MS. SUPERPARK

Fourteen-year-old Elena Hight is ready to drop into the pipe. While she is focused and watching the other girls, she isn’t biting her nails, doubting her own abilities or secretly hoping that everyone else in the lineup falls. Molly Aguirre lipslides a four-foot-high fun box setup on the deck of the pipe, and though not very ladylike, everyone who is present erupts in unison with a barrage of “f--k yeahs!” Farther up the hill, Leanne Pelosi and Alexis Waite are scoping out the quarterpipe’s potential for a doubles hand plant. Beside them, Spencer O’Brien, Jacqui Berg and Mary Sallah try to determine the speed needed for a gap to down rail. Meanwhile, Marie-France Roy charges the corrugated plastic barrel, which Jessica Dalpiaz jokingly described as being “ribbed for her pleasure!” Marie ollies five feet above the takeoff to a tail stall on top, as a flashbulb pops. Seconds later, another chorus of cheers emanate from the halfpipe—Elena has just stuck another frontside 900.

Everywhere you turn on this late spring day at Copper Mountain, Colorado, another star of women’s pro snowboarding emerges. And while one can see Silvia Mittermüller, Gretchen Bleiler, Hannah Teter, Erin Comstock and Hana Beaman, one can’t see any bibs. Welcome to Ms. Superpark. As the original Superpark, held one week earlier in Alberta, Canada, continues to redefine the limits of inbounds freestyle riding, the one-upmanship that it has also become known for isn’t appealing to all riders. “Some guys thrive off that but I can guarantee that most girls don’t,” Alexis Waite explains. “I like to get excited and have my mind spinning with a plethora of tricks and options instead of ‘Am I going to survive or die attempting this?’”

Through this gathering, SNOWBOARDER is trying to expand the progression of women’s snowboarding beyond the competition arena. With the same rider-friendly format as the men’s event and terrain tailored to the fairer sex, Ms. Superpark is a session many felt was long overdue. Proof positive of this is the fact that over 40 riders were lined up on the deck of Copper’s freshly cut pipe at 9 a.m. sharp the first day.

While Doug Hagen and the rest of the Copper Mountain crew were still putting the finishing touches on the mainstay of the park, the halfpipe went off. Without the underlying pressures to stomp a “stock” run, which so often sterilizes contest sessions, the assembled riders uncorked trick after trick for the filmers, photographers and, most importantly, themselves.

Though she has refocused her efforts away from pipe, former US Open champion Natasza Zurek still has a keen eye for u-tube talent. This is why she chose Elena Hight as her pick for Ms. Superpark standout. “I was impressed to watch Elena do backside 900s,” Natasza remarked.

Molly Aguirre also garnered praise from her peers. Kimmy Fasani explains, “She didn’t give up ‘til she got the tricks she wanted and the shots.”

Although the weather was unpredictable, Copper’s veteran park crew still made sure that a formidable array of features was created. But with speed issues being a concern due to the variable conditions, the top portion of the park, which was home to a triple jump line and double-sided hip, saw very little action.

Despite the lack of play on the kickers, a handful of straight rails, a banked box platform and a wall ride adjacent to the quarterpipe were constantly being sessioned. With legitimate flat ollie takeoffs and no metal more than four inches wide, any girl who expected to coast through the three days pulling linoleum twirls across ride-on boxes was in for a rude awakening. While not as intimidating as other more massive vertical creations, the 16-foot-high quarterpipe gave the uninitiated a chance to learn how to ride a straight transition, while the more experienced could brush up on basic spin and straight air variations.

Hannah Teter, Rachel Nelson and Molly Aguirre were three of the riders to watch on the quarterpipe, each busting air after air with escalating height and style. Unfortunately, Teter also busted her shoulder when she got pitched sideways on one of her largest airs causing a full-body impact with the shallow part of the transition. Yet this injury didn’t soil Hannah’s outlook on her time at Copper: “I just got to meet up with a whole bunch of chicks who I hadn’t seen in a while and they were all rippin’ the slopes up to the max.”

Elena Hight, with her styled-out tail grab to fakies was definitely one of those “chicks,” as were Annie Boulanger and Gretchen Bleiler who pulled backside 360s and 540s respectively. Then there was Alexis Waite who, along with Leanne Pelosi, settled some solid plants. When asked what tricks she felt stood out at the event, Leanne was shameless: “Me and Lexi’s double hand plant. That was sick to see because that trick isn’t really standard, but they are frickin’ awesome!”

Ironically, while Ms. Superpark itself wasn’t a contest, it was being judged. Many people in our sport, including all of the girls in attendance and many who should have been, as well as industry and media luminaries, were looking at these three days in Copper with much scrutiny. Was it going to be dangerous, creative, progressive, productive or just one big catfight?

Ms. Superpark may not have been one of those banger events that people will be nostalgic about for years to come, but it wasn’t one scathed in notoriety either. Many girls rode well, some even great, and people shot a lot of damn good photos. But the most important thing that came out of Ms. Superpark wasn’t something as tangible as a printed image or epic moment—it was a movement. A movement that proves professional women snowboarders no longer need to root themselves in contests, unless of course these contests are Pillsbury bake-offs! Seriously.