Powell, Roland Win USASA Nationals Open Class Rail Jam

One of the premier competitions of snowboard week at the 2019 USASA National Championships went down on Tuesday night in the Center Village at the base of Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, as Zeb Powell (Waynesville, N.C.), and Alexis Roland (Shoreview, Minn.) took top honors at the open class rail jam in front of an enthusiastic crowd. 

More party atmosphere than a competition, the rail jam format sees heats of riders dropping more-or-less at will during a 25-minute session to hit one of the roughly 10 jib features spread out across a small hill, as judges score riders based on tricks, style, variation, ingenuity, and overall impression. It’s a free-flowing spectacle, fun for fans and riders alike, and on Tuesday some of the best in the business put on an exciting show.

Roland, of the Upper Midwest Snow Series, was one of the night’s most consistent riders, moving from feature to feature easily and stomping a myriad of tricks across them all including frontside boardslides and switch frontside boardslide through the massive kinked rail - to take the ladies’ contest.

Second and third places went to a pair of Colorado locals, as Lauren Derminio (Dillon, Colo.) took silver, and Ellie Weiler (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) rounded out the podium in third.

Over on the men’s side, the Southern Vermont Series’ own Powell was the standout rider of the evening, attacking the rail jam course, and at one point blowing the roof off of the place by launching a backside rodeo on the wallride and over the downrail to flat that was the fan-favorite trick of the evening. Throw in the fact that he spent his entire night of riding while clutching a teddy bear and you’ve got a winning score of 1375 and an iconic gold medal-winning performance.

“Honestly, I had a lot of butterflies going into it tonight,” said Powell after the awards ceremony, “I didn’t really expect to do that well. I don’t even think I did that well. But I just tried to go out and have some fun and it paid off. It’s pretty cool to finally place at my last nationals.” 

Second place for the men went to David Retzlaff (Holly, Mich.) of the Rocky Mountain Series, while another Southern Vermonter - TJ Fitzgerald (West Dover, Vt.) - earned bronze.

RESULTS
Men's snowboard open class rail jam
Women's snowboard open class rail jam