Subscribe to
Snowboard Canada
Billabong Flaunt It
at Mount Norquay
by Stacey Burke
photos by Mike Stastook
The talent at the second stop of the Billabong all-girl event was nothing shy of impressive. The weather on the other hand was much less hovering at points to the -41 C range with the wind-chill. But even with the cold weather, the girls rocked the house and the atmosphere was amazing. Everyone was pushing each other in the type of encouraging, positive way, you only see go down in an all-girls event.
The format was a jump jam in the morning and a rail jam in the afternoon. Five hundred big ones went to the day’s top rider and a trip to the finals at Mont Tremblant, Quebec for a chance at the $5,000 purse. The fresh dusting of snow early in the day created slower conditions resulting in cold bones for the girls. There was a lot of knuckling of the jumps going on, but once the warm-ups were over it was game on.
The future was making an impression with 13-year-old Kristy MacDonald throwing down huge Back 3s stomping halfway down the trannies off the second jump. The young Billabong rider Brook Voight barely missed some very pretty Front 3s. Fellow Billabong rider Taryn Reid was also throwing down with some Back 5 Cabs and super stylish Japans. There were a handful of girls tossing some 7s and 5s, which on any other day would have been stomped but due to the icy landings the girls just couldn’t quite work it out.
On this day the leading lady working it out of the jump section was the one to put it down and that lady was Charmaine Ironside. Charmaine was fresh off crushing the national team pipe tryouts and was determined to prove she was equally skilled at jumps. Charmaine was spinning 3s and 5s every which way to Sunday.
During the rail jam the girls were dancing on and off (the rails that is). The top rider of the jam was Breanna Strangeland dancing a few Back Lip Pretzels out and Boardslides to Back Lips down the three-rail set up, smooth like butter.
Charmaine, yet again determined not to be pigeonholed as a pipe rider, stepped up to the plate with a few switch 50-50s to 180 out. Gillian Andrewshenko was also a girl to watch, charging the jumps with 5s and attacking the rails harder than any other girl with some impressive boardslides and pretzels out.
At the end of the day the points were tallied and Charmaine was on her way to the finals.
Breanna flowed with a strong second and Gillian followed in third place. The next event will be held at Stowe, Vermont on Mar. 1 with Billabong legend Tara Dakides there to cheer the next generation on.
