The ladies in snowboarding have been on a tear this year. Most recently, Elena Hight maintained that trend by becoming the first woman to land a double backside rodeo in the halfpipe on Sunday at Mammoth Mountain. Hight has had one hell of a contest season already, ending Kelly Clark's 12-win streak at the 2012 Burton US Open and nabbing a silver medal in pipe at the Winter X Games. With the double back rodeo added to her repertoire, she's got an even stronger chance of one-upping Clark's pipe run.



Elena spoke with ESPN about making history, commenting, "I just finished off the season on a really good note. We had such a great season as far as weather for contests. It was a bad snow year, but for contests it helped out a lot. It really added to people's ability to progress. With the Olympics coming up, I've been trying to set goals for the next couple of years, trying to set timelines. This has been a good year for me to learn new tricks." Little bit of an understatement, wouldn't you say? Congrats to Elena, and keep ripping.

After an unprecedented 16 consecutive halfpipe victories, Kelly Clark's win-streak was derailed Saturday at the Burton US Open in Stratton, VT.

The Vermont-native and crowd favorite boosted a run filled with lofty, technical tricks, but this time her efforts were just not enough.

Elena Hight, who has only placed in the top three on two occasions throughout this season, boosted a run that included a huge, tweaked backside air, back to back 900's and a massive ally-oop backside rodeo. The judges awarded her a 86.50 which was only 3/10th of a point higher than Clark's.

Hight was overwhelmed with her win and said "I'm really happy with the whole weekend - the pipe and weather were amazing. I haven't been at the Open for a couple of years, and it's great to come back and embrace the 30th anniversary of the event."

Following the dramatic women's event, sixteen of the world's best male riders battled it out under blue skies and springlike temps. The warm weather created variable conditions in the pipe. The right wall was sun-baked and slushy, but the shadowed left-side was icy and firm, making it difficult for the riders to cleanly stomp all three of their runs.

After taking a three year hiatus from competing at the US Open, Shaun White made a triumphant return to the pipe. He was the first rider to drop and laid down a run that included a method, frontside double cork 1080 stalefish, Cab double cork 1080 melon, frontside inverted 540 stalefish, backside double McTwist 1260 and an alley oop backside rodeo. While this wasn't the best run we've ever seen out of White, his efforts were awarded a 90.1-- the highest score of the day.

White was pleased with the win, but knew he didn't ride his best. He commented "I hoped to set it up in runs two and three, but I had trouble with the double back rodeo on that final hit."

After falling on runs one and two, Louie Vito stomped four double corks in his third attempt. This was enough to secure second place. Vermont-native Benji Farrow rounded out the top three and was thrilled with his first major podium of the season.

The Burton US Open was the last major halfpipe contest in the United States. Many of the riders will now travel to Tignes, France for the European X Games to cap off the 2011-2012 season.

Capping off night two of Winter X Games 16 was the women's snowboard superpipe finals. Seven of the world's best lady pipe riders duked it out under crystal clear, chilly skies in Aspen's pristine 22' U-tube. Each lady had three runs to stomp their best tricks on snowboarding's biggest stage.

The field was stacked with three former Olympic gold medalists and up-and-comers who were all vying for this year's X Games Gold. Reigning champ, Kelly Clark, was looking solid throughout practice, even stomping her famed 1080 prior to the contest.

Gretchen Bleiler has also been practicing all season for this event, and has been focusing on perfecting her inverted tricks. After taking a two year hiatus from the contest scene, Torah Bright also made a return to the superpipe and noted that she was riding for her dear friend, Sarah Burke. Unfortunately Bright was unsuccessful in stomping any of her runs and winded up in seven place.

The first runs for all the ladies were a bit shaky, as the contest jitters were visibly affecting everyone. By the second and third runs, the ladies had settled down and began to break out the big guns.

In Elena Hight's second run, she spun a backside 9 into an alleyoop 5 that oozed style and was easily one of the best combos of the night. This run earned her a solid 83.66 which put her in first, until Kelly Clark dropped in for her second run.

Clark stomped a huge, smooth frontside 1080 that was easily the biggest trick of the night. She wooed the judges and the crowd with this massive spin and earned a 90.0, which propelled her into the coveted first place spot.

As the ladies dropped in for their third runs, each was trying to unseat the unbeatable Kelly Clark. The last to drop was Bleiler who rode her heart out, but was only able to post up a score of a 65.0 which was good enough for fourth place.

In the end, birthday girl, Hannah Teter took third, Elena Hight took second, and Kelly Clark nabbed her 13th win in a row with a score of 93.66

Following the contest Kelly said "I just take it one contest at a time, and the X Games is one contest that is always at the top of my list to win, and I'm just so grateful."

This year's women's snowboard pipe finals were easily the most progressive to date, as all of the riders were laying it on the line.

Nike gathered their team of girl riders last season and carted them up to Revelstoke resort for a week of soft, fluffy, perfect pow.

Legendary ripper Barrett Christy led the charge of ladies with Ellery Hollingsworth, Elena Hight, Spencer O'Brien, and Bryn Valaika in tow. The weather was prime for giant powder slashes, pillow lines, and all-around amazing freeriding. On top of that, this crew was cruising around on a snowcat and getting heli-rides to the best locations.

The looks on the girls faces basically speak for themselves. Anyone who got to drop into this terrain would feel like a chubby kid inside of a candy store. Wide open powder fields, fun cliff crops, and poppy backcountry jumps were theirs for the taking.

SNOWBOARDER Magazine was also along for the ride on this trip and put out an entire feature in the latest SNOWBOARDER Girl, so get your hands on that. Video recap of this heavenly trip below:

Forty-two of the world's best halfpipe riders awoke this morning to sunny, cloudless skies in Breckenridge, Colorado. They suited up in their best gear and set out with their freshly waxed boards to compete in the superpipe prelims at the first stop of the Winter Dew Tour. When they reached the mountain they were welcomed by the sight of the immaculate 22' pipe located in the middle of Peak 8.

The pipe was the place for all the action and within it's walls held the fate of the anxious riders. Nerves may have been an issue for some, but others were uneaffected by these feelings and destroyed the pipe landing some of the most progressive runs of the season. Out of the forty-two competitors, only five women and ten men were chosen to advance to Saturday's final event.

The women kicked things off promptly at 10 am under bright blue skies. Seventeen ladies took to the pipe and laid it all on the line in their two qualifying runs. Kelly Clark was the lady of the day scoring a 94.5 on her first run. This score was only to be outdone by her second score of 97. Clark's amplitude was unmatched by any of the other riders and her technical back nines helped her score a whopping ten points higher than any of the other ladies.

This large gap in points was due to the fact that many of the top riders were having an off-day and simply could not land their runs. Olympic gold medalist Hannah Teter bobbled in her first run and had a pretty scary fall in her second, eliminating her chances of advancing. Burton rider, Ellery Hollingsworth was also slated to do well, but was unfortunately unable to land her tricks solidly.

Elena Hight also fell in her first run, but held it together for her second and scored an 87, landing her in second place. Spanish rider, Queralt Castellet, was riding strong all day and qualified in 3rd place. Rounding out the top three was Japan's Soko Yamaoka, and Sophie Rodriguez. Joining these five ladies for the finals is Kaitlyn Farrington who is last year's reigning Dew Tour champ.

Immediately following the ladies contest, spectators turned their attention to the twenty-five men who were more than ready to ride. The international field was slacked with Olympians, X Games medalists, and prior Dew Tour champs.

Greg Bretz out of Mammoth Lakes, CA destroyed the pipe and was dropping hammers all the way through. His double-cork 1080s looked effortless and he stomped them cleanly in both runs. His first run earned him a solid 92, which was only outdone by his second score of 94.5. It was clear that Bretz was fired up from his unimpressive showing at last week's Grand Prix and he was determined to do well at Dew. Hopefully he can keep this momentum going into Saturday's finals.

Following Bretz was fellow Olympian Scotty Lago who scored an 85.5 in his first run. Lago chose not to take his second run in order to save energy for slopestyle preliminaries which are taking place later today.

Some of the men experienced similar fate as the women and were unable to execute their desired runs. Louie Vito fell in his first run and experienced what he called, "the sketchiest run of the season" in his second. The run may have been a bit sketch, but it earned him a 53.25 which put him in the 10th place 'bubble spot'.

Vito waited with baited breath as five guys dropped after him each trying to score higher than the 'Tiny Dancer'. Four out of those five guys fell, but not the fifth and last to drop. Jack Mitrani laid down an absolutely stellar run that was smooth and filled with amplitude, style, and the largest straight air of the day. Apparently the judges were watching a different contest because they scored Jack super low and only gave him 48.25 for his efforts. In essence, Jack got jacked by the judges, which allowed Vito to eek his way through to the finals.

The men's preliminary round was action packed and produced the top ten riders who will advance to Saturday's finals. On saturday the men will meet with JJ Thomas and Steven Fisher for the ultimate superpipe showdown.

Today's prelims were only a taste of intensity that is sure is to go down on Saturday, so check back for more updates from the Dew Tour coming soon!

Women's Results: Top five advance to finals


Men's Results: Top ten advance to finals