Wednesday, December 26

Czeschin and Bleiler Win Halfpipe Championships at the Mountain Dew Pro Nationals at Breckenridge

Press Release

Tommy Czeschin and Gretchen Bleiler claimed first place finishes in the Half Pipe competition today to close out the Mountain Dew Pro Nationals at Breckenridge Ski Resort. Czeschin pulled out the top scoring run of the day, a 91.0, on his third and final attempt to wrestle away first place from the competition's youngest entrant, 15-year-old Shaun White, who finished at 90.5 and was a bridesmaid for the second straight year. A third Californian, Christopher Nelson rounded out the top three at 87.8. The women's side couldn't have been any closer as Bleiler and Tricia Byrnes matched each other with top scores of 87.25. However, Bleiler's second-best run of 85.0 edged Byrnes' 84.7 as Bleiler claimed the Half Pipe title. Czeschin and Bleiler earned $10,000 and $7,500 for their wins.

On Thursday, Todd Richards and Kim Bohnsack took first place in the Slope Style competition. Richards outlasted Travis Rice and J.J. Thomas to cash in on the $10,000 first place payout. On the women's side, Bohnsack takes home $7,500 as she bettered Katrina Voutilainen and Sara Osterberg, who finished second and third, respectively.

Yesterday, it was Ben Hinkley soaring to a first place finish in the Big Air competition as he edged out Rahm Klampert and Sam Dayton to claim the $10,000 prize. Hinkley landed a "Rippey Flip," a back flip with a lean method grab. Klampert's big switch 900 grab and Dayton's backside 720 earned them second and third places and netted them $5,500 and $3,000, respectively.

Competitions were held in the acclaimed Freeway Terrain Park at Peak 8, which boasts one of the top-ranked half pipes and the fourth-ranked terrain park and third-ranked overall resort in North America as rated by the readers of Transworld's Snowboarding Travel Guide.

The Mountain Dew Pro Nationals is scheduled to be broadcast on NBC Sports on Sunday, January 13 at 3:00 p.m. EST as part of NBC Sports' ongoing coverage of the Vans Triple Crown Series.

The Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding continues with the Vans Championships of Snowboarding at Snow Summit in Big Bear, California, January 24-27 and the Built Ford Tough North American Championships, March 6-10 at Sierra-at-Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe, California.

For full event results, please refer to www.vans.com or www.breckenridge.com.