Professional kayaker Steve Fisher has been busy challenging the swollen rivers of Northern Minnesota during this year of record runoff. But Fisher and his kayaking friends Andy McMurray and John McConville are determined to record their adventures this year in stunning detail.

Fisher and crew accepted the challenge of creating the first-ever high-def 3D kayaking film. In the process he's been working alongside some of the best 3D filmers in the world.

The ambitious project comes with some added risks. At one stage, Fisher had his mind more on the shot than his run, and quickly got himself into trouble when he became pinned against a tree.

Fisher is relatively new to the filmmaking business, but he's already gained a following. Last year he released his first film, "Halo Effect", which won the award for Best Adventure Film at X Dance.

Be on the look out for the August edition of Canoe & Kayak Magazine. The issue features an exclusive behind-the-scenes feature on Fisher and the Fish Munga crew's mission. The 10-page feature story contains some of the most dynamic 3D photography ever shot on a river--the result of Steve and photographer Greg Von Doersten rappelling into remote gorges with more than 100 pounds of specialized camera gear. Plus, every copy comes with a pair of 3D glasses to watch the movie online.

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN, Calif. - Competitors who win two of the five U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Olympic Qualifiers receive an automatic "in" to next month's Vancouver Olympics.

Kelly Clark was the first to achieve that honor by winning the first two events, and Saturday that honor went to Shaun White, who took the first event at Copper and later in the day captured the third overall event.

If anyone was making bets on Shaun's performance before the Olympic Qualifiers they would have been disappointed last Wednesday. Most observers thought White was the overwhelming favorite to win every Grand Prix race. But in Wednesday's race White finished second behind Danny Davis, who was riding in tribute to his best friend Kevin Pearce, who is currently critically injured.

Apparently White's second-place finish fueled the fire for his performance Saturday.

White came out firing, posting a score of 47.00 on his first run. White's strong opening run allowed him to sit back and watch the rest of the competition as they tried to best his solid score. When no one overtook White he was able to take it easy on his next attempt and impress his fans with a victory run.

And impress he did. During his victory run White wowed the crowd with a trick most riders would consider unthinkable, a double McTwist 1260, and he nearly stuck it.

"It's a trick that's been messing with me for a while, but I'm excited to try and put it down in Park City and hopefully at the Games," White said.

Meanwhile, hearts were torn at the bottom of the pipe. White has always been a fan favorite, but Davis' victory in the last Qualifier had many hoping to see him return to the podium, proving to any doubters that Wednesday's win was no fluke.

Experts agree that Davis has what it takes to repeat his perfect, victorious run. But Saturday wasn't that day. He fell in both of his runs, leaving the doors open for White to claim his second Grand Prix victory and an automatic spot on the Olympic team.

Louie Vito, the crowd favorite dancing snowboarder, came in second with a highly technical and complex run, including a double cork and a cab double cork. His score of 45.60 edged out former Olympic bronze medalist J.J. Thomas, who laid down one of the more flawless runs of the day, keeping his amplitude consistently huge and linking his tricks with carefully practiced ease.

Vito, Davis and Thomas sit high on the list for making the U.S. Halfpipe Olympic Team, which will consist of four members. With two more Qualifiers later this month in Park City, Utah, each of them will be vying for one of the elusive spots on the team.

"I landed, I got a top three," said Vito. "That's all I really wanted and all I could hope for. Everyone's riding well and I have to keep stepping it up and I'm hoping for the best and what gets me to Vancouver."

Gretchen "GB" Bleiler won her first Grand Prix of the season in the ladies pipe final with a score of 44.10. Elena Hight finished second, at 43.30, by linking back-to-back 9's, a trick not many ladies can accomplish. Hannah Teter finished third with a score of 42.80.

OFFICIAL RESULTS 2010
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix
Mammoth Mountain, CA - Jan. 9, 2010 Halfpipe

Men

1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, Calif., 47.00
2. Louie Vito, Sandy, Utah, 45.60
3. JJ Thomas, Golden, Colo., 45.00
4. Luke Mitrani, Mammoth Mountain, Calif., 44.20
5. Zack Black, Breckenridge, Colo., 43.30
6. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, Colo., 41.90
7. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, N.H., 39.40
8. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 39.30
9. Elijah Teter, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 37.90
10. Dylan Bidez, Minturn, Colol., 30.40

Women

1. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, Colo., 44.10
2. Elena Hight, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 43.30
3. Hannah Teter, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 42.80
4. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, Vt., 41.80
5. Ellery Hollingsworth, Stratton, Vt., 41.60
6. Holly Crawford, Australia, 33.30
7. Clair Bidez, Minturn, Colo., 26.50

Do I really even need to tell you who won today? Didn't most of us hedge our bets before this season even started? Yes, Shaun won, but more on that in a minute.


If they make a wax figure out of Shaun White they should probably make it in this pose, he gets to claim a lot of wins. Red Bull can and all. (P) Nate Abbot

Greybird skies, bitter cold temps and light flurries crept back into Copper for Saturday's finals, which contributed to many riders not being able to land their runs today.

Once in a while this kind of thing happens. A qualification day like Friday's Grand Prix's qualifications will have a higher level of riding then the day of finals. You almost have to feel sorry for the 1,000 or so spectators that braved Colorado's Interstate 70 to come watch the best riders in the world. If only they knew what they missed the day before. The field of riders yesterday just trying to make it into finals was so stacked that everyone had to give it their all. Just making it to today's finals was a victory- some of the favored to podium today's event didn't even make it in, including Kevin Pearce, Luke Mitrani, Torah Bright and Mason Aguirre.

When the pressure of the importance of these finals (due to them being an Olympic Qualifier and all) and the less than ideal weather sunk in first thing this morning, those thousand or so live spectators were treated to some pretty early-on carnage. Hit after hit, run after run, riders were bailing on their landings. It took standing up an entire run, consistency, and perseverance to make it to the top today. Luckily there weren't too many major injuries.

Let's get back to who won and why. On the men's side of things all eyes were on Shaun, as they almost always are, to take the win. Each rider had two chances to impress the judges. Most riders play it safe on their first run to get a solid score, and then go all out on their second run, but not Shaun. By the time Shaun finished his first run (with his infamous back-to-back double cork 1080's) he had won the entire event with a score of 47.00.


Men's Podium: Zach Black 3rd, Shaun White 1st, and Louie Vito 2nd

That didn't stop anyone from trying to beat him though. It only got more exciting during second run as every rider threw out their best to beat unstoppable White. Louie Vito, who was nipping at White's heels during qualifications yesterday, stood almost 5 points behind White after first run. Vito was the last rider before White to drop, and with no one else coming close to White's first run score, Vito knew he needed something cleaner and bigger for his second run.


Pretty impressive for a dancing hobbit. Rider: Louie Vito (P) Nate Abbot


And that is exactly what he did. Vito's second run was close to flawless, highly technical, and consistently huge.

You could have heard a pin drop as the judges tallied Vito's second run score. Vito and Shaun (and quite possibly everyone in the crowd) held their breath. Shaun stood strapped into his board at the top of the pipe to drop in for his second and final run, waiting to find out if his first run score was enough to take the win.

Vito's second run score was announced as a 45.60, confirming that White had clinched it by a mere 1.40 points. It was one of those "crowd went wild" moments, although it was hard to tell if the crowd was going wild for White winning, or for Vito barely losing to the red-headed wonder.

And with that, White dropped in for a victory run, and he went absolutely huge.


Louie "Twinkle Toes" Vito- Barely missing the win but happy with the results of today's finals. (P) Nate Abbot

It's hard to get noticed with names like Shaun White and Louie Vito taking center stage, but the underdog story of the day goes to third place finisher and local boy Zach Black. With top riders like White, Vito, Scotty Lago, Jack Mitrani and Danny Davis all in the finals and scrambling to get in the 2010 Winter Olympics, being an underdog and finishing third is quite possibly the biggest feat of the day- maybe even more so than back-to-back doubles. The 19 year old Black earned some street cred today by doing two things the judges love to see, keeping it consistent and maximizing altitude, and that earned him a score of 44.10. (He also did a flawless Switch BS 1080, which definitely helped his score.)

With a showing out of Black like today, it's safe to say yet another name has been added to the mix of Olympic Hopefuls for Vancouver.

On the girls side of things it wasn't so clear cut going into the day who was the favored to win. As always though, the major battle was between American's Gretchen Bleiler and Kelly Clark. Bleiler won thursday's finals but it was Clark who stepped it up for the big win today, narrowly knocking Bleiler into second place with a two point lead. For the third place finish it was Japan's Soko Yamaoka who has shown us year after year not to count her out as a threat.


Women's Grand Prix at Copper Podium: 3rd Soko Yamaoka, 1st Kelly Clark, 2nd Gretchen Bleiler

Having a win or a top finish at this first of five Grand Prix's is important for the United States Olympic Halfpipe hopefuls since the Grand Prix series is the major deciding factor for which athletes will represent the U.S.A. in Vancouver this February. There are still four more chances in the series though, so it was not crucial to place high today. Riders like Danny Kass who didn't make it to the Copper Mountain event, or like Scotty Lago, Luke Mitrani and Danny Davis, who didn't even place top 10 here, will all have more time the season to prove their worth and make it onto the exclusive team.

Stay tuned to GrindTV.com and the 2010 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Series. With so many talented American riders in the mix this season, these competitions deciding who will be named to the U.S.A. Snowboard Halfpipe Team may be more exciting to follow than the Olympics itself.




Results from the 2009/2010 U.S. Snowboard Copper Grand Prix:

Men:

1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, CA, 47.00
2. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 45.60
3. Zack Black, Breckenridge, CO, 44.10
4. Fredrik Austbo, Norway, 41.20
5. JJ Thomas, Golden, CO, 41.10
6. Greg Bretz, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 40.00
7. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, CO, 39.40
8. Tore-V Holvik, Norway, 34.80
9. Ryo Aono, Japan, 34.00
10. Jack Mitrani, Mammoth, CA, 28.80
11. Elijah Teter, USA, 22.1
12. Charles Reid, Canada, 18.8
13. Danny Davis, USA, 18.8
14. Scotty Lago, USA, 16.0
15. Dustin Craven, Canada, 9.0
16. Nathaniel Johnstone, 8.6

Women's Results:

1. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 44.50
2. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, CO, 42.60
3. Soko Yamaoka, Japan, 40.20
4. Quera Castellet, Spain, 30.50
5. Ellery Hollingsworth, Stratton, VT, 35.80
6. Madeline Schaffrick, Steamboat Springs, Co, 35.50
7. Holly Crawford, Australia, 24.00
8. Clair Bidez, Minturn, CO, 13.60

This past weekend Snowboarder Magazine held it's inventive new contest "America's Next Top Pro Model" at the summer shredding glacier on Mt. Hood, Oregon in the world acclaimed Windells snowboard park. If you missed our coverage from the first day, pop-in over here to check out some video shorts from the "High-Ollie" and "Best Jibber" contest.

Going into day two of the contest the 20 pro riders, all riding their new insignia snowboards, were tasked with three more on-snow mini-events. This time the schedule for the day started with the "Spin to Win" contest, followed by the "Biggest Air" and then capped off with the carnage-filled, crowd-pleasing "Chinese Downhill".

Rather than force your eyes to go numb by actually reading, go ahead and check out these vids we whipped together. (We're not aiming for quality here, obviously. Our apologies.)

For banger photo coverage you'll have to head over to Snowboardermag.com. It's their signature contest so they have the legit coverage in the works... we were more like the annoying friend of a friend that showed up and out of pity was allowed to hang out.

Spin to Win:



Biggest Air:



For footage from the Chinese Downhill you'll have to wait with bated breath for the official Snowboarder Magazine video edit (coming soon to a website near you). We totally missed it... but we were told that yes, indeed there was plenty of spitting, shoving and carnage. Breaking thru the finnish line first was the unstoppable Fin Lauri Heiskari, followed by American badass Bryan Fox, with another Finnish luminary, Eero Ettala, coming in third.

After shredding the hot snow all day the riders and the crowd moved down the hill to the Windells Campus where the pro's put on their philanthropist game-faces and started hawking their own pro-models to the Windells campers in a silent auction.

Each board sold to the highest bidder, and the money for all the boards was collected and given to the charity chosen by the rider who received the highest bid out of all the boards. That rider who received the highest bid out of everyone was the revered Eddie Wall, who brought in $300 bucks for his Forum pro-model. The auction pulled together a total of $1909.00 that was donated to St. Judes Hospital, Eddie's charity of choice.

With each mini contest, including the five on snow events and the silent auction, the riders stacked up points that went towards determining the overall rider who would win the title of "America's Next Top Pro Model". Throughout the weekend there was an undeniable standout. Lauri Heiskari, on his DC Snowboards XFB Pro board, won the Highest Ollie, Chinese Downhill and Biggest Air contests, and even placed third in the Spin to Win, making him the most winningest rider of the weekend and earning him the crown of America's Top Pro Model. If that's not some bragging rights for DC Snowboards and Lauri's R&D skills than we'd like to know what is.

Besides checking out all of the coverage online, be sure to pick up a copy of Snowboarder Magazine's November issue to see America's Next Top Pro Model in all it's glory with the aesthetics of print.