Canadian Halfpipe Veteran Punctuates Comeback With Surprise Victory

Sunday March 16; Valmalenco, Italy: It's been quite a month for the Canadian Snowboard Team. Though its race schedule during that period would make even an air attendant's travel itinerary look pedestrian by comparison - six events, five countries, three continents and 20 hours of time change in four weeks - the team revealed a new-and-improved version of itself in the concluding races of the 2007-08 season by posting its best run of World Cup results ever.

"What most impresses me about these results" sans Canadian Team head coach Jim Miller, "is how broad-based they are. Doesn't matter what discipline. Doesn't matter the age of the athlete. Doesn't even matter whether they are coach or rider, service person or physiotherapist. Everyone on this team is dedicated to one thing: delivering high performance results on demand."

The final World Cup event of the 2008 season, the halfpipe contest (completed earlier today), clearly underscores Miller's contention that his young charges are not afraid to compete at the highest levels now. Consider Crispin Lipscomb's ride to victory today.

After all, it was only a year ago that Lipscomb was sitting on the sidelines, healing a broken collarbone and wondering when he'd ever be able to get back to high-level competition. And when he was finally cleared to compete again just in time for this last, highly-concentrated month of World Cup contests, the winner of the 2006 World Cup Finals struggled. 

From a promising 10th place ride in his first event back in Korea, his performances tumbled over the next few weeks until it was amply apparent to everyone that things couldn't keep going the way they were going. "It wasn't the comeback I expected," admits Lipscomb. "I was really fighting myself in the pipe."

Embarrassed and frustrated by a less-than-stellar showing in Calgary - a modest 24th -- Lipscomb took advantage of the new, more flexible program put in place by discipline head coach, Tom Hutchinson this year and went back home to Whistler to regroup. "It was a real judgment call for me," he explains. "I could have gone to Quebec and braved the weather and conditions and hope to turn things around. Or I could go home --get a little training in; do a little snowmobiling -- and head for Italy refreshed and ready to win again. I'm really glad the coaches and the program gave me enough leeway to choose the latter."

No question. Competing before a raucous crowd of knowledgeable - and highly appreciative - Italian spectators, Lipscomb put down the kind of run in the finals that had his coaches raving for more! "His winning run was a thing of beauty," said Hutchinson. "It was perfect. He made every move, every jump, look easy. There didn't seem to be any effort there - he was just floating from lip-to-lip. And that's what the judges usually want to see."Indeed. For the second time in three seasons, the young Whistler local was awarded the gold in the final event of the World Cup circuit. And as he says: "It was exactly the same weather and conditions as two years ago. And I took full advantage of that fact."

But that doesn't explain going from 24th to first in two weeks. What happened? "I just got my feeling back," he says. "I just needed a little time on my own to fine-tune some things. And you know what - it feels great to be back!"Explains Lipscomb of his victorious ride: "It was just a super clean run. Nothing complicated or overly fancy. I went front backside air, to front 9, to backside 5, to front 7 and finished with a cab 7. I just think I put a lot of style into it today. I felt really strong and confident -- finally.  And I knew it from the moment I got in the pipe this morning." The support he got from his teammates, says Lipscomb, played a huge part in today's victory. "The guys on the team right now, they're riding really well. And that's totally inspiring. Everyone is pushing everyone else to put out their best stuff. And that's very cool." With four in the top fifteen, and three advancing into today's final, the Canadian squad was also noteworthy for being the top performer among the nations in attendance.