At the Games, it's now all about the snowboard, dude
09:47 PM CST on Friday, February 17, 2006
BARDONECCHIA, Italy – Gretchen Bleiler, who won a silver medal in halfpipe Monday, likes to say that snowboarding went mainstream the day three Americans won all the medals in men's halfpipe at the 2002 Olympics. "I know that because I was getting my hair done a week later, and the 60-year-old ladies in the salon were talking about it," she said. It's not so much that snowboarding is changing to move into the mainstream. It's that the mainstream is compelled to accept a growing sport that still embraces its rebel image. What could be more mainstream than boardercross rider Lindsey Jacobellis doing television commercials for Visa and Dunkin' Donuts? Then again, what says snowboarding more than Jacobellis' finish Friday during the women's boardercross event? As she coasted toward a sure gold medal in the final race, Jacobellis grabbed her board on the next-to-last jump in what appeared to be a hot dog move. She fell and had to settle for the silver medal. "I was having fun," Jacobellis acknowledged. "I wanted to share my enthusiasm with the crowd." Despite Jacobellis' tumble, the U.S. has enjoyed more success in snowboard than in any other sport in the Turin Games. U.S. snowboarders have won six of 12 medals so far with the parallel giant slalom still to come. And Americans love winners. "Seeing the amount of marketing that went into this Olympics based around snowboard," said Seth Wescott, the gold medalist in snowboard cross, "I believe that snowboarding is becoming the heart and soul of the Olympics." With the addition of snowboard cross in Turin, there are three Olympic snowboard disciplines. In 1998, when snowboard made its Olympic debut, halfpipe was the only event. But even with the sport's growing profile, not all snowboarders have embraced the Olympics. Some of the top riders, such as Terje Haakonsen of Norway and David Carrier-Porcheron of Canada (known simply as DCP to real snowboarding fans), still don't compete in the Games. Originally, some thought the Olympics were stuffy and a threat to their creativity. More recently, Haakonsen has objected to what he calls the corrupting influence of global marketing and nationalistic medal counts. But this year, for the first time, some top riders, including Bleiler and women's halfpipe gold medalist Hannah Teter, passed on competing in the annual Winter X Games rather than interrupt their preparations for the once-every-four-years Olympics. "The X Games is an amazing competition," Bleiler said. "It helped snowboarding get where it is. The Olympics is the biggest event, period. The X Games is the biggest in snowboarding." Snowboarding is cutting-edge culture, from its alternative competitions to its language, music and fashion. The baggy clothing worn in competition didn't come from rappers; snowboarders were wearing it first. Some musical artists like it so much that Burton, the world's largest maker of snowboards, accessories and apparel, gave the clothing to them to help promote the line, said Rene Hansen, Burton's global team director. The snowboard media – from magazines to films of backcountry and extreme snowboarding – is booming. One snowboarding magazine last year ranked Shaun White – the newly crowned Olympic halfpipe champion – the No. 4 rider in the world. "Every time I try to explain that to the mainstream media, they're like, 'Yeah, but Shaun wins every competition,'" Hansen said. "Yeah, but that's only about one-third of what snowboarding is all about." Hansen said it's not all about competition results. Except for a few competition riders like White, the best-paid people in snowboarding never compete, he said. There's major money to be made in the snowboard media, doing photo shoots for magazines and movies. "It's like Hollywood," Hansen said. "The kids buy the [snowboarding] magazines every month and worship the riders in the magazines." Hansen said it changes from year to year, but there are some professional riders as young as 7 years old making photo money. White and Teter, the two halfpipe gold medalists, are only 19. Snowboarding's first growth spurt came as a rejection of anything rigid and unyielding. Hansen said the first riders about 30 years ago were looking for unfettered fun. That's what they're still interested in. You won't find many who lift weights or do hundreds of sit-ups to train for competition, Hansen said. Most snowboarders don't like weightlifting because they think the added bulk will affect their flexibility, an important factor for halfpipe riders trying to pull off 720-degree spins in the air combined with flips. But competitive snowboarders are still exceptionally fit from hiking up mountains for backcountry snowboarding and other forms of exercise that are fun, he said. "If you could strip away their clothes, you'd see that they are ripped," he said. "The six-pack is there." Their training avoids the mundane and seeks out the fun. Wescott surfs, skateboards, mountain bikes and white-water kayaks. "Especially for snowboard cross, endurance is huge," Wescott said. "All of us are strong athletes. Ski racers, in the downhill, do one run a day. We did six today, plus warm-up runs. Those are minute-30 [second] runs, so you need a lot of endurance to pull that off." A few years ago, those who competed in the Olympics were regarded as sellouts. Not so anymore. But now snowboarders such as Wescott, Teter and Bleiler talk about the Olympics in a different way. "The Olympics and medaling at the Olympics," Bleiler said, "has been my dream since I was a little girl." The Associated Press contributed to this report. E-mail kstephens@dallasnews.com The halfpipe event is held on a half-cylindrical field, shaped into the snow, similar to that used for skateboard. Competitors must jump above the sidewalls and then land back, riding the walls while performing tricks, crossing the halfpipe from one side of the wall to the other. In this new Olympic event, four competitors race against each other. The first two to the finish line advance to the next round. The competition course is designed and built by a technician and is made of different sections: whoops (moguls), waves, banks, kickers and spines (jumps with 90-degree angles). 