Vito Places Second in Grand Prix Overall Title

Vito Places Second Place in Grand Prix Overall Title

TAMARACK, Idaho - U.S. Snowboarding pro rider Louie Vito came within 0.6 points of winning the overall national 2007 Chevrolet U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix series title at snowy Tamarack Resort. Vito finished in second place and was within a wobble from taking home first place and also a brand new Chevy Truck.

And even though the snow was hammering down all day the riding was unbelievable. With heavy names like Steve Fisher, Scotty Lago, Louie Vito, Gretchen Bleiler and many more the contest was arguably the best Grand Prix of the year!

The contest was intense. Guys like Steve Fisher, Scotty Lago and Mike Goldschmidt were poised to fight it out for the top spot. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t put together a solid flawless run and that left the podium open for contention. Louie Vito stepped right into that opening, dialing in his 720 to back-to-back 1080s. Louie was a crowd favorite as he completed his second consecutive Grand Prix runner-up finish.

But it was former Olympian, Tommy Czeschin’s day to shine as he linked together consistent spins with solid landings with his second run and slipped into first place on the 22-foot Tamarack "SuperPipe."

The event will air on Versus-TV (formerly OLN-TV) this Sunday, March 4 at 5 p.m. ET and again on NBC-TV at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 10.

2007 CHEVROLET U.S. SNOWBOARD GRAND PRIX
Halfpipe Finals (top 5)

1. Tommy Czeschin, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 42.8
2. Louie Vito, Sandy, UT, 42.2
3. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, CO, 41.5
4. Luke Wynen, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 39.9
5. Jake Black, Dillon, CO, 39.8
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Vito places second at Grand Prix

MT. BACHELOR, Ore. - Steve Fisher (Breckenridge, CO) won the second stop of the Chevrolet U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix Saturday with Louie Vito (Bellefontaine, OH) and Tommy Czeschin (Mammoth Lakes, CA) completing a U.S. Snowboarding sweep of the men's podium.

The competiton can be seen Sunday Feb. 11 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

For Vito, a Stratton Mountain School grad, making the Grand Prix final used to be the goal, but after becoming a regular in the finals last season, stepping up to the podium was just a matter of time.

"I'm pretty happy, mostly because I finally landed a run in finals. I fell on both my runs in the first Grand Prix at Breckenridge, then again on both of them at the X Games - so I'm pretty stoked to stomp one and make the podium with these guys. I just needed to go bigger, but don't worry, that's coming," said Vito.

A Sweep for the US Team
"All of the riders in the final are such great riders, but I think we had the three best guys up there today," added U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach Mike Jankowski. "Fisher, Louie and Tommy all landed their first run and that's 100 percent ideal - you want to get your first run stomped and then see what you can improve on with the second.

2007 CHEVROLET U.S. SNOWBOARD GRAND PRIX
Halfpipe Men's Finals Top 5
1. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, CO, 44.5
2. Louie Vito, Bellefontaine, OH, 39.6
3. Tommy Czeschin, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 38.10
4. Ross Powers, Stratton Mountain, VT, 36.10
5. J.J. Thomas, Golden, CO, 35.20
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Louie Vito Rail Jam for Charity

As the purse is emptied, the heart is filled.
-Victor Hugo

The 10th of February marked the date of the second annual "Louie Vito Rail Jam" at Bellefontaine, Ohio's Mad River Mountain, Louie's native slopes as a small boy. With non-perishable foodstuffs in hand, roughly 170 competitors ranging from age seven to the mid-thirties showed up and contributed said goods as entry fee. It was so refreshing to see a tangible and well-meaning entry fee rather than the ambiguous ten or twenty dollars that never seems to resurface in a cash prize, as is common at many amateur events. Instead the Vito family and Louie himself opted to make a hefty donation to Bellefontaine's St. Vincent DePaul Society, and through that perhaps offered some of the competitors an important lesson encapsulated by the Hugo quote above. Vito's sponsors certainly kept the spirit of giving alive with outerwear from Volcom, goggles from Spy, boards from O-matic, and an endless supply Monster to keep the competitors shredding, hooting, and hollering late into the night.

And of course the event did last late into the night because the 170 competitors each hit the triple line of rails twice. The course began with a 20' down bar, followed by a flat-down box, and ended with a 30' flat box that was over a foot wide. The last box seemed to present the best opportunity for the competitors most technical rail tricks and it saw countless nosepress variations, frontblunts and backside tailslides, and switch ups. Louie expressed how impressed he was with the consistent improvement of Mad River's park, which seems to be getting better and better every time he returns. Consequently, he noted that the level of riding at Mad River is increasing exponentially with tons of young ones possessing good style and an ever increasing bag of tricks. That was certainly on display throughout the evening and those who stuck with it through the biting cold to watch last of the competitors at about 10 PM had seen 4 hours of great snowboarding and quite a show.

The awards ceremony commenced with Louie signing many issues of the latest Snowboarder Magazine for the hungry competitors. It continued with a question and answer discussion with Louie while the judges tallied up their scores. Then, winners were awarded outerwear, goggles, and street clothes, and the boards were raffled off as well as the grand giveaway, an all expenses paid trip to Windell's for the coming summer. The casual entry fee and the manner in which the prizes were distributed gave the entire event less of a feeling of competition, and more of an atmosphere of a philanthropic party. One could see the competitors feeding off of Louie and it became clear to me how much of an inspiration he is to many of the snowboarders who sometimes might feel stuck in Central Ohio. If this year was any indication, and judging by what Louie has said, the "Louie Vito Rail Jam" is going to keep getting better and better, pushing the riders who ride in it, and the hill that hosts it to new heights as well.