Greg Bretz is in the hunt … (Photo by Thies)

Mammoth Mountain kicks off 2010 as host of Olympic Grand Prix qualifier

“The Olympics is the biggest thing to ever happen to snowboarding,” claims MMSA’s Director of Youth Action Sports Marketing, Oren Tanzer. After relentless phone calls and non-stop petitioning, Tanzer is finally seeing some paydirt as he successfully landed the US Snowboarding Grand Prix here in Mammoth Jan. 7-10.
The arrival of the Grand Prix is significant considering the stop here in Mammoth features 2 events out of the 5 that will determine the roster spots for both the men and the women’s Olympic Snowboard team this winter in Whistler B.C.
The scoring for the Grand Prix can be a bit confusing, so in a nutshell: to qualify for one of the 4 open roster spots, riders will be judged only on the top two finishes in the 5 events, beginning with 1 half pipe event at Copper Mountain, followed by 2 here in Mammoth and another 2 in Park City.
The standings from Copper are as follows: the Flying Tomato, Shaun White, is sitting pretty with a 1st place finish. Mammoth is a big stop for White; because if he finishes first here, he is guaranteed a ticket to Whistler. Our favorite ballroom dancer Louie Vito tangoed his way to a 2nd place finish, Zack Black from Breckenridge finished with a bronze and local boy Greg Bretz finished in 6th place.
Home court advantage will hopefully be a key factor for a handful of Mammoth locals looking to get some Olympic cheddar. Unbound rider, Luke Mitrani did not put together a qualifying run at Copper. However, he placed 2nd in this years New Zealand Open behind White. He also has the lock on the double cork, which will be the one trick judges want to see even more than that blue chick’s boobs in “Avatar.”
Even though Bretz landed in 6th at Copper, he’s definitely not out of the running. If he stomps a couple of clean double corks here in Mammoth he very well could be poppin’ some champagne corks in Whistler.
And don’t forget about local Mason Aguirre. Even though he failed to qualify at Copper, based on what I know about watching Fuel TV at Roberto’s, this guy is sponsored by Tostitos. And based on what I know about Tostitos, is that they are delicious.
What that has to do with the Grand Prix, I’m not entirely sure, but the dude is perfectly capable of serving up some tasty surprises to those thinking the front runners are the only ones to watch. Look for Mason to get a Hot Pocket sponsorship after a few hot laps at Mammoth.
Looking into the crystal ball, swami says the Olympic roster will be something like Shaun White, Louie Vito, Kevin Pierce, and a wild card for the 4th spot. Either the Mitrani bothers, Bretz, or Danny Davis could very well take it, your guess is as good as mine.
You may be wondering to yourself, “Hey, why no mention of Danny Kass?” Well, Kass is recovering from an injury sustained while competing in the New Zealand Open. However it is rumored that Kass, besides working on his split ends, is also working on his double-cork and could be an Olympic sleeper.
In case you’ve been sleepin’ on the terrain parks lately, Main Park was closed over the holidays and the Super Duper Pipe is looking even more duper than normal. “The dirt work under the pipe is designed for a 17 degree pipe,” says Tanzer, “for the Grand Prix [and the Olympics] it needs to be 18 degrees. That means we needed to add 14 feet of base of snow before we could even start making the pipe. Then add 22-foot high walls on top of that.” That’s a big ass pipe and a big ass task.
The Unbound staff has been getting their hustle on trying to complete the pipe in time for the Grand Prix. An Olympic sized pipe not only needs to be on an 18 degree pitch, it needs to be 500 feet long with 63 feet of vertical.
But the Olympics isn’t the only show this year. In case you’ve forgotten the X-Games is still on. With the X-Games premiering just before the Olympics in Whistler, one has to wonder if athletes will be forced to choose between the events. Tanzer speculates, “Athletes that make the Olympic roster probably won’t go to the X-Games this year. Last Olympics, Shaun [White] did go to the X-Games, but there’s too much to lose right now.”
With that in mind, look for just about anyone to win the X-Games. If White and the 3 other Olympians choose not to go.
The Grand Prix will be televised on NBC Jan. 10, or if you have chains you can just go to the hill, either way it’s kind of a big deal. So check it out.