Aussie Halfpipers kick-off big season in the USA

Courtesy www.owia.org

Aussie riders will be aiming to impress in the Snowboard Halfpipe as the 2017 U.S Revolution Tour kicks off tonight (AEDT) at Colorado’s Copper Mountain.

Scotty James, Kent Callister, Nathan Johnstone and Emily Arthur will all contest the first of four stops on the tour in Copper’s world class 19-meter superpipe, their first time on the pipe for the season.

James, Callister and Arthur have all been training in New Zealand during Spring and will be keen to start the year off with success.

The start of the tour itself was interrupted due to unreasonably warm temperatures and delays in halfpipe construction, condensing the competition to just one halfpipe event instead of two.

In a statement on the official World Snowboard Tour (WST) website, USSA Director of Events Eric Webster said, “Weather has been a challenge this season but the Main Vein Superpipe upholds its reputation as one of the top venues in North America while the Rev Tour remains a top competition for these up-and-coming athletes.”

The national-level event brings together Olympic hopefuls who will earn points for their overall ranking in the WST.

In the mens, 22-year-old James, currently ranked 15th in the world, will headline the Aussie brigade, aiming to match his successful 2013/14 season where he finished 5th in the overall World Tour rankings.

21-year-old Callister is ranked 26th and will be searching for a repeat of his success at the Tour in 2012 where he won best trick with a FS inverted 900. Johnstone is ranked 37th. Qualification starts at 4:40am on Friday, followed by the Final at 8:15am.

In the Ladies keep your eye out for 17-year-old  Emily Arthur, one of Australia’s brightest talents who won Silver in the halfpipe at the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Games in February. Her qualification is at 2:30am, with the final starting at 3:50am.
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For more information on the Revolution Tour, visit www.ussnowboarding.com/revolutiontour