Top female skateboarders and snowboarders liven up Venice Beach with Supergirl Jam series finale

Backside 50-50 by Amy Caron, winner of the Supergirl Jam
skateboard street contest in Venice Beach.
Photo: Luiz Calado)

This past Sunday, just a few yards from the world famous Venice Beach boardwalk, leading female names in skateboarding, snowboarding and inline skate competed in the third and final leg of the 2009 Supergirl Jam.

• Check the photo highlights of the Supergirl Jam in Venice Beach
  

Hailed as the action sports industry’s only large scale, all-girl’s competition and lifestyle festival, the event reportedly entertained 50,000 viewers throughout the day with inline best trick, snowboard rail and skateboard street contests.

The inline category had only eight competitors. Although the low number alone may not be an accurate evidence of the current shape of sport, the popularity of this modality has dropped significantly since its peak in the late 90’s (the X Games, for example, axed the discipline in 2005).

At any rate, Coco Sanchez swept the gold medal with a disaster to sweat stance.

The snowboarding contest was, without doubt, a novelty on the Venice Beach shoreline.

About 80,000 pounds of snow were poured over the drop-in ramp, at both ends of the 35-ft. long rail. The SoCal summer heat was the problem to deal with: even with the creditable efforts of the Mtn. High Snow Resort crew, the snow over the fairly short and narrow landing area quickly became slushy, creating watery patches on the edges and mud spots on the sides.  

Panoramic view of the snowboard rail competition area. (Photo: Luiz Calado)

Needless to say, when bailing a trick, nearly all of the girls ended up with their butts in the puddles and the resulting fashion aesthetics were less than pleasing.

But the wet and saggy pants did not obscure the commitment and ability of these women – overall, the competition was certainly impressive and engaging. 

Laurie Currier slides down the rail towards the
snowboard rail jam first place and best trick award.
(Photo: Luiz Calado)

Laurie Currier cashed in big, taking home two checks: $5,000 for first place and $1,000 for best trick (a hard way front one/hard way front one out). 

Later, the attention of the viewers shifted to the skateboard course that was divided in three sections. The challenge started with 24 girls in section #1. The top 16 then moved on to semis on section #2 and the top eight went on to the finals on section #3. In all segments, the girls alternated one attempt at a single obstacle.

This format, along with the lack of gradient transitions in the course (there were only banked slopes), may have hindered the chances of an overall better exhibition – a significant number of contestants struggled with landing their tricks and a relentless number of bails became patent.

Nevertheless, regardless of any limitation of the course, this was a streetstyle contest.

Frontside boardslide by third place Alexis Sablone.
(Photo: Luiz Calado)

Alexis Sablone was in full force mode, tearing up all obstacles with determination and variety. Considering all the tricks she pulled off, she definitely deserved more than the third place final score. At least, a kickflip over the banks all the way to the flat earned her the $1,000 best trick reward.

Vanessa Torres finished in second, showing style and confidence over the numerous ledges (and quite a footwork on the flatland during breaks).

Looks like the previous prelims and semis scores were discarded before the finals.

That is likely the reason that, ultimately the first place was awarded to Amy Caron. At any rate, she attacked the various rails with an assortment of boardslides and grinds, always showing audacity and resolution. 

Second place finisher Vanessa Torres (left) ollies over the rail, as the other competitors wait for their turns. (Photo: Luiz Calado)

FINAL RESULTS