Vito, Mitrani and Lago

Kaitlyn Farrington (Sun Valley, ID) sustained her ascent toward becoming one of the top female snowboarders and Louie Vito (Sandy, UT) continued to nail his back-to-back doubles as the two won the season's first Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix Saturday. It was the first Grand Prix win for Farrington, and one of many for Vito, in the series. e

Vito landed solid, stylish hits in his run, and he upped the ante in the competition with his technicality, throwing a frontside double 10, cab double 10, stiffie, back 9 and front 10. According to Vito, it was a nice way to kick off another season.

"I'm really stoked. I'm happy to land a run when I had to and start the season off well," Vito said. "It's good to have landed and to be on the podium with two of my best friends."

Vito, who took the lead with his back-to-back doubles in the first run and carried it through the end of the competition, was joined on the podium by Luke Mitrani (Mammoth, CA) and Olympic bronze medalist Scotty Lago (Seabrook, NH). According to Vito, with the first one out of the way, he's ready for the rest of the competition season.

"I'm happy to be back into contests and to shake those pre contest season jitters out of the way. You get rid of the anxiety and remember the feelings you have up there and you're ready to move forward," Vito said.

Luke "the squid" Mitrani was running a smooth game with two doubles in his run that consisted of a double michalchuck, frontside 7, cab double cork 10, stalefish and a michalchuck.

"My best friends and I are on the podium, so I couldn't be more psyched," Mitrani said.

According to Mitrani, the Copper Mountain weather provided a surprise in the form of heavy snow for the competition day, but the crew working on it maintained it well.

"I woke up this morning, looked outside and there was about eight inches of snow," Mitrani said. "But I was pretty impressed with how the pipe was. It was a little slower in practice, but they maintained it for the competition really well."

On the women's side, young Farrington has been tearing up the competition scene with a silver at the Dew Tour and a gold at Winter X Games Europe, but the Saturday competition marked her first time atop the Grand Prix podium.

"I'm super excited. I was so nervous coming in so I'm just glad to walk away having landed both my runs," Farrington said. "It feels good to walk away with a win."

Farrington's run ran air, backside 9, front 7, cab 7, air to fakie, and she had a big reason to be stoked on it.

"It was the first time that I've landed the backside 9, so I was stoked just to try it and land it," Farrington said. "I worked on it a lot last year and I'm happy it all came together this year. It's a good way to start out the season."

Farrington was followed by Olympic gold and bronze medalist Kelly Clark (Mount Snow, VT), who had a particularly challenging day in the lead up to the competition, but said it all paid off in the end.

"I had a difficult practice. I didn't land one run all of practice, so the run I did in the contest today was a new run that I've never tried before not a day in my life," Clark said. "So, for me it's a great day coming out and trying something different and being adaptable. It was a big day for me and I am happy with my riding."

Being able to switch it up and keep landing on the podium was a good way to kick off the year for Clark, and he's looking forward to getting more competition under her belt as she moves forward.

"I'm looking forward to a season full of events. I'm more excited and motivated than ever," Clark said. "I'm having so much fun snowboarding these days and I'm looking forward to working on a bunch of trick goals I have and hopefully in turn I'll have success."

The Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix at Copper continues Saturday night with the Paul Mitchell Progression Session.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2011 Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix
Copper Mountain, CO Dec. 11, 2010
Snowboard Halfpipe

Men
1. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 27.90
2. Luke Mitrani, Mammoth, CA, 26.70
3. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, NH, 25.50
4. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, CO, 25.30
5. JJ Thomas, Golden, CO, 25.00
6. Kohei Kudo, Japan, 24.30
7. Kazuumi Fujita, Japan, 23.70
8. Zack Black, Breckenridge, CO, 22.90
9. Nathan Johnstone, Australia, 22.10
10. Spencer Shaw, Stratton, VT, 21.90
11. Brett Esser, Breckenridge, CO, 21.80
12. Ben Farrow, Mount Holly, VT, 19.90
13. Tore-V. Holvik, Norway, 19.80
14. Kosuke Hosokawa, Japan, 14.10
15. Broc Waring, Edwards, CO, 13.90
16. Greg Bretz, Mammoth, CA, 9.90

Women
1. Kaitlyn Farrington, Sun Valley, ID, 28.30
2. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, VT, 26.80
3. Rana Okada, Japan, 24.20
4. Soko Yamaoka, Japan, 23.40
5. Holly Crawford, Australia, 22.50
6. Queralt Castellet, Spain, 20.90
7. Ellery Hollingsworth, Stratton Mountain, VT, 18.80
8. Sarah Conrad, Canada, 18.10