Klampert

Line the best freestylers in the world at the top of a snowboard park, add freezing rain, a bit of snow, a few sun breaks and suddenly you're at the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding slopestyle show down. The previous two stops of the Van's tour ran a big air competition, but they do things a bit differently here at Sierra-at-Tahoe.

When the women began, the snow was a sticky sort of paste. Most of them decided to take similar lines down the course, but they all added their own personal spice. In the end, Jaime MacLeod took first place.

"It [the winning run] was simple. I was just trying to get through it, to tell you the truth," she said.

Keep in mind, simple is a relative term. Katrina Warnick had the most impressive amplitude and fluid form of the day which earned her a second while Brittani Scheefer spun into 3rd place.

As MacLeod was given her award she said, "I'm fixing up a Harley, so some of the money will go towards that. It's '67 sportster, so that will be fun for the summer." Now that's what I'm talking about!

"A lot of people weren't clearing. I didn't want to see anyone get hurt — blow out a knee or something..."— Rham Klampert

Most of the women jibbed their way to mid course to set up for a tabletop or a quarterpipe like hit on the side of the park. Due to the slow, syrupy snow, not many could keep enough speed to make the landing on the tabletop so they opted for the quarterpipe and some huge air.

In the middle of one competitors run, a confused skier wandered out onto the course like a deer trying to cross a busy intersection. Perhaps this interloper didn't realize that all the fencing and cheering fans lined along the course signified a contest, because she ran the course right along with the boarder. She paid the price, though. The crowd heckled her and threw some well-aimed snowballs. Too bad she wasn't wearing a helmet cam.

Then the men showed up and a few of them gave it a whirl. But the course was in such poor shape, they all decided to split the cash amongst themselves.

"A lot of people weren't clearing. I didn't want to see anyone get hurt — blow out a knee or something...you just couldn't get the speed to make it to the landing. It was just too dangerous, I thought," said Rham Klampert, who was awarded 1st place for his top qualifying score from Friday.

	Warnwick

However, they weren't about to let the crowd go home without a show. Once it was declared a jam session, the real style surfaced. Anyone and everyone dropped in and did their dance. Some of them weren't stomping the landings, but nobody seemed to mind. Twisting and spinning, sometimes inverted; all the love was for the spectators.

In the end, the final scores were carried over from the qualifiers and all 20 men went home with a bite of the pie. Klampert said with a smile, "I was stoked on finally doing my switch backside rodeo nine in a contest."

Now this is brotherly love. The men got their chance to strut and the prize money was just the icing. As the huckfest was coming to an end, some huckers were launching off the side of a kicker and crashing into the deep pow, with no intentions of landing on their feet. It's all in good fun. The halfpipe's up next and will conclude this millennial Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding. Time to starting thinking about surf and skate.

— Lucas Kane, Sippin' on a Snapple for MountainZone.com