By Lee Crane

March 1, 1999

The first stop of the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding at Breckenridge was a huge success. Despite a serious lack of snow, frigid temperatures, and gray-bird skies, it was easily the best early season opening competition in recent history.

Sunday witnessed a resurrection in the Breckenridge halfpipe. Aurelie Sayers and Todd Richards, two riders who said they were "pretty much over it" at the end of last season, came back to life to win the halfpipe event.

"It felt so good to be competing at home," Todd Richards said after the contest. "There's nothing like waking up in your own bed, eating your own food, sitting in your own Jacuzzi." Sleeping in his own bed certainly paid off. Todd threw in the Wet Cat on his first hit and then mixed in a smorgasbord of spins and airs. A new format created by the International Judges Commission had riders competing in a best-of-two final, but Todd didn't even need his second run.

Not that there weren't some close competitors. Ross Powers continues to increase his distance above the lip and ride with strength and confidence, but all he could get out of the judges was a 47.2 in his first run: good for second place, but not enough to take out Richards. Keir Dillon, who qualified for the finals in first place, used the top quarter of the pipe as a roll-in and showed the Colorado crowd who's the new boss of big-air pipe riding. Vans had placed several eight-foot-tall pylons alongside the pipe and Keir consistently cleared them. During practice he was going so high the crowd began leaning the pylon in toward the pipe so Keir could bonk it on his way by. In the finals, however, he got a surprisingly low score on his first run, and only a 45.8 in the second to finish third.

In the women's competition, Aurelie Sayers climbed back in the saddle and rode away with a 7,500-dollar check for a run that included a clean McTwist and some 720s for good measure. "I took a lot of time off the snow this summer and that helped a lot," Sayers said. Maelle Ricker grabbed second, and the ever-consistent Tricia Byrnes placed third even though she was suffering from a cold that nearly kept her from speaking. "I think I ate a horse last night and now he's speaking for me," she said in a raspy voice.

Tor Bruserud of Norway and Leslee Olson of Bend, Oregon dominated the field of 144 finalists to win the men's and women's Snowboard Cross event (both receiving hefty checks-10,000 dollars and 7,500 dollars, respectively). In the finals, Tor and Leslee both had their worst starts. "I got out of the start in fifth place and had to work my way up to the front," Bruserud said.

Leslee had similar problems. "I had great starts all day and then in the finals things didn't go as well and I ended up in third out of the gate," Leslee said. In the men's final France's Philippe Conte got the hole shot and was doing his best to stay ahead of former all-around ISF World Champion Bertrand Denervaud. It was Conte, followed by Denervaud, J.D. Platt, Seth Wescott, Scott Gaffney, and Bruserud. "When we got to the whoops, Berti crashed really hard," said Bruserud. "I guess he was trying to catch Philippe. I got around Berti and then carried more speed than Philippe and passed him on the last whoop." Platt, who had ridden well all day hooked up on Denervaud's board and crashed.

In the women's final, Olson made up some ground in the top section of the course and got into a little touch-and-go with Nillard Pilivakis. "We were bumping shoulders a little on course." Olson said. Not enough to keep her from crossing the finish line first in the end, though.

After the first run in the big-air event, Aaron Bishop had the lead with a score of 46.3 for his switch rodeo 720. He was followed by Kendall Whelpton, Kenyon Robinson, and Japan's Junji Kabayashi. Jason Brown, who'd been stomping his "Super Cabs" in practice, had trouble with his landings as did Mikey LeBlanc, J.P. Walker, and Ross Powers. In the second run, no one could edge Bishop out of the lead ... until the last three riders. When Chad Otterstrom dropped in and decided to upgrade his first-run switch rodeo with a Cab 900 (he spun seven then late grabbed for the final 3) the judges rewarded him with a 46.9 and the lead. That's when Kendall Whelpton stepped up.

"I saw Chad and knew I had to stick this one," Kendall said. No one looked as surprised at the landing as Kendall himself. He grabbed, spun, and rode away without a hand touch or even a bend in his knees. It was the most perfect landing of the contest-worth 10,000 dollars.

In the women's competition, Whistler's Krista Bradford picked up the slack left by Leslee Olson and Jessica Dalpiaz to take the win and a check for 7,500 dollars. Leslee Olson, who qualified in first place with a rodeo 5, had some trouble in the finals. Bradford threw down a backside 540 for 43 points and took the lead in her first big-air contest. From that point on no one really came close. Bradford was pleasantly surprised with her win. "Not bad for my first contest," she laughed. "I really didn't expect this at all. I just thought I'd go for it and seen what happens."

-Borrowed From www.twsnow.com

Halfpipe Results-Men

1. Todd Richards

2. Ross Powers

3. Keir Dillon

4. Rahm Klampert

5. Jeff Anderson

6. Therry Brunner

7. Adam Petraska

8. Ian Spiro

9. J.J. Thomas

10. Tommy Czeschin

Halfpipe Results-Women

1. Aurelie Sayers

2. Maelle Ricker

3. Tricia Byrnes

4. Anna Hellman

5. Sara Pherson

6. Krista Bradford

7. Jennifer Sherowski

8. Stacey Anne Burke

9. Jessica Dalpiaz

10. Catherine Nieves

Big-Air Results-Women

1. Krista Bradford

2. Jessica Dalpiaz

3. Leslee Olson

4. Elizabeth Walker

5. Molly Eide

6. Mica Fish

7. Kimberly Bohnsack

8. Jacqui Berg

9. Jamie Macleod

10. Katrina Warnick

Big-Air Results-Men

1. Kendall Whelpton

2. Chad Otterstrom

3. Aaron Bishop

4. Jason Borgstede

5. Bjorn Leines

6. Kenyon Robinson

7. Junji Kobayashi

8. Ali Goulet

9. Brian Savard

10. Chris Coulter

Snowboard Cross Results-Men

1. Tor Bruserud

2. Philippe Conte

3. Seth Wescott

4. J. D. Platt

5. Scott Gaffney

6. Bertrand Denervaud

7. Jason Troth

8. Ben Wainwright

9. Ryan Lougee

10. Christian Robertson

Snowboard Cross Results-Women

1. Leslee Olson

2. Nillard Pilavakis

3. Corrie Rudishauser

4. Julie Zell

5. Sara Osterberg

6. Maelle Ricker

7. Megan Pischke

8. Candice Drouin

9. Alison Clark

10. Sherry Newstead