U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Kicks off at Copper Mountain, Colorado

In the women's pipe, U.S. Coach Jankowski said the key is having the whole team together driving and pushing each other toward the next level in the sport. "Our veterans continue on their track of being best in the world. Hannah, Gretchen and Kelly are coming back already having that experience and those Olympic medals under the belts," Jankowski said. "It's really a great situation as a team going into these Grand Prix events and towards the Olympics with talented and experience riders, along with our other women. It's a great formula for success.”


"It's really important to have this team together, training together, riding together and competing together. It really is the key to our success being together as a team and doing what we do pushing each other."



Also in the mix and expected to drop in with competitive skills are Olympian Elena Hight (South Lake Tahoe, CA) and Colorado native Clair Bidez (Minturn, CO.) Just 75 miles from Denver, Copper's superpipe is traditionally the first of the season to open in the U.S. and will provide riders a perfect pipe in which they can start their Vancouver Bound journey.



Where to Watch
If you can't catch the action in person, look for the future of the U.S. Olympic team appearing in the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix show on a TV near you Dec. 13 on NBC at 2 p.m. ET, and on Versus Dec. 27 with the halfpipe competition airing at 4 p.m. ET and the Paul Mitchell Progression Session at 5 p.m. ET.
 Look for live updates from the action in Copper on www.ussnowboarding.com, www.facebook.com/ussnowboarding and www.twitter.com/ussnowboarding.