Canadian National Snowboard Team member Darcy Sharpe has been in Australia and New Zealand preparing for the upcoming winter season.
After a devastating injury in Pennsylvania on April 1 of the past season, the Comox resident has been working hard at his rehab to get back on the snow. He sends a big shout out to Eddy Betinol at the Joint Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Centre in Courtenay for all his help. Sharpe says, “The things Eddy had me work on and the new pool really helped me with my recovery. I was pumped to be able to get back on the snow in in July!”
While in Australia, in August, he competed at the Mile High in Perisher and the Style Wars at False Creek. It was hard to believe that just a few months earlier he had been in a wheelchair. Always a practitioner on the rails, Sharpe was declared the winner of an event called 28 Stairs in False Creek. With a variety of tricks on the rails and stairs he put it all on the line to come out on top. This win, along with his win at the Nike Dew Tour Streetstyle last winter, has earned Sharpe a reputation as a rail master and a target to beat for future international snowboard rail comps.
This past week, while in New Zealand for the Burton Mile High Slopestyle competition, strong winds threatened to deter riders during both the men’s and women’s competitions. The field was stacked with the world’s best; including 2014 US Open champion and Olympic medalist Mark McMorris, Olympic medalist and 2013 High Fives winner Stale Sandbech, as well as favourite Torstein Horgmo.
In combination with the unique course, competitors were faced with navigating through back-to-back wall ride features followed by a unique urban inspired street rail setup that left ample room for creativity. A fourth feature consisted of a cannon rail next to a giant cable reel, which was placed right before three perfectly shaped jumps that wrapped up the course created by the Cardrona Parks New Zealand crew. Sharpe laid down an awesome second run and finished in second place.
Sharpe continues to board on the last of the snow Downunder at Perisher before he heads home at the end of September. The competition season in North America starts in December.