Ross Powers

Ross Powers
Personal information
Full name Ross Powers
Nationality American
Born (1979-02-10) February 10, 1979[1]
Bennington, Vermont[1]
Residence Londonderry, Vermont
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[2]
Weight 179 lb (81 kg)[2]
Sport
Country United States
Sport Snowboarding
Event(s) Men’s Halfpipe
Medal record
Men's snowboarding
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
2002 Salt Lake City Halfpipe
1998 Nagano Halfpipe
World Championships
1996 Lienz Halfpipe
Winter X Games
2011 Aspen Best method

Ross Powers (born February 10, 1979), is an American world champion halfpipe snowboarder from South Londonderry, Vermont. Though he originally rode at Stratton Mountain, Vermont,[3] his home mountain is now Okemo,[4] 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.[5] 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 and a switch frontside air.

Maximilian Stark, Alberto Schiavon, Nick Baumgartner, Ross Powers

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. His current snowboard sponsor is RAMP Sports.

Philanthropy

Powers is the Director of the Snowboarding program at the Stratton Mountain School and currently (2010–present) resides in Stratton, Vermont, with his wife Marisa and daughters, Victoria and Meredith.[6]

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.[7] In 2010 The Ross Powers Foundation teamed up with Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps and formed the "Level Field Fund", a non profit organization with the mission statement:"The Level Field Fund strives to bridge gaps in funding for uniquely talented athletes, following the belief that opportunities to pursue excellence in sport should not be limited by an athlete's financial situation."[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Ross Powers". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Ross Powers". fis-ski.com. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  3. ↑ SkiSnowboard.com
  4. ↑ Okemo website
  5. ↑ Ross Powers Speaker Bio
  6. ↑ "SMS". open publishing. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  7. ↑ History of The Ross Powers Foundation. Rosspowersfoundation.org. Retrieved on 2014-04-12.
  8. ↑ "Level Field Fund". open publishing. Retrieved 10 March 2012.

External links

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