Congrats to Gnu Girl Kaitlyn Farrington for winning the season’s Grand Prix series with a second place over the weekend at the final Grand Prix stop at Mammoth Mountain. She also earned the Maloof Best Trick with a huge back 900 riding the new for 2013 Gnu Velvet Guru with EC2 elliptical camber. Proving how unstoppable Kaitlyn is this winter, her last month of riding went down with a cast on her right wrist following surgery following a break last month. The Idaho-native hopped straight from the podium onto a flight to the U.S. Open in Vermont.
“Mammoth GP was really fun even when it was super windy we got to ride some powder. But it was great when the sun finally came out for the contest!“-Kaitlyn Photo: Laura Austin Click for more photos/story from Snowboarder Mag.
Words by Barrett Christy, Photos by George Crossland.
The Dew weekend is over! The level of riding was super impressive… for the guys and girls, especially when you consider that this was the first event of the season and the first opportunity for most of these riders to hit jumps that big, lines that long, or a pipe that good. It wasn’t just like it picked up where the last season left off… it was as though everyone stepped up to a new level just through the sheer stoke of riding on perfect terrain under blue skies and sunshine.
Gnu’s girls were charging all weekend long. Maddy continued to impress during pipe finals with a technical run AND amplitude on her B-pro. She loves the graphics so much she painted her face like a tiger and made cat noises throughout the day. She ended up in 4th, but she proved that she has what it takes to be on the podium at any given event against the world’s best.
Kaitlyn started off finals with a solid run, including her corked bs 9 on the first hit. She has such a big bag of tricks and combo’s, she is so much fun to watch ride. She placed 5th in the finals with her B-pro 52.
The women’s slopestyle finals on Sunday were under the same blue sky and sunshine. It’s the first year I didn’t hear a single complaint from anyone about the setup. (Except the men’s pipe finalists who had to ride in the dark at the end of the day). The jumps were smooth and big without too much “skier” kick on them. The whole run flowed. Jamie was loving her board on this course but couldn’t put together a complete run in the end. Just as her final run was shaping up to challenge Spencer’s lead, she knuckled on the last jump. Her final placing was 5th but she showed she still has what it takes to be on top of that podium. Congratulations to the GNU Girls and friends for an amazing weekend at the Dew Tour!
Congratulations to Maddy Schaffrick and Kaitlyn Farrington on a solid start to the season! Maddy has been testing out Gnu boards and the B-pro seems to be working well for her. She placed 2nd behind the (almost) unbeatable Kelly Clark. Kaitlyn actually beat Kelly at this same event last year in one of the only events that Kelly didn’t win. This weekend Kaitlyn placed a respectable 4th and threw down her unique combos on her tried and true B-Pro!
Kaitlyn Farrington has grown up with Gnu. We’ve been with her from her start in Sun Valley to the top of podiums at X Games, Dew Tours and Grand Prix. She has the unique ability to make every situation fun and easy, and her attitude is contagious. Kaitlyn can ride anything, don’t let her devotion to the pipe fool you. She can also strap on any board and rip harder than most. BUT, her favorite board is the B-Pro and she uses the C2-BTX to her advantage every time she drops in. Kaitlyn is one of the few girls who can spin in all directions, inverted and flat, with style, all while keeping her speed and edge hold in even the ugliest 22ft pipes. She came out to Sequim, WA, near Canada, and home of the Mervin factory this fall to build her own B-pro board. She will be riding it with pride this season, watch for her to climb more podiums with her hand-made, by her own hands, in the USA, board!
GNU team shred Kaitlyn Farrington made it out to the Mervin Sequim Factory to build her own damn snowboard. With help from Mervin icon/snowboarding legend Apostolos Karabotsos, Kaitlyn had no troubles laying up her GNU B-Pro. She did such an amazing job Pos wanted to hire her right away… no joke!
Kaitlyn has been riding so strong this year. She is the only woman to have beaten Kelly Clark in the pipe this year, at the first Grand Prix of the season. When not on top of the podium she is closing the gap between 1st and 2nd with a variety of technical tricks and smooth style. Her B-pro C2Btx with magne-traction is helping her hold her edge and her speed in the 22 ft pipes, while getting enough pop to throw progressive tricks like b/s 9’s and corked 7’s.
Congrats to Gnu Girl Kaitlyn Farrington for picking up silver in women’s superpipe at the X Games Saturday night. The Sun Valley, ID-native’s picking up steam pairing this weekend’s podium with last year’s win at the inaugural European Winter X Games and another win at this season’s first Grand Prix event in women’s superpipe.
Photos by Tim Zimmerman
A nearly flawless run punctuated with a stylish backside 900 sealed silver for the 21-year-old this weekend. Kaitlyn rode her Gnu B-Pro to the podium with Magne-traction gripping the walls of Buttermilk’s 22-foot Superpipe, banana putting the power between her feet and a C2 assist for stomped landings.
“The pipe was really awesome, I was super stoked to be able to put some runs down!”
Congratulations to Kaitlyn Farrington, she placed 3rd in the halfpipe event at Breckenridge, she also turned 21. Happy Birthday Kaitlyn! Podium left to right: Hight, Castellet and Farrington, Photo courtesy of Alli Sports
At the start of the 2009 season, Kaitlyn Farrington hadn’t ever made a pro podium. But things changed quickly for the 19-year-old snowboarder from Idaho, and by the end of the season she had multiple podium finishes and a Dew Cup championship under her belt.
