Chad Shetler wins 2011 Ultimate Boarder Championship
Former pro skateboarder from California, Chad Shetler sealed his third consecutive Ultimate Boarder Championship at Seaside Reef in Cardiff, California, on Saturday, 9th April by finishing fourth in the skateboarding event.
The win earned him a cheque of $25,000 out of a $50,000 purse prize, along with the bragging rights of being the best all-around skater, surfer and snowboarder in the board-sports triathlon. Snowboarders Trevor Jacob and Shayne Pospisil finished in second
and third place respectively.
Prior to the skateboarding leg of the Ultimate Boarder Championship, Shetler had participated in the snowboarding slopestyle battle at Mammoth, and surfing battle at Seaside earlier this week. A 10th place finish in the snowboarding leg and 17th
place finish in the surfing leg had put him in eighth place in the overall Championship standings. He just had to finish in top ranks at the skateboarding contest in order to successfully defend his title for the third time in a row.
The final battle took place in the parking lot at Seaside, that featured a vert/ramp, mini-ramp and buttery end bowl combo. 50 athletes participated in the action-packed battle, putting on an exciting exhibition of remarkable manoeuvres such as impressive
technical grinds and sensational big aerial manoeuvres to the utter delight of the audience.
Willis Kimbel, an extremely talented from skateboarder from Portland, Oregon, comfortably prevailed over his competitions with spectacular grinds and big boosts on the vert ramp. Even though Shetler finished in fourth place, the result gave him sufficient
points to move ahead of Jacob and Pospisil and clinch the overall crown.
Interestingly, he had managed to get to the throne without finishing in top three in any of the three events.
“I am incredibly stoked to have come out on top, especially since this was the toughest year of competition yet in terms of the high calibre of athletes and the rough elements.” said Shetler.
Steve Caballero won the team division of the skateboarding event for his team, Team Revolt, on Saturday after beating Chad Bartie of Team Hurley and Mike Peterson of Team Lost. However, the Ultimate Boarder Championship team division title and the $6,000
cheque went to Val Surf. Team Encrypted finished in second place while Team Lost rounded out the podium after finishing in third.
This year, the Ultimate Boarder Championship had also introduced the first ever grom division in each event to involve the below-15 talented athletes and expose them to the world. The Saturday grom division was dominated by the 12-year-old from Malibu, Tom
Schaar, for Team P3. His spectacular tricks, which included back-to-back 540s with a different grab each time, remained unmatched throughout the finals. Other than Schaar, Team P3 consisted of snowboarder Broch Crouch and surfer Kadin Penesi.
The Saturday event was followed by a ceremony where the winners of the skateboarding contest as well as the overall champions were crowned.
“This was by far the best year yet,” said event founder Tim Hoover. “I have never seen so much excitement from the fans and athletes at one event. I already have people calling me from France, Australia and in Asia to compete next year.”
The board-sports triathlon had indeed delivered a heavy dose of thrilling action over the last week. With snowboarding, surfing and skateboarding progressing to a higher level every day, the next year of the Ultimate Boarder Championship promises to be even
more exciting.
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