The first stop of the road to the Olympics kicked off yesterday. The ladies gave it what they had in the 22 foot pipe at Copper and set the standard for what it’s gonna take to make it to Vancouver. The guys are still practicing and will get their turn tomorrow, but there were a few little surprises on how the list for the finals shook out for the girls.
Gretchen and Kelly came out on top (no surprise) but Torah finished the day in 11th place and Hanna Teter sat this round out with a minor shoulder injury. And those top riders better watch out because new faces like 15 year old Maddy Schaffrick was hot on their heels along with some outstanding riders from Japan, Spain and Australia that made the top 8. We’ll have to wait and see what the finals are going to bring, but these are the girls that are going to be riding:
1. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, CO, 47.10
2. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 45.70
3. Soko Yamaoka, Japan, 43.50
4. Maddy Schaffrick, Steamboat Springs, CO, 43.20
5. Quera Castellet, Spain, 43.00
6. Ellery Hollindsworth, Stratton, VT, 41.40
7. Holly Crawford, Australia, 41.10
8. Clair Bidez, Minturn, CO, 41.70
If you want to read the rest of the buzz Grid TV had a couple articles. One on the girls and one about the Grans Prix in general. Transworld also had an article spot lighting Gretchen and a bunch of pics.
