Hight takes women’s snowboarding to next level

Elena Hight in practice. Photo courtesy of Camp Of Champions

Elena Hight became the first snowboarder (of men and women) to combine a double alley-oop backside rodeo in competition in Aspen earlier this year. The American star competed at the X Games in January against the likes of Kelly Clark, Torah Bright and Arielle Gold.

Hight missed out on gold in the SuperPipe by only 0.33 points after producing a solid run, however Clark took the title by gaining 90.66 points on her final run.

Elena Hight’s double alley-oop backside rodeo can be seen below

Teenage star, Arielle Gold also brought her name into lights after making her debut in Aspen and pulling out a bronze medal at the end. The 16 year-old, who studies online for school, managed a frontside 900, backside 540 to frontside 540 and a frontside 720 to a cab 900 and is now practicing 1080s.

The competition is now heating up for Tignes which starts on 20 March and all the women are preparing for a big win in the SuperPipe and Slopestyle events. Keep an eye out for more information.

World Snowboard Tour – the women to watch

The World Snowboard Tour season came to an end for all women’s disciplines last week in Vail, Colorado at the Burton US Open. The female competition finished on Friday March 1st, when the Overall, Halfpipe and Slopestyle champions were crowned.

The competition saw riders from all over the world battle it out, gaining those vital points in the final round. Kelly Clark managed to scoop Halfpipe Champion title, whilst Sarka Pancochova took the Overall and Slopestyle crowns.

Pancochova’s consistency through both the halfpipe and slopestyle competitions paid off. Although it is rare to see a rider in both halfpipe and freestyle, the young Czech rider pulled it out of the bag in the Burton US Open with a Switch Backside 180 Mute Grab into a Frontside 360 Indie Grab in her slopestyle run. See her full run below:

Last year’s World Snowboard Tour champion, Kelly Clark managed to pull her 3rd World Snowboard Tour win out of the bag at the final round after being the most consistent rider of the season. With a podium result at every 6Star event so far, the American boarder was nicely set up to take the title. Her winning run saw her tackle a Frontside 1080 Indie Grab, Cab 720 Mute Grab, Lien Air, and finally followed by a Backside 540 Mute Grab.  See the video below:

Before the competition dropped in Vail, predictions surrounding the women and who to watch were unveiled. See my pre-competition article on the Red Bull site. How well did I predict the winners?

Red Bull – Burton US Open: the women to watch.