Stacey

Then, as if there wasn't enough money and entertainment to go around, the men were invited to huck their meat for $10,000 in the Big Hit bonus round. Canadian Lael Gregory won this rider-judged style session with a monster backside 900. He said it's what he'd been hoping to pull. "I probably did four or five of them, before I finally landed one".

Justin Lamoureux, the reigning National Canadian Halfpipe Champion, was most definitely the top technician of the day, mixing up each run and even taking an entire run switch, going from backside to frontside airs, switch backside 500 to a Haakonflip 900. That earned him 2nd place and $10,000.

Sweden's Therry Brunner took 3rd, followed by Todd Richards. Shaun White took 5th, a low result for the huge, clean hits this 13-year-old laid down, run after run.

"I love jam session format because everybody is going big, big, big. Everybody is so good here...."— Rio Tahara

American Kim Stacey has had a pretty rad season, and she's only 19. She took 3rd in the World Cup halfpipe here in Whistler back in February, took the Mount Seymour Vans Triple Crown, and then another win in a World Cup halfpipe in Italy.

"I was going for amplitude, and then just trying to throw a normal run," she said, after getting her 10G endorsed.

American Tricia Byrnes, who took four World Cup victories this season, said she really enjoyed the jam session format in today's event. Riders were free to just keep taking runs (escorted back to the top of the pipe via snowmobile) for a set amount of time. They went one right after the other, which kept the energy pretty high.

"It lets you have a lot more fun and not worry about every single move you pull," she said. "I rode consistently, which is what needed to happen, but I didn't ride my best. But I had a lot of fun and the pipe was rad. It got a little softer for the guys. We didn't have very good visibility, but I'd rather have a good pipe than good visibility.

	Tahara

"I'm so stoked," said men's winner Rio Tahara, who had the most props today, hands down. He was backed by a huge crowd of Japanese fans. "I love jam session format because everybody is going big, big, big. Everybody is so good here."

Indeed. Pro snowboarding just keeps getting more impressive. Tom Sims says he wants these contests to showcase just how much talent is out there, and to reward it with the largest cash purse for a snowboarding contest ever. Anywhere.

"I want to know that money is getting back to them, so they can go live their dreams...or just buy a new sled or something," he said.

Perhaps that's just what's on the minds of the athletes invited to put it all on the line in tonight's big air. The man who launches best will get $20,000, while the female who flies highest will earn $10,000.

— Mary Catherine O'Connor, Learning Japanese for MountainZone.com