2008 Triple Crown of Mountainboarding Series


Pro - Kody Stewart
Sport - Josh Cole
Masters - Joseph Ponce DeLeon
Women - Melissa Becker
Youth - Derek Howe
Grom - Kelby Clark

2008 Triple Crown Series Summaries

ROUND #3

MBS Fall Classic
Big Air / Downhill
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Oct 4th & 5th

Click HERE for write-up, results and pics.

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ROUND #2

US Open Mountainboard Championships
Downhill / Boardercross / Big Air
Snowmass Village, Colorado
July 25th & 26th
Click HERE for write-up, results and pics.



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ROUND #1

Kaos in Kansas
Boardercross / Big Air / Slopestyle
South Haven, Kansas
April 26th
Click HERE for write-up, results and pics.

2008 TRIPLE CROWN EVENTS SUMMARY

What a fantastic year 2008 was for mountainboarding and especially for the Triple Crown Mountainboard Series. This year the series saw the most riders ever compete in the overall series and each stop had new riders, some new to the sport and some just new to the event.

The Triple Crown of Mountainboarding is made up of a series of three stops where riders accumulate points at each stop trying to be their Divisional winners. The divisions are made up of 6 groups: Groms (12 and Under), Youth (13 – 17), Sport (18 – 34), Masters (35 and over), Womens and Pros. Each stop is unique to itself but all events have at least 2 disciplines with points to win.

Kaos in Kansas – South Haven, Kansas

The Triple Crown series kicks off in Kansas of all places. A seemingly flat state that doesn’t necessarily scream mountainboarding but for those who have been know what a great course it boasts with a fast and tight two-man boardercross track and one of the largest Big Air jumps in the nation. New this year was a nighttime freestyle jam at the “Barnyard” where riders could start on top of a twenty foot roll-in tower and hit a huge wooden kicker.

The event starts with a bang with two-man boardercross. Boardercross in general is a tough discipline. Normally with a four-man format you pretty much have to come out of the gate charging as fast as possible and watch out for three other riders, but with two-man boardercross the strategy changes just a bit. First off lane choice is crucial so you hope you had the faster time-trial and get to choose your lane. Should you take the inside line or the outside line? Next, if you know your opponent is faster out of the gate, maybe just let him come out first and line him up for a pass on the inside of the first berm. Unlike four-man boardercross you only have to worry about one other rider on the course.

After boardercross concludes the event goes straight into Big Air. And this Big Air is pretty darn big! Zak Heberely, the track owner, decided to make things extra big at his course. The nice thing about big jumps is that they usually have really smooth transitions both on the takeoff and on the landing. This jump is no exception…. really big and really smooth.

Once boardercross and freestyle are over riders head into town to grab a great Kansas style BBQ dinner, get their awards, watch a few videos and rest up before the night event. The “Barnyard” jam.

The “Barnyard” jam is a rider judged freestyle contest. This was the first year and Zak built a twenty-foot roll-in tower and a big wooden jump and landing. Again, really big and really smooth. After most riders had their fill of jumping they started chilling to the DJ music and a jib contest was in effect. Riders rolled in off the landing with just enough speed to do some sort of jib trick on a small mound. Then they started jibbing on a hay bale of course.

Kansas is an awesome event. It sometimes seems surreal that so many mountainboarders are out there but the event is so well run, has such nice features and the locals are so nice I’m sure the event will just get bigger and bigger.


US Open – Snowmass Village, CO

              The second stop on the Triple Crown series was the US Open. The pinnacle of all resort riding, Snowmass Village has been hosting the US Open since 2002 and this year was the 2nd year it was part of the Triple Crown series.

              The US Open boasts one of the largest contingents of Grom division riders because Snowmass has the nation’s #1 summer mountainboard camp. Over 40 Grom riders are taking lessons throughout the week leading up to the event and the group, officially called the “Dirt Dawgs”, has the largest group of supporters at the event.

              The US Open consists of Downhill, Boardercross and Big Air. The first event, Downhill, has riders taking the ski lift to almost the top of the mountain dropping them off at the start of a big grassy run called “Scooper“. Riders line up in their respective divisions and take off through the knee-high grass picking up speed as they navigate over water bars and around small bushes. Riders come out eventually at a service road and continue at even higher speeds down the road where they finish at the top of the boardercross course.

                Snowmass has one of the most challenging 4 man boardercross tracks in the world filled with big berms and challenging features like the “toilet bowl” which is an S turn berm series launching riders high into the air only to land into the second part of the S. A very challenging course for all levels of riding and the course is rock hard fast. Boardercross racing usually consists of up to four riders racing through a dirt course filled with berms (angled turns), sections of rollers or dirt mounds, and jumps of varying heights and distances all while riding side by side with another rider. Boardercross is a very challenging discipline and the difficulty of the course at Snowmass and the high skill level of all the riders make this one of the hardest events to win.

              The US Open finishes up with a Freestyle contest. Riders, depending on what skill level they are make up to three attempts at launching off a dirt jump all trying to get as much air and perform the most difficult trick they can and make a solid landing. The pros usually start atop a twenty foot “accelerator ramp” to get maximum speed before they hit a huge jump, clearing a fifteen foot gap and landing on a steep dirt angle. Riders then have a choice of sliding on a rail for extra points or performing a trick on the rebate wall.

              Riders eventually move into the lodge and attend the big awards ceremony where the overall Pro winner accepts the Eric Smith cup in honor of a Snowmass rider who was the catalyst for the sport at the resort. The US Open is an epic event at a wonderful resort. It really screams Colorado mountainboarding.

The Fall Classic – Colorado Springs, CO

              The Triple Crown series wraps up in the birthplace of mountainboarding; Colorado Springs, Colorado, with the Fall Classic. Riding and racing have been going on in Colorado Springs since the beginning of the sport. After all, this is the home to MBS Mountainboards.

              Colorado Springs is now home to the famous “Backyard” terrain park. The nations’ biggest and best freestyle park boasting a massive step-up jump, a triple hit table-top jump, a “fun” box, a flat to down rail, a canon rail, several rollers and a smaller table top jump for beginners. So needless to say this was the perfect place to hold the season ending freestyle contest.

2007 TRIPLE CROWN SUMMARY

And the Kings (and Queen) have now been crowned for the innaugural Triple Crown of Mountainboarding Series! With the last stop in the Triple Crown Series taking place Oct 13 and 14th the final points from all three events were tallied and run through a massive computer and, although it was very close in some divisions, please put your virtual hands together for the winners below.

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What a great series! Starting out with Echo Mountains' ever challenging Slopestyle course to hot boardercross and beautiful location of Snowmass Village and finally ending in the birthplace of MBS, Colorado Springs. It was a fantastic series of racing that played out during an epic season of mountainboarding. Look for details soon on 2008's Triple Crown Series (might be a surprise for ya) and see you next year!

2007 TRIPLE CROWN

STOP #2
US OPEN

JULY 26-28th

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, CO
CLICK HERE FOR EVENT WRAPUP REPORT



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STOP #3
MBS FAll CLASSIC

OCT 13-14th

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
CLICK HERE FOR EVENT WRAPUP REPORT

Youth 13-17 / Grom 12 and Under

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GENERAL EVENT CATEGORIES
FREESTYLE / DOWNHILL / BOARDERCROSS

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POINT SYSTEM

1st Place = 10pts

2nd Place = 8pts

3rd Place = 6pts

4th Place = 5pts

5th Place = 4pts

6th Place = 3pts

7th Place = 2pts

8th Place = 1pt

(Points are given through 8th place if there are enough riders in that particular division at the event or if the event itself can be scored through 8th place.)

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IN THE 2007 SERIES POINTS WERE GIVEN FOR:

Stop #1 / Echo Mtn - Slopestyle

Stop #2 / US Open - Mass Downhill / Boardercross / Freestyle

Stop #3 / MBS Fall Classic - Division Downhill / Freestyle