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Local boarders solid in slopestyle

Local snowboarders held their own against some of the province’s best young riders at the first ever slopestyle competition held at Canyon Ski Resort on Sunday.Three members of the Riders on Board snowboarding club found their way on to the podium with Liam Krause winning the 12-15 boys division, Jace Dibben finishing second in the U-12 boys division and Taylor Davies coming in third in the girls division.
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Photo by JOSH Aldrich/Advocate staff -- for Josh's story -- Jesse Aulin completes a flip during the Alberta Snowboarding Association Slopestyle competition at Canyon Ski Resort in Red Deer on Sunday

Local snowboarders held their own against some of the province’s best young riders at the first ever slopestyle competition held at Canyon Ski Resort on Sunday.

Three members of the Riders on Board snowboarding club found their way on to the podium with Liam Krause winning the 12-15 boys division, Jace Dibben finishing second in the U-12 boys division and Taylor Davies coming in third in the girls division.

“It’s good for the people around here because they don’t see a lot of competitions at Canyon,” said Riders on Board coach Calvin Coleman.

Conditions were perfect for the competition with temperatures just above 0C in the afternoon.

The slopestyle competition puts boarders out one at a time on the course that features jumps and other obstacles for them to grind on. In this particular competition, they were given three heats each to put together their best runs.

The event attracted 33 competitors from Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Canmore, Leduc and Medicine Hat.

With this being the first time the ski hill has hosted a slopestyle snowboarding event, Sunday was as much about gathering information about the course as anything.

Expect more such competitions in the coming years.

“In 2019 the Canada Winter Games will be held here at this resort, so we need to prepare them and prepare the officials,” said the Alberta Snowboarding Association director of operations Aletta de Rooij. “We have four years to build it out to the best venue for the Canada Winter Games ever.”

The ASA is the first level of competitive snowboarding above grassroots in the province.

There is a Northern Alberta circuit and a Southern Alberta circuit. Snowboarders on each circuit accumulate points from each event and will meet for the series final on March 15 in Calgary.

Up next for the tour is the Hidden Valley ski hill in Medicine Hat on Feb. 22.