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MAMMOTH TIMES • April 2-9, 2009
No chickens in sight at Roxy snowboard jam Story and photos by Tiffany Henschel Mammoth Times Staff Good energy and amazing talent encompassed last weekend’s Fifth Annual Roxy Chicken Jam, presented by Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour. It was an amazing weekend of fun for visitors and locals alike at Mammoth Mountain. “This year’s event blew last year out of the water,” said Oren Tanzer, director of Youth Action Sports for MMSA. “The talent and progression were amazing, and everyone had a ton of fun. I’m already looking forward to next year.” The halfpipe competition went off with just one hitch: Australian Torah Bright dislocated her shoulder during practice on Thursday, and was unable to participate in the competition. The rest of the girls battled it out, bringing stellar tricks and stiff competition throughout the day. Twelve girls made it to the finals, but it was American Kelly Clark who dominated the pipe at the end of the day, and brought home the gold for the second year in a row. Canadians Mercedes Nicoll, a Mammoth Team rider, and Sarah Conrad took home silver and gold, respectively. The fun didn’t end there. After the finals, the mascots took the stage for the 2nd annual Mascot Superpipe competition, which was judged by the Superpipe and Slopestyle judges. Scores were based not only on tricks but on how well one could see out of the costume. The bigger and bulkier the costume, the higher the score. Mammoth Local Luke Wynen took first place and $3,000 in his giant hot dog outfit, while Woolly took second
Sports & Outdoors and local Raccoon Patrick Reddy took third. Promptly thereafter, Quiksilver took the stage for the men’s Cluck Off, a spin-off on the girls’ halfpipe event, bringing eight local men to the pipe for a winner-take-all $1,000 prize. Greg Bretz gave his all and was declared the lucky first place winner. As if the day wasn’t fun enough, a crowd of about 5,000 gathered in the village on Saturday evening for a free concert. Two bands took the stage and filled the spring air with great vibes and even greater sounds. Santigold, an new wave/dub indie band from Brooklyn, N.Y., took the stage first, moving the crowd with their deep bass and pumping melodies. Some fans couldn’t help but crowd-surf. Cold War Kids from Fullerton, Calif., took the stage after, rocking the crowd until the end of the night. High winds delayed the slopestyle event until Monday morning at 10, and when it finally arrived, the girls brought their best game to the final TTR event of the season. In the end, it was Janna MayanWetherby who took the $15,000 first place prize, and also took the $1,500 Zumiez best trick prize with her rockto-fakie on the wallride. Directly after the awards, Kelly Clark was crowned the 2008-09 TTR champion. Although she didn’t qualify for slopestyle finals, her 21st place finish gave her enough points to bring her to the top.
The TTR champions spray bottles of champagne in celebration.
Cheryl Maas and Lisa Wiik pose for a picture at the top of the course. The comaraderie among the girls was inspiring.
Germany’s Silvia Mittermueller pulls off an amazing grab trick for the crowd below.
The Mascot contest brought a plethora of food and animal groups to the pipe, but it was the mighty Hot Dog who took first place. Woolly donated his $2,000 prize to charity.
The women’s only competition brought the best in the world to Mammoth Mountain.
Santigold and Cold War Kids rocked the village Saturday night.
Sponsor tents were outside on Saturday, offering prizes and giving out free samples.
On her first run, #1 Czech rider Sarka Pancochova landed a perfect backside rodeo before catching an edge on her last jump, causing a hard fall and a broken collarbone, taking her out of the competition.