Breckenridge US Snowboard Grand Prix Halfpipe Qualifiers

Sub-zero temps and a lack of sunshine couldn’t deter the world's halfpipe elite from dropping into the Breckenridge, Colorado pipe to see if they had the “motts” to advance to Saturday's main event. The day long event featured three heats of thirty-five competitors in a best of two runs showdown. The coveted top sixteen placings would insure a place in the finals.

As of late, Colorado has been blessed with several feet of fresh snow, leaving near record snow depths for this time of year. The opening of an early season pipe at Copper caused a large number of European pipe pros to arrive in the states for early season training. In addition to the British, Norwegian, French and Dutch national teams are riders from New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea. These visitors made their presence known in the Breck pipe as nearly half of the start sheet was filled with non-Americans. This international field made the qualifying process a bit tough for many American favorites. Young guns Greg Bretz, Drew Brighton, Trevor Jacobs, Ross Baker, Ben Watts, Broc Haring, Zak Stone, and Harrison Gray all have the abilities and the runs but today just wasn’t their day. They are in good company as Danny Davis and Louie Vito, two of the most anticipated shreds of the field, failed to make the finals.

Those who did receive favor from the IJC judges include Americans Kevin Pearce, Keir Dillon, Jack Mitrani, Luke Mitrani, Steven Fisher, Elijah Teter, JJ Thomas and Shaun White. Canadians Crispin Lipscomb, Justin Lamoroux, and Greg Martin advanced as well and join France's Gary Zebrowski, who also made the cut. In total sixteen male riders will be dropping in at noon on Saturday the 15th. In addition to earning spots in the finals these pros also earned entry into the Paul Mitchell Pipestyle Exhibition event which will be held under the light in the Breck Halfpipe Saturday night.

Saturday at Breck looks to be a busy one as both the women's qualifiers and pipe finals are set to start before the men make the drop. Anyone who misses out on the chance to check the Grand Prix action live can tune in to NBC at 3pm on Saturday December 22nd to catch all the highlights. Speaking of highlights Shaun White also won the qualifiers. This means that he’ll be gracing the Breck pipe with his aerial antics again Saturday in the finals.

Results:
1. Shaun White
2. Steven Fisher
3. Crispi Lipscomb
4. Jarret Thomas
5. Elijah Teter
6. Tore-V. Holvik
7. Justi Lamoureux
8. Ryoh Aono
9. Kohdai Watanabe
10. Luke Mitrani
11. Gary Zebrowski
12. Kevin Pearce
13. Dol Wal Van Der
14. Keir Dillon
15. Jack Mitrani
16. Brad Martin

Check back tomorrow for the results of the Men's Halfpipe Finals.