PRO/AM SNOWBOARD COMPETITION AT MOUNTAIN CREEK

I attended the 3rd annual Pro/Am Snowboard competition at Mountain Creek. It was a bitter cold day on my first visit to the New Jersey ski area. Mountain Creek is just 47 miles from New York City, nestled in the northwest corner of New Jersey, amidst the peaks of the Hamburg Mountains. It was an easy shot from D.C. and I suspect many people in the Big Apple and Jersey call this their home mountain.

Many pros joined up-and-coming snowboarders on Mountain Creek’s Super Pipe on this frigid day. Some of the nation’s hottest snowboard pros were there, including: Olympic gold medalist Ross Powers; Abe Teter, winner of last year’s half pipe competition, and his siblings Hannah and Elijah; Shawn Palmer; Luke Mitrani; Shane Pospisil; and Mountain Creek native boarders Matt Kass, Brian Regis and Mark Riley were some of the top riders competing for the cash and prizes.

These pros were joined by the next generation of Super Pipe riders at the 3rd Annual Specialty Sports Pro/Am Snowboard Competition, where they took big hits and huge air on Mountain Creek’s brand-new competition Super Pipe. We were impressed when these shred-heads showed offs their best tricks as they compete head-to-head for a combined purse worth over $75,000 in cash and prizes.

The winning pro riders took home $8,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place, $1,000 for third place, $500 for fourth place and $250 for fifth place.

The winner for the pro women was Hannah Teter with a score of 255. Tricia Byrnes was second with 239, Kristen Fagan won the bronze with a score of 194 and Mary Sallah came in 4th

Liza Mitrani came in first place in the amateur women’s contest with a score of 170, Hayley Simpson was second with161 and Danielle Kain was 3rd with 120.

Andy Finch grabbed the gold for the Pro Men wowing the crowd with a score of 267, Michael Goldschmidt garnered the silver with a score of 257, Shayne Pospisil came in 3rd with 250 and Elijah Teter was 4th with Olympic snowboarder, Ross Powers crashed and burned.

Among the amateur men riders (under 17) , it was Mitchell Brown in first place with a score of 227, Jake Sullivan placed second with 224, Jack Mitrani was third with a score of 211 and Andy Weaver came in 4th with 210.

In the 18-29 category Mat Pomykala led the pack with a score of 224, Chris Grant came in 2nd with 208, Brian Friedler was 3rd with 180 and Shane Hewitt came in 4th with 167. ‘

The band played to a small but enthusiastic crowd in the bitter cold in the concert that accompanied the halfpipe competition.

Ian Fehler
Latest posts by Ian Fehler (see all)