Clark medals, Aguirre fourth in SuperPipe
A field of more than 250 athletes from around the globe, including a number of Mammoth athletes, competed in the sports of skiing, snowboard and snowmobile at the Winter X Games 12, in Aspen, Colo., Jan. 24-27.
Thursday, Jan. 24, was the Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe Eliminations. Kelly Clark, a Mammoth Mountain sponsored snowboarder who won gold in the 2002 Winter Olympics, as well as the 2002 and 2006 X Games, took third, while two other locals, Mercedes Nicoll took 10th and Molly Aguirre 13th. Clark moved on to the finals.
Friday, Jan. 25 saw Clark attempt to land an unprecedented-in-competition 1080. She narrowly missed it, but did win the bronze medal with her first run in the Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe. “This was by far the most progressive women’s final I’ve ever seen,” Clark said. “I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Gretchen Bleiler, a two-time ESPN Winter X Games gold medal winner in the Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe, made it three golds that same night with a monster run that fended off a late-game challenge by Aussie shredder Torah Bright, who has Mammoth connections, having lived and trained in Mammoth as a junior competitor.
Friday also saw locals Stephanie Sirianni and Kristi Leskinen take part in the Women’s Ski SuperPipe Finals. Sirianni finished eighth, while Leskinen was 12th. In the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Eliminations, locals Tara Dakides was 13th and Kimmy Fasani 14th. On the men’s side, several noted local’s competed in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Elininations. Mason Aguirre finished in third to move onto the Finals, while Lonnie Kauk Scotty Lago, and Danny Kass ended up 14th, 15th and 20th, respectively, in an event that only saw the top 10 advance to the Finals.
Saturday, Mason Aguirre, who placed third in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Eliminations was only able to take eighth place in the Finals; however, the day wasn’t over for Aguirre, as he still had the Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe Qualifier. In addition to Kass, a well known local snowboarder still recognized as a Mammoth rider even though he now lives in Portland, Ore., the evening’s roster was filled with more local names, in including Jack Mitrani, Tommy Czeschin and Lago. In an event that only allows the top ten to move on to the finals, Aguirre was third and Kass seventh. Mitrani, Czeschin and Lago were 11th, 14th and 20th respectively.
Sunday, the final day of competition, was packed with events with one of the first events being the Men’s Ski Slopeside Qualifier. Sean Decker, currently featured on the Mammoth Mountain Web site, took 11th, and just barely missed moving on to the finals.
In the Men’s Skier X, 34-year-old Daron Rahlves (Truckee, Calif.), arguably the most accomplished speed skier in American history, marked his second ESPN Winter X Games appearance by taking the gold. Rahlves surged to the lead early in the final heat and never looked back. “I just wanted it,” Rahlves said afterwards, “wanted it really bad.” Rahvles, silver medalist Stanley Hayer, and Aspen local bronze medalist Casey Puckett all finished within a second of each other. Errol Kerr (Truckee, Calif.), the rookie everyone was talking about, had the fastest time in his qualifying run, but ultimately ended up in fifth place.
Olympic gold medalist Shaun White (Carlsbad, Calif.) wrapped up the Winter X Games 12 in a way that no other rider could, winning gold in the Men's SuperPipe, while becoming the first male athlete to win three SuperPipe gold medals. "It feels medieval, I'm so happy. My legs weren't working and everyone's screaming, but I just backed it up and went for it," White said. "I had been practicing it [1260] a little bit last year and I knew I could do it, it just got so slow, but then I made it around." Local competitor Mason Aguirre barely missed the podium, coming in 4th. -www.espneventmedia.com and MT
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