VANS CUP 2006

Vans Cup is Back! For the second year in a row, the Vans Cup at Northstar is bringing together some of the biggest names in professional snowboarding to go after the $200,000 prize purse that is up for grabs. There is no doubt that after all of the Olympic pressure the riders at the Vans Cup will be at the top of their game and the riding will be phenomenal. The weekend is setup to be a spectacular one for riding as things get kicked off on Friday night with the Rail Jam. Then on Saturday, March 4, Slopestyle gets underway and we wrap the weekend up with one of the biggest Superpipe contests in the world! There is money to be won, respect to be granted and limits to be pushed. Here is a breakdown of what to expect from the weekend’s events

Rails
Last year’s Vans Cup was dominated by Wyatt Caldwell who started off his $40,000 winning weekend with a win at the Rail contest. And for 2006 Wyatt is back and ready to defend his title at the reigning rail champion. But he will have to fight hard to keep his crown, as there are tons of serious riders looking to dethrone King Caldwell. On the Hot List this year are riders like Keegan Valaika, Scotty Arnold, Yale Cusino, and the style-master Marc Frank Montoya. Some riders like Mike Casanova have made a name for themselves with their rail prowess and are looking to showcase their skills on Friday. Watch for the ladies to step up to the session and be sure to watch for last year’s champion Leanne Pelosi as she tries to make it two in a row. But she will have to beat out the likes of Priscilla Levac, Erin Comstock, Anne Flore Marxer and others.

Slopestyle
To ride Slopestyle, you have to know a few things. In fact you have to know a lot of things, you need to be able to pick your line, stay creative, throw down off the jumps and get technical on the rails-oh yeah and don’t forget, you can’t fall! Last year Wyatt Caldwell reigned supreme but for 2006, there's a whole slew of riders that are getting ready to try and take him out. Andreas Wiig has been killing it all season and could be the top contender to take Caldwell out. Also, coming straight out of Torino is Danny Kass, who is a slopestyle slayer. Don’t forget Pat Moore, who just threw down the largest air in China EVER! Add those riders to young gun, Tyler Flanagan and many other and you have yourself a serious contest. On the women’s side of things, watch for Winter X Games silver medalist Hana Beaman to be killing it on course with her huge 540s and super smooth style. Also keep your eyes peeled for the Olympians: Hannah Teter, Gretchen Bleiler and Kelly Clark will all be throwing down for the cause. And who could forget returning champion from the ’05 Vans Cup, Natasza Zurek. This girl can hold her own with the best and she keeps progressing all season long. No doubt she will be riding at her peak this time of the season.

Superpipe

Now this is the big one. Danny Kass took the title in 2005, and he has been riding super solid in 2006, recently winning the silver medal at the Torino Olympics. Watch for Danny Kass to be killing it in the pipe, as that now the pressure is off, Danny can relax and get comfortable. Also, young gun and halfpipe style-kid, Mason Aguirre, is also back from Torino and looking to dominate in the pipe. He finished 4th at the Olympics and if he rides as well as he can, Mason could top the podium. Oh but, don’t forget Danny Davis, straight off of his win at the Nippon Open, Danny is a spinning machine and he has frontside 1080 tailgrabs that most snowboarders can only dream about. On the women’s side of things, the entire US Women’s Halfpipe team will be ready to walk the line and up the ante in the process. Hannah Teter (she won the ’05 Vans Cup), Gretchen Bleiler, Elena Hight and Kelly Clark will be the ones to watch as they vie for the top spot on the podium. But don’t forget about Aussie sensation Torah Bright who has one of the most technical pipe runs in women’s snowboarding and has been progressing all year. She could very well take the win if she stomps her pipe runs.

Recap
All in all the riding for the ’06 Vans Cup is going to be INSANE! With this much talent, this much money up for grabs and Olympics behind us, these riders won’t hold back for anything. It is going to be an all out weekend of snowboarding action so don’t miss out and keep updated on all the action with up-to-the-minute stories only on SNOWBOARDER MAG.COM!

SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, MARCH 3
RAIL JAM
3:30 PM • Rail Jam

SATURDAY, MARCH 4
SLOPESTYLE
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM • Women's Slope Finals
1:30 PM - 3:15 PM • Men's Finals
3:30 PM • Vans Final Awards

SUNDAY, MARCH 5
SUPERPIPE
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM • Women's Final
1:50 PM - 3:25 • Men Finals
3:45 PM • Awards
SUBJECT TO CHANGE