The Snowboarding Slopestyle finals of the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships were held at Vail Mountain, Colorado, this past week. McMorris of Regina, Sask. and his teammates Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que. and Darcy Sharpe of Comox, B.C., were the only Canadians to compete in the 12-man Slopestyle finals.
The snowy conditions caused some of the riders to have a difficult clearing the jumps. However, McMorris didn’t have any trouble at all. He scored 83.05 points on his first run of three, keeping him in first place and winning $45,000. Torstein Horgmo of Norway finished in second, with Chas Guldemond of USA in third. Parrot finished in ninth place, followed by Sharpe in 10th. Sharpe said, “I had a lot of fun hanging out and riding with these guys and I learned a lot.”
Sharpe, the second youngest competitor, along with his female teammate Canadian Brooke Voigt, were awarded “Rookie of the Year” for their impressive finishes at the prestigious event in Colorado.
Sharpe learned to snowboard at Mount Washington. He is a member of the Canadian National Snowboard Team and the Whistler Valley Snowboard Academy. He is a past member of the VI Riders and has received funding assistance in the past from the Vancouver Island Mountain Sports Society. His sponsors include Burton, Monster Energy Drinks, Air Hole, Electric, and DYRA.
Burton US Open results:
1 Mark McMorris - Regina, Sask.; 2 Torstein Horgmo - NOR; 3 Chas Guldemond - USA; 4 Peetu Piiroinen - FIN; 5 Jamie Nicholls - GBR; 6 Yuki Kadono - JPN; 7 Eric Willett - USA;
8 Sage Kotsenburg - USA; 9 Maxence Parrot - Bromont, Que.;
10 Darcy Sharpe - Comox, B.C.; 11 Ryan Stassel - USA; 12 Stale Sandbech – NOR.