinkel's in the village and featuring Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys. He is cuttin' up the ones and twos with the grace of a cheetah attacking his prey. It really is hard to beat - partying with your hommies, free drinks, gorgeous women, a dance floor, and great beats. You know Whistler is hype.

Kelly Clark was setting the standard for amplitude.

Saturday brings the highlight of the weekend competition, the Superpipe. The conditions are amazing - visibility is 100 percent, the view of the action is unobstructed and as the sun shines down, most people are in shirtsleeves. The Superpipe itself is immaculate and the Open Jam format for the competition allows the riders to put together runs in a low-pressure, stoke-your-friends-out environment.

The women are ripping as France's Dorriane Vidal's powerful frontside 720s put her into first. But big props go out to 18-year-old Kelly Clark for busting out 10-foot airs and huge backside McTwists before ringing her bell on the lip and flying to Vancouver for emergency medical attention. Women are progressing so fast that anyone seeing them even last year would have trouble distinguishing them today from some of the men.

Okay, here we go. Men's Superpipe. This is the real deal. The jam format means anyone can be riding at any time. Highlights include Canadian Guy Deschenes stepping it up and stoking the crowd with his huge 1080-to-900 combos, showcasing the kind of incredible riding present in the Superpipe. He comes in fourth.

Todd Richards meets the 900 threshold with his signature wet-cat and moves into third place with a good-looking goggle tan. The battle for first is left to Danny Kass and Ross Powers, who alternately throw down huge McTwists, 900s and a 1080 or two. Powers, being the professional he is, pulls in first past Danny's smooth as hell "I'm gonna stomp you sucka'" style.

Sims must be having a good year, because $10,000 is put up for the best trick competition, single huge airs judged by riders at the end of the session. The honor goes to Kier Dillon for killing competition and hyping up the ESPN chopper with his 18-foot-out shirtless McTwists. Kier steals the show by going bigger and bigger with more smooth style than anyone else on that backside wall.

The competition ends and the beautiful day gives way to some riding for everybody. You can chuck a snowball at any one of your favorite pros by cruising through the Whistler Park this afternoon; it's very dope.

It's Saturday and there's an exclusive athlete's party held on the Girrabaldi Lift Co. deck with a perfect view of the Big Air competition. Having the VIP ticket in your hand truly changes the nature of partying in Whistler. Imagine free drinks, free food and rubbing elbows with the industry's biggest personalities and international pro riders from your favorite teams. They're all at this event for the same reasons you are - to watch the competition, get buzzed and shake their ass.

Tara Dakides isn't sure what happened during the Big Air comp.

The Big Air action is hot; $75,000 is a big purse and the riders are fueled. Women are kicking butt with authority nowadays: Tara throws her token backflips, but can't stomp them - tonight just isn't her night. Marnie Yamada is landing her backside 360s further down the tranny than anyone else, but the winning edge is given to Dresden Howell for her clean and consistent backside 360s.

The men are going off. Throwing big and stomping deep in the tranny are requirements for winning the big cash money. Jussi Oksanen stomps a switch backside 900, Kevin Jones comes back with a standard frontside 900 and Travis Parker goes for it with an inverted Backside 720. Spinning 900s are the thing, with one each from Nicolas Droz and Mark Frank Montoya - and this is just the first round!

The finals feature Peter Line throwing an inverted 1080, Kevin Jones stomping a 1080 of his own and Roger Hjelmstadstuen sticking a huge 1080 further down the tranny than anybody else. Jussi is the last man to drop and he thoroughly stomps an enormous switch backside 900, edging out the other competitors en route to his $20,000 check. Jussi's style points and clean factor earn him the check, but all riders are looking confident.

Later on, everyone loosens up, joins the party and watches Tom Sims himself presenting the award checks to the riders winning the big money. Everybody is buzzing from the open bar and the antics are just getting started: J Rock and DJ Babu are spinning hot wax as the ladies start to shimmer and jiggle. MC Supernatural shows up to take the stage with Swollen Members and Dilated Peoples and closes down the house with an all-out hip-hop super set. The night blurs into morning with the athletes and invitees jumping and trashing about the club. One thing is for sure - everybody loves Sims.