Tara Dakides
Tara Dakides continued to raise the bar of technical trickery in women's snowboarding in 2001 both under the pressure of contests and in the world of videography. She won the Gold Medal in Big Air at the 2001 Winter X Games, was a Vans Triple Crown Gold Medallist in Big Air, finished first in Slopestyle at the World Snowboard Championship and had amazing segments in both Mack Dawg's Stand and Deliver as well as the Hardly Angels snowboard videos.

Men, women and younger snowboard groms all look up to Tara. Her rad Southern California style, gnarly snowboard fashion sense, lovely looks, and sense of humor make her one of snowboarding's most prominent divas.

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Shannon Dunn
2001 was a great year for Shannon Dunn. Not only did she land a silver medal in the Halfpipe at the U.S. Open, but she also won a gold medal in SuperPipe and a silver medal in Slopestyle at Winter X Games V. The 1998 Olympic halfpipe bronze medallist found time to ride for various film segments, including Hardly Angels, in between contest podium finishes.

Pro rider Tina Basich and Shannon are co-founders of the Boarding For Breast Cancer event. They promote this widely-respected snowboard and music festival to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research.

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Kevin Jones
Kevin Jones is one of the most decorated snowboarders in the history of the sport. Instead of resting on his laurels, Jones continued to add to his stash of medals last season. He took second in Slopestyle at the Sims World Championship, first at the Jib Jam and he won the gold medal in Slopestyle at Winter X Games V. Jones was also voted 2001 Transworld Riders' Poll Best Freestyle snowboarder and the 2001 ESPN Action Sports & Music Snowboarder of the Year (Male). He has a total of nine medals at the X Games alone.

In 2001 he only competed in three contests: Winter X V, the World Snowboard Championship and the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding. Although he can ride anything, he most likes competing in Slopestyle events because "It's everything. Every Slopestyle contest I go to is different." His 2001 video parts and cameos include Stand & Deliver and True Life (Mack Dawg Productions), Optigrab (Standard Films), and Represent (Fingerondatrigger Productions)

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Danny Kass
2002 Winter Olympic silver medallist Danny Kass was the new kid on the scene during 2001, winning almost every important title in snowboarding. Along with his Winter X Games V SuperPipe gold, he won the overall Chevy Grand Prix title, the U.S. Open and the World Snowboard Championship all in the Halfpipe. His winning runs consist of tricks like his patent Kasserole, described as a human kickflip. He will mix up his runs with technical tricks plus huge straight airs, stomping every landing as he pushes the sport of snowboarding.

Brother Matt remembers how amazed people were with Dan's first few competitions. "Danny was doing 540's right off the bat." Dan won USSA Nationals and was sponsored by GNU within a year of his first time snowboarding. Dan is putting most of his money into a new company that he and his brother Matt created in 2000 called Grenade Gloves. Grenade has a grassroots philosophy with a para-militant punk style. The largest sum of money went into R&D and according to Dan, "the gloves are insane."

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Janna Meyen
Janna Meyen spent last year leading the new school of female riders by pushing her snowboarding on hand rails across the country and in the backcountry. Her year was highlighted with numerous video segments. Her feature in the all women's snowboarding movie, Hardly Angels, proves she has rail jibbing skills to hang with the top men snowboarders. "I'm going to focus on filming and getting a really good film part." She did just that and then some, as women and men snowboarders alike look up to her riding.

Janna spent a lot of time recovering from injuries in the past, but "[I've] been healthy for almost two years now, so that stuff is all in the past."

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Todd Richards
Todd Richards had an exceptional 2001 season that was highlighted with a slew of podium level contest finishes. He was the Winter X Games V Silver Medallist in Big Air & Slopestyle, first place finisher at the World Snowboard Championship in Slopestyle, second place rider in Halfpipe at the Grand Prix in Breckenridge and the gold medal winner in Slopestyle at the Vans Triple Crown in Breckenridge.

He has now landed himself six Winter X Games medals and has the respect of the snowboarding community for his commitment to progression in over ten years of professional snowboarding. In 2001 Richards tried his hand at acting in the motion picture Out Cold, which was released in November, 2001.

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J.P. Walker
J.P. Walker had a heroic 2001 season to all the people who follow snowboarding in print and on video. His incredible segment in True Life highlighted the versatility of his riding. He was selected Nixon Jibfest rider of the year, received unprecedented coverage in Transworld Snowboarding, and was voted Transworld Awards Best Rail Rider of 2001.

J.P. doesn't have to do contests. He is one of the most progressive rail riders and big hit huckers out there. J.P. was invited to compete in Slopestyle at Winter X Games V, but right before the competition he got a call from Mack Dawg Productions to ride and film a rail in Burlington, VT, and missed the competition. "The east coast was getting dumped on and it was too good to pass up."

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Natasza Zurek
Natasza Zurek showed that persistence in the halfpipe pays off as she won a series of medals in 2001. She racked up several big finishes including the Vans Triple Crown at Snow Summit gold medal in Halfpipe, the Winter X Games Silver Medal in SuperPipe, and a dominating gold medal at the US Open in Halfpipe.She is known for blasting overhead McTwists, 720's, and maintaining amplitude and technical savvy during her runs.

Zurek blew her right ACL while riding the pipe at the end of the 2001 season, but had already qualified for a spot on the 2002 Canadian Olympic team. After surgery, Natasza spent most of 2001 summer focused on healing instead of having to worry about qualifying for the team.

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