Bob Furst's List: Snowboarding

• "There are already so many events," explains Sebastian Toutant, Winter X slopestyle gold medalist, and winner of multiple events on both the TTR and FIS tours. "Between the Dew Tour, the X Games, the FIS, and the TTR -- it's impossible to compete in them all. If you have to choose, you choose TTR. No one wants to compete FIS."

• The naming of the U.S. slopestyle team comes at a topsy-turvy time for snowboarding, largely due to a divide between its world governing body, the International Ski Federation (FIS), and many of the top pros over the 2014 Olympic qualification process. Most athletes feel there are too many events on the calendar and worry they will have to skip major competitions in order to chase qualification points at lesser-known FIS events, a contention for which the FIS has shown little sympathy. In light of that, many U.S. Team riders felt their position has

• U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Pro Team -- Rick Bower and Tommy Czeschin, Coaches Men:
   Greg Bretz (12/19/1990; Mammoth Mountain, CA)*
   Matt Ladley (05/17/1991; Steamboat Springs, CO)
   Scotty Lago (11/12/1987; Seabrook, NH)*

     

• Five Steamboat athletes advanced to the semifinals of the halfpipe event: Arielle Gold, Taylor Gold, Paul Brichta, Matt Ladley and Maddy Schaffrick.

• White was talking, specifically, about his new Double McTwist - the trick he pulled off to win an important pre-Olympic qualifying event Friday night. It's 540 degrees of sideways spin crammed into two upright flips - "the most technically advanced trick in the world," his coach, Bud Keene, called it.

• Pearce was trying his own version of the jump Dec. 31 when he banged his head on the side of the 22-foot halfpipe and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He is still recovering in a Salt Lake City hospital.

   

  The injury regenerated a debate about what's safe, what isn't and what should be allowable in a sport full of athletes who aren't used to being told what to do.
• One of the sport's up-and-coming stars, Matt Ladley, shattered his arm.
• "It's totally changed the game," said the defending Olympic champion. "Last time, I stuck to the same run the whole time, from New Zealand in the summertime straight through to the Olympics. This year, I've changed my run about 10 times now. I've got to thank Danny Davis for beating me at the last event."

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• Young bucks Zack Black and Matt Ladley both broke themselves off pretty good on their first runs, while their second runs reflected their pain and had them finishing lower than expected.

• Steamboat’s Matt Ladley finished 15th in the event.
• The U.S. Snowboarding Team is scheduled to announce its final Olympic roster Monday.

• The action kicks off Friday with the first of two night finals at 6:30 p.m. MT. Saturday's night finals will also be at 6:30 p.m. Following the halfpipe a concert featuring 30 Seconds To Mars will take place, after which three men and three women will be announced as members of the 2010 Olympic Team.
• The full U.S. Olympic Team for snowboarding will be announced Jan. 25.
  

• Matt Ladley and Brennen Swanson made it to finals in pipe and Sam Hulbert stepped up for the men's slopestyle.
• Matt Ladley boosted his way down his first run saving a double cork for the last hit but wasn't able to stick it leaving his score and his tail bone in a compromised position.
• Check out Matt Ladley boosting in the 2nd or 3rd clip:
  
• Let's see if Matt Ladley and Brennen Swanson can dig deep for a last chance effort for Grand Prix gold!

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• Matt Ladley

• 12. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, CO, 39.70

• Grand Prix (and last two Olympic qualifiers) in Park Cit
• Pipe finals run Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. MST and slope finals cap off the event lunchtime Sunday. A $750,000 prize purse is on the line over the course of the Tour.
• 3. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 80.00

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• Kevin Pearce. The 22 year old from Norwich, Vt., suffered a life threatening injury last Thursday while training in Park City. As of Wednesday morning, Pearce remains in critical but stable condition in a Utah hospital.
• There is no "I" in their version of friends because Pearce and his buddies Danny Davis, Kier Dillon, Mason Aguirre, Scotty Lago and brother's Luke and Jack Mitrani choose to shun individual acclaim in favor of group fun. The eclectic group of talented riders has proven time and time again that working with each other, rather than competing against each other, is highly effective.

• Steamboat’s Matt Ladley also had a strong showing by laying down one of his best runs of the season to place 10th in the highly competitive men’s field.
• Tamblyn is hoping for another big showing in today’s finals for Schaffrick and Ladley. The good news is that both riders already are qualified to ride in the final two Olympic qualifying events in Park City, Utah, this month.

• Continuing to build its development program, U.S. Snowboarding's halfpipe squad again will integrate a Rookie Team that includes major up-and-coming talent like Matt Ladley (Steamboat Springs, CO), Dylan Bidez (Minturn, CO) and Brooke Shaw (Litchfield, CT). Veterans of the Rookie Team include Louie Vito (Sandy, UT), who was runner-up to teammate Tommy Czeschin (Mammoth Mountain, CA) in the '07 Chevrolet U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix standings, and Ellery Hollingsworth (Stratton Mountain, VT), who made the jump to the Pro Team.

• In fact, Matt Ladley's diminutive stature increasingly is becoming secondary to what he can do on a snowboard.
• And put to rest the theory that Ladley's prowess is because of his size. Some believed his stature was the chief reason for his ability to effortlessly pull off those 1080s - three revolutions in midair - and that things might be different as his body begins to fill out.
• "Matt has a very unique air awareness," U.S. halfpipe coach Mike Jankowski said.
• Ladley has an outside chance to make a push for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, but more likely, if he continues to progress, he will have an opportunity to become the next Shaun White at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
• "Matt did one of the best lien airs (where the rider's front hand grabs the heel edge of the board and the body leans out over the nose) I have seen in all my years of boardin'," Dirksen wrote in a piece published on SnowboarderMag.com.
• Because of his demanding schedule, Matt Ladley doesn't attend public school in Steamboat Springs. Instead, he attends Lowell Whiteman School, a private, college-preparatory school that allows athletes more flexibility.

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• Three snowboarders from Colorado are among the qualifiers for today's Men's Halfpipe Finals at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix event at Mammoth Mountain, the second of five U.S. competitions in the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
  
  In Heat One of yesterday's qualifiers Broc Waring (Vail) and Matt Ladley (Steamboat Springs) finished behind Shaun White, Jeff Batchelor and Louie Vito, making the cut for Finals. JJ Thomas (Breckenridge) also made the cut, finishing in 5th in Heat Two, behind Greg Bretz, Danny Davis, Elijah Teter, and Justin Lamoureux.

• 17 20 9530156 R5877667 LADLEY, Matthew USA 8.5 8.0 8.4 8.2 8.5 41.60 41.60 70.00  
  Run 2 3.0 4.8 4.3 4.1 3.0 19.20 

• Matt Ladley won the best trick of the day with an absolutely lovely backside 540 mute, at 5,4 meters. His other runs consisted of a clean chuckflip melon, a chuckflip melon, a bs 7 mute and a bs 900 nosebrab which he unfortunately didn`t stomp.