Stay Aspen Snowmass Media Center
In its third year at Snowmass, the U.S. Open Mountainboarding Championships, the largest mountainboarding competition in the U.S., features pro and amateur athletes of all ages competing for US Open Champion titles and the Eric Smith Cup.
"Snowmass is the leader in mountainboarding with this championship and the camp," says event director Mitch Stegall. "It's the leading resort in developing mountainboarding parks, rentals, and lifts for mountainboarders and this is by far the nation's largest mountainboarding event with the world's best riders competing head-to-head."
The adrenaline pumping competitions of Dirt Boardercross and Big Air/Slopestyle are thoroughly spectator-friendly and visitors are encouraged to check out these gravity-testing, speed-demon, and absolutely free events. Dirt Boardercross consists of heats of four riders charging head to head down the mountain on wheeled snowboard-like equipment outfitted with breaks. The course is similar to the Boardercross track used in snowboard races...only it's dirt instead of snow. The riders fly down the mountainside over rollers, through bermed turns and blast over jumps to the finish line. In Big Air/Slopestyle, the riders launch off of multiple dirt jumps and bust huge aerial maneuvers. Slopestyle adds the challenge of railslides and a quarter-pipe to the Big Air event.
Highlights to look for this year include seven-time Boardercross champion Jason Lee attempting to snag his eighth consecutive title, two-time champion Jereme Leaf looking to defend his Freestyle title with eye-popping aerial stunts, and enormously popular dirt rider and champion mountainboarder Akoni Kama taking on any and all in his way.
The action starts Thursday, August 10, with timed trials and a free evening concert and pro big air demonstration. Highly acclaimed New Orleans group The Subdudes takes to the stage on Fanny Hill at 6 pm for a free concert melding blues, folk, R&B, country, cajun, funk, gospel, and rock & roll. The Big Air Expression Session at 7 p.m. features the pros going head to head in a huge jam session featuring such moves as back flips and front 720 spins. Friday and Saturday the competitions play out starting at 10 a.m. daily on the easily accessible Lower Velvet Falls and Fanny Hill.
This year Snowmass adds a rad new element to the weekend with the Snowmass SkateJam, which will be located at the end of the Snowmass Village Mall. The SkateJam features pros and amateurs launching demonstrations off a 5-feet-high by 16-foot-wide ramp on Saturday and a public skate competition on Sunday that's open to all levels and ages. Top professional athlete Pat Channita is flying in from Hawaii to headline the pro skate demonstrations along with shop team Emage from Denver and favorite local skateboarder Othello and his team. The demonstrations are at 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm on Saturday, while on Sunday all levels of competitors can max out their skating moxie from 12-4pm. Spectators can expect to see Crooked Grinds, Madonnas, Kick Flips, Salad Grinds, and other smooth moves to the phat jam tunes of DJ Naka G. both days. Competition registration takes place from 9:30-11am at the Snowmass Ticket Pavilion on Sunday morning.
Prefacing both events for the second year in a row is the revolutionary U.S. Open Mountainboard Camp August 8-10. The clinics are run in conjunction with Camp Snowmass and feature coaching from the world's top pros.
"While the racing side of mountainboarding is intense and extreme, it's actually an easy sport to learn and the camp and the Mountainboarding championships is a great time for all ages and abilities," says pro competitor Jason Lee.
For more information on MountainboardingFor media information on either mountainboarding or the Snowmass SkateJam, please call Allison Johnson at (970) 704-9988 or email aj@snowmasspress.com.
