Ms. Superpark Wrap Up

It’s that time of the month again, when SNOWBOARDER Magazine, Billabong, Red Bull and Mammoth Mountain host one of the biggest invitational events. The second annual Ms. Superpark took place May 8-10th, 2006. Mammoth Mountain was the place to be, with more than 50 female snowboarders from all over the world showing off some amazing riding.

Participants included Hana Beaman, Laura Hadar, Leanne Pelosi, Priscilla LeVac, Natasza Zurek, Elena Hight, Anne-Flore Marxer, Jamie Anderson, Spencer O’Brien, Vicci Miller, Jacqui Berg, Tricia Byrnes, Stacy Thomas, Abby Bright, Sara Mose, Annie Boulanger, Mercedes Nicole, Alexis Waite, Chanelle Sladics, Gretchen Bleiler, Jenny Jones, Molly Aguirre, Cheryl Maas, Izumi Amaike, Dominique Vallee, Kimmy Fasani, Dana Star, and Barrett Christy (just to name just a few). The cameras were shot and film was burned as the girls of Ms Superpark 2006 turned on the heat.

On Monday May 8th, the girls warmed up on a cycle of rails, boxes, jumps and a quarterpipe. Jenny Jones was spotted doing some nice backside and frontside 540’s for the Billabong filmers. Dana Star stomped some nice tricks on the box, and Leanne Pelosi reminded all the girls how much fun hand-plants are on a quarterpipe. Chanelle Sladics, Vicci Miller and Laura Hadar were spinning regular and sometimes switch on the first jump. The star of the day was professional skier Michelle Parker. With four edges, Parker skied “unnaturally” good.

After a full day of park riding on day one, the girls hit the pipe in the evening hours. Gretchen Bleiler showed off some Olympic skills, while Molly Aguirre focused on the metal. Aguirre jumped the large down rail with a 180 and rode the box in the pipe with style. Other pipe standouts were Tricia Byrnes, Dominique, Mercedes Nicole and Annie Boulanger.

Tuesday May 8th was the beginning of the jump cycle. On the backside, the Mammoth Unbound built up some major cheese wedges that didn't seem to cramp anyone’s style. What may have scared some of the girls wasn't only Pat Bridges and his Red Bulls, but the absence of rails. A line up of three jumps and a “butter box” made of snow with a gap created a nice flow for all of the girls that were ready to step it up. Jamie Anderson rode strong with nice spins on all three jumps and Laura Hadar stomped a nice cab 900. Next to the jump line was a super big hip. Not only was the hip tall and vert, the run-in was intimidating. Elena Hight charged big tail grabs and Indy’s while her friend Abby Bright performed well too. A spinning session on jump number two went down and a lot of new tricks were being done. All the photographers and filmers were happy as work got done under the warm California sunshine.

Wednesday, May 9th was another jump session. The morning hours included a lot of hip action by Anne-Flore Marxer, Cheryl Maas, and Hana Beamen. As everyone was shooting the hip, Kimmy Fasani impressed on lookers on the larger jump with her backside 360. In the afternoon hours, some transfer options on jump number one came about. Cheryl Maas spun big on the transfer gap and landed along with Natasza Zurek, Laura Hadar, Alexis Waite, and Vicci Miller. As girls began to really get comfortable, and amazing array of tricks went down on the biggest jump of the three. Jacqui Berg set a standard of corked backside 540’s with Jenny Jones, Izumi Amaike, Priscilla LeVac, Spencer O’Brien, Alexis Waite, and Leanne Pelosi following. Rumor has it that Hana Beaman threw something really “tricky” and original that will be kept on the down low until the SNOWBOARDER Magazine Ms. Superpark issue comes out later this year.

Ms. Superpark 2006 was a huge success. Pat Bridges stated that the biggest standouts of the week were Hana Beaman, Cheryl Maas, and Laura Hadar. Thank you to all the athletes, photographers, filmers and sponsors. Shout outs go to Billabong for feeding everyone, Red Bull for keeping the nightlife exciting. Last but not least, big props go out to the Mammoth Mountain Unbound crew. Thank you for making the jumps big. Watch out boys, the girls are stepping it up and consistantly raising the level of female snowboarding.