Kelly Clark and Matt Ladley conquer the 5Star Sprint US Snowboarding Grand Prix
The 5Star Sprint US Snowboarding Grand Prix wrapped up on 5th March at Mammoth Lakes, California. With some of the best riders participating in the competition, a thrilling half-pipe contest was expected. In the end it was the two Americans, Kelly Clark
and Matt Ladley who were standing the highest on the podium.
In the women’s field, Clark secured her fifth-straight victory in a major Swatch Ticket to Ride Tour half-pipe event. The victory was very important for her, as it will now allow her to pose as a serious threat to the current Swatch TTR Tour’s top female
rider, Jamie Anderson and have a shot at the Championship title in the final event of the season, the Burton US Open. In the men’s field of the Grand Prix, Ladley managed to outshine the other riders and walked away with the win. The winners of the 5Star event
earned a big slice of the $90,000 prize purse as well as 850 swatch TTR World Ranking points.
Clark is known as the queen of the half-pipe and rightly so, as she has managed to dominate the previous four events that she has participated in this season, which include the Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships, O’Neill Evolution, Burton
European Open 2011, and Burton Canadian Open Snowboarding Championships.
The 27-year-old Clark had entered the Grand Prix as favourite, and she lived up to the expectations, as she did not take too long to crush her rival’s hopes of victory. In her very first run of the finals, she pulled off a frontside 900, backside 540, frontside
720, Cab 720 and a stalefish at the climax. The superb run remained unbeatable till the end, and allowed her to conquer yet another half-pipe contest. The win lifted Clark from her 11th place in the Swatch TTR World Ranking to 4th place.
Her compatriot, Gretchen Bleiler, came in second, whereas Canada’s Sarah Conrad came third.
Talking about her win, Clark said, “This was a really big win for me. I needed it to round out my six finishes for the TTR and I couldn't be in a better place heading into the US Open.”
The season has been going great for her so far, as she is the only rider left who can make Anderson sweat in the finals this season and pose a threat to her Championship title. It has all come down to the slope-style and half-pipe battle at Burton US Open.
The 18-year-old Ladley could not have hoped for a better result at the Grand Prix, as he was going against the likes of Louie Vito and Benji Farrows as well as some other heavy weights, all of whom looked ferocious and intent on walking out of the contest
a winner. Defying all odds and refusing to get intimidated by such a star line-up, Ladley kept his nerves and landed a spectacular run, which comprised of a backside 540, frontside 900, backside 900, fronst 1080 and Cab 1080. The run saw him off to his first
ever major TTR title.
Greg Bretz, the Mammoth local, landed himself the second place in the competition, with Vito rounding out the podium.
With the Sprint US Snowboarding Grand Prix out of the way, all eyes turn to Stratton, Vermont, where the final event of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour 2010-11 will take place. The riders will be looking to secure a successful finish at the 6Star slope-style
and half-pipe showdown in order to make their way to the TTR Top 10. However, as the current year’s men Champion has already been confirmed, Finland’s Peetu Piiroinen, the most anticipated battle at the last stage of the 2010-11 tour is the one between Anderson
and Clark. The Burton US Open is going to be held from 7-13 of March. The Swatch TTR Tour World men and women Champion will be crowned on the 13th.
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