Sneaky, sneaky Kazo Kokubo. While Shaun White, the red-headed golden child, and I-Pod were showing off their back-to-back double corks, Burton team rider Kokubo was coming up with a trick of his own. Always one to entertain when dropping into the halfpipe with his unmatched style, signature McTwist, and disregard for what the snowboarding world thinks of him, Kazu never seemed to play into the whole spin-to-win game in the contests. Although capable of the winning tricks, he preferred to go big and do what he liked.


Touche, Kazu, touche. The Japanese hero was caught practicing double rodeo 1260's in the halfpipe at Copper Mountain. We're not quite sure what that would look like either, so we needed the video documentation to prove it. Looks like it's a tough one to land. Although the new breed of tricks are getting a bad wrap for being outright ugly and lacking in style, no one can deny that they are incredibly difficult and demonstrate a whole new level of athleticism.

The Oakley Progression Sessions will soon invade Copper Mountain, CO, March 3-4, marking the second stop of the 2012 season. Known for prime park set ups and their excellent grooming, the ladies registered for this particular camp are going to experience some of the best conditions for park riding seen thus far. The pro riders who will be coaching the girls at this location are English slopestyle star Jenny Jones and top freeskier Kristi Leskinen.

Stocked with 126 trails, 22 lifts, and 2,465 acres of skiable terrain, Copper is an ideal place to spend time progressing while also experiencing some of the best shredding that Colorado has to offer. On top of the four different terrain parks and pristine 22' superpipe, this resort has another claim to fame: Woodward at Copper. Also known as 'The Barn', this indoor snowboard and ski training facility is full of foam pits, drop-ins, trampolines, spring boards, and tons of foam mats for additional acrobatic practice. The Copper Oakley Progression Sessions will offer a drop-in session at The Barn for those arriving first on Friday, March 2 to experience the 'One Hit Wonder' session.

Indoor training and perfect mountain riding only 75 miles outside of Denver seems too good to be true. It'd be crazy for any girl to pass up this chance to shred and be coached by some of the best pros out there. Need more proof that this is the place to be? Since 1972, March has typically been the snowiest month of the year at Copper. Yep, they just threw a chance of fresh powder in the mix.

To register for the Copper Progression Sessions head here now!

And here it is. Contest season is back in our faces for the next year and the North American circuit kicked off at none other than the pristine halfpipe at Copper Mountain, Colorado. The US Grand Prix started with the ski qualifiers this Wednesday afternoon under sunny skies and brisk air temperatures.

70 competitors, anxious and ready to get things underway in the looming pipe before them, competed for the top 12 spots to move on to finals and were judged on the top score of two runs.

Here are today's scores and be sure to head over to Newschoolers to watch finals LIVE on Friday December 9 starting at 12 pm MST.

photo courtesy of Newschoolers

Results

1) David Wise - 87.8
2) Torin Yater-Wallace - 86.4
3) Xavier Bertoni - 85.2
4) Nils Lauper - 85.0
5) Jossi Wells - 82.6
6) Duncan Adams - 82.2
7) Simon Dumont - 81.0
8) Mike Riddle - 78.6
9) Tucker Perkins - 78.4
10) Wing Tai Barrymore - 77.4
11) Peter Crook - 77.0
12) Dan Marion - 76.6

Over the weekend, 16-year-old Torin Yater-Wallace from Aspen, Colorado landed his first 1260 double cork in the super pipe at Copper Mountain while practicing for the first Grand Prix of the season.

Torin entered the pipe and spun the massive trick about 15 feet above the left wall of the pipe. If Torin pulls this trick and lands a smooth run at the Sprint GP this weekend, he'll definitely be one of the front-runners for spot on the podium.

Check out Torin stomping the trick.



Dec 4, Torin Yater Wallace , 1st Dub 12 from snowflakes on Vimeo.

The fun is ramping up at Woodward at Copper during session 5 of their summer shred camp. From July 10-16 members of the GNU team will be dropping into Copper and will be getting after it on and off the hill. There's plenty of snow left at this Colorado shred-spot so you should probably get your buns up to Copper to check it out.

Woodward at Copper is a year round ski and snowboard program offering winter day camps and week-long summer camps. Woodward at Copper offers the Barn, the first indoor ski and snowboard training facility with trampolines, foam pits, and Snowflex jumps dedicated to terrain park and pipe progression. Campers develop their tricks in the Woodward at Copper Barn and progress them in Copper Mountain's winter and summer terrain parks and pipe.

Woodward at Copper gets weird this summer when GNU hosts session five being held July 10th-16th. GNU team riders Forest Bailey, Nate Farrell, Forrest Burki and Maribeth Swetkoff are heading to camp for some summer shredding and skateboarding alongside Woodward campers.

The GNU team will be sharing more than their infinite wisdom on the hill, they'll also be giving away new boards, including 2011/12 Forest Pickles and B-Streets. On snow the team will be testing next season's pickle-tech and various camber combos on Copper park laps

Woodward at Copper has multiple summer terrain parks and an Airbag on the mountain, along with a state-of-the-art indoor playground full of trampolines, foam pits, Snowflexa, a spring floor and indoor skateboard features. Beyond shredding and "training" there are lots of summer recreational activities like Create-a-Skate, go-karts, digglers, bumper boats and more.

Check out the photos and video from Forest and Nate's trip to Gnu's team session last year to get you stoked for this summer. During the session the team spent a day at the Edwards skate park with Woodward campers.

It's not too late!! Campers can sign up for GNU's Session Five overnight or day camp by calling 888-229-9540 or visiting woodwardatcopper.com.

What's Woodward? Woodward at Copper is a year round ski and snowboard program offering winter day camps and week-long summer camps. Woodward at Copper offers the Barn, the first indoor ski and snowboard training facility with trampolines, foam pits, and Snowflex jumps dedicated to terrain park and pipe progression. Campers develop their tricks in the Woodward at Copper Barn and progress them in Copper Mountain's winter and summer terrain parks and pipe.

Check out what camp's all about.