Ross Powers
Encyclopedia
Ross Powers is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 world champion halfpipe snowboarder
Snowboarding
Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...

 from South Londonderry, Vermont. Though he originally rode at Stratton Mountain, Vermont, his home mountain is now Okemo, VT. Ross helps with the design of the Superpipe and also helped design the RossCross Family Terrain Park. Ross also runs a snowboard camp through Okemo. He led the U.S. sweep in the 2002 Winter Olympics men's halfpipe competition, one day after his 23rd birthday. This is the first time the Americans have swept a Winter Olympic event since the men's figure skaters did in 1956. Powers, with a score of 46.1, dominated the competition.

During his final run, Powers dropped in and aired out with an 18 foot method grab (a world record at that time), and followed up with two McTwists, a cab 720 indy grab, a frontside 720 indy grab
Indy grab
An indy grab is an aerial skateboarding, snowboarding and kitesurfing trick during which the rider grabs the middle of his board, between his feet, on the side of the board where his toes are pointing....

 and a switch frontside air.

Powers is one of the most high profile figures on the halfpipe snowboard circuit. He regularly competes in such events as the US and European Opens of Snowboarding, the Vans Triple Crown (now known simply as the Vans Cup), and the X-Games. During the 2004/2005 season, Ross won the Mt. Bachelor Grand Prix event and went on to be the overall champion for the series.

In 2007 Powers, shifted gears and began (or returned to) racing in snowboard cross. He had his 1st world cup podium in that discipline in Feb. 2009 at Sunday River Maine, and again in Dec. 2009 in Telluride, CO.

In 2010 Powers narrowly missed earning a spot on the US Olympic Team, this time for snowboard cross. He finished the season with his SBX World Cup rank at 11th.

In April 2010 Powers was named Director of the snowboarding program at The Stratton Mountain School (SMS), in Vermont. Powers is a 1997 graduate of SMS.

Family

Powers is the Snowboard Ambassador at Okemo Mountain Resort, and currently(2008–present) resides in South Londonderry, Vermont, with his wife and daughters, Victoria and Meredith.

In 2001 Powers founded the non-profit "Ross Powers Foundation" a philanthropic organization dedicated to providing financial aide to promising athletes from all economic backgrounds. In 2010 the Foundation provided unprecedented assistance to a number of up and coming snowboarders.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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