Copper Mountain, CO – The superpipe is pristine and Copper Mountain is ready to reclaim hosting duties for the third year running as the 2010 Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix is set to kick off its winter competition season at the Summit County, Colo. resort this week. Spectators can expect a shakeup in the scene as the Grand Prix this year adds skiers to the halfpipe competition as well.n”We couldn’t be happier to be back here in Copper. They have put on top notch events every year and this year will be more of the same,” U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Head Coach Mike Jankowski said. “The series is mixing things up this year and the diversity will add to the excitement of the Grand Prix. We’re super excited to get the 2011 season underway. We’re excited as a team and being back at Copper is like a homecoming for us each year.”
Copper is back at it with a 22-foot-superpipe that’s going to challenge even the most seasoned riders into performing at great heights. Copper was the first resort in North America to have a superpipe open to the public for the sixth year in a row, and the pros are geared up to ride it.
The freestyle action kicks off on Friday with ski halfpipe finals in which big names like World Championship bronze medalist Jen Hudak (Park City, Utah), X Games gold medalists Tanner Hall (Kalispell, Mont.) and Simon Dumont (Bethel, Maine).
“I’m super excited to be able to finally have our sport involved in the Grand Prix,” Dumont said. “Being able to show more people what we do is always a good thing, and I know riding in that 22-footer at Copper is going to be an awesome way to do that.”
Saturday, the halfpipe will welcome back a slew of riders that range from Olympians to newcomers, and the spectators are in for some fierce riding as the competitors continue to progress in new and amazing ways.
Olympian Louie Vito, of Sandy, Utah, said he was looking forward to getting some practice time in on a pipe that he knows will help kick his season of competition off the right way.
“It’s great to be able to start the season in a halfpipe like Copper’s where you know it’s a quality pipe. It also helps that Copper has theirs done early in the season so that we can get a lot of training in on the pipe before the competition,” Vito said. “I’ve had a lot of luck there recently and hopefully it will carry over into this season.”
Then, wrapping things up for the Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix’s stop in Copper is the Paul Mitchell Progression Session, which will bring the snowboarding’s innovations in tricks and style to the public under the lights.
Competition is set to air on U.S. television on three different dates. NBC will feature same weekend coverage with both ski and snowboarding on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET followed by snowboarding halfpipe on Versus Dec. 18 at 5 p.m. ET and ski halfpipe on Versus Dec. 25 at 4 p.m. ET.
2010 Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix Schedule
Copper Mountain, CO
Wednesday, December 8
- 9:00 a.m. Ski Halfpipe Qualifiers
Thursday, December 9
- 9:00 a.m. Snowboard Halfpipe Qualifiers
Friday, December 10
- 11:00 a.m. Ski Halfpipe Finals Practice
- 12:00 p.m. Ski Halfpipe Final
Saturday, December 11
- 10:30 a.m. Snowboard Halfpipe Finals Practice
- 11:30 a.m. Snowboard Halfpipe Finals
- 7:00 p.m. Paul Mitchell Progression Session