Dustin Craven. Photo: Nuñez

Neil Connolly wound up Third. Photo: Jahlee

The Showcase Showdown—dubbed the first ever “pipestyle” contest—turned out to be a great success in Whistler, BC on Saturday, February 25th. Under the Blackcomb Night Pipe’s bright lights and steadily falling snow, riders battled it out for over $25,000 in cash and prizes. The event was sponsored by Sapient, Showcase Showboards, Anon, RED, Option, Vans, Salomon/Bonfire, and 32. 17-year-old Dustin Craven owned the men’s division and walked with a cool ten G’s, while Whistler local Pillar Peterson nabbed the women’s purse for five.

Pillar in Practice. Photo: Jahlee

Dustin Craven loves his Airblaster robber mask. The format of the contest was unique in that the entry into the pipe consisted of a huge hip on both sides, followed by a few hits in the pipe. Then there were two boxes on the lip in the middle of the pipe, which were important course features. A couple more hits in the pipe, then a rail section at the end—complete with Death Gaps and alligator/dinosaurs monsters to finish the job.

Blackcomb's night pipe is pretty dope. You can ride the Gondola right up to it, walk around the corner, and BLAM! There it is. Easy access baby.

Alberta's Leanne Pelosi (sometimes Whistler loc) was chillin, enjoying some delicious coffee before her final runs. Leanne is so hot right now.

For some reason (hmmm, I wonder...), I couldn't ever remember to hold my breath when I was shooting, and ended up with the misty fog shots you see here. Hope you like 'em. Plus, my camera battery was dieing fast in the cold. Luckily, local photographer Arni Gutmann let me run his digi to pop off a few action shots. Check his photography out at www.boardstars.com . Thanks Arni!

Sapient was giving away boards left and right, Anne (above) was one lucky winner. Saskia (below) was another, and she was awesome. She was from Germany and gave me a German beer. Canada's cool because your beer only gets colder as you drink it.

Travis Williams was going big too, blasting this entry air. T-Dub wound up fif. F-I-F...fif!

Here's the line up. Dannas Bannock, Chris Wimbells, and Neil Connolly killed it too.

Whistler locs.

Dustin Craven was gettin' sweated hard after his victory. When I asked him later at the bar (wait, isn't he 17?!?) what he was gonna do with the cash, he said, "I'm gonna get my truck out of impound." Dustin came thru on the 10% rule too. Yo, this kid's comin' up though. Watch out for Dustin...he rides with Hardingham. Nuff said.

They are the champions, my friends. After the contest, it was on to Maxx Fish. A classic staple in Whistler for many years, Maxx Fish used to be the spot. Then they closed and remodeled, and reopened. It's not the same anymore. Still pretty fun though. Many drink tickets and strong Canadian whiskey make for party long time.

In other Whistler news, SNOWBOARD has secured a crib here for the rest of the season, so were gonna be blowin' it up. Get ready.

This morning I woke up (around noon) to about 23 cms of fresh on top of my car and it was still dumping. Whistler says this is like 10 inches, but it seemed like way more to me, especially when I was getting face shot after face shot in Frog's Hollow at 2 pm. Look for pics of all the new snow coming soon, and check out www.whistlerblackcomb.com for current conditions.