Solid Canadian showing at snowboard World Cup event

Rob Balharry led a solid Canadian showing Friday at a snowboard World Cup event at Canada Olympic Park.

Balharry, of Canmore, Alta., was among seven Canadians —five men, two women —who qualified for the slopestyle finals.

Balharry was the top Canadian male qualifier with a score of 22.3 points he recorded on his second run to finish second behind Austria's Clemens Schattschneider.

"I laid down two good runs, so I'm stoked," said Balharry. "Clemens is riding really good right now and all the Canadian boys are killing it.

"It should be a good day (Saturday)."

Slopestyle is an event for freestyle snowboarders that allows riders to choose their own path down a terrain-park style course consisting of rails at the top and jumps at the bottom. It is not yet an Olympic event, although Canadian women's snowboard cross gold medallist Maelle Ricker said she wouldn't be surprised to see it make its debut in the 2012 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

"I think there's a really good chance it could be in Sochi," said Ricker, here to support her teammates. "That's very, very exciting."

Schattschneider had the top score of 26 points in the men's event.

"I let out my run and I'm happy to be in the final," Schattschneider said.

Julien Beaulieu, of Lac Beauport, Que., was third with a score of 21.9 points.

"I'm pretty happy," said Beaulieu, who broke his snowboard during a fall on his first run.

Although the top layer of his board was cracked at the front, Beaulieu had no choice but to use it on his second run.

"I didn't have my other board, so I just had to stomp a good run," he said. "I have my other board back at the hotel.

"I don't know why I didn't bring it."

Also qualifying for the slopestyle final were Zachary Stone, of Whistler, B.C., in seventh with 20.4 points, Tanner Davidson, of Calgary, in eighth with 18.6 points and Derek Livingston, of Aurora, Ont., who was 11th with 18.2 points.

Breanna Stangeland of Whistler, B.C., finished first in the women's event with 24.3 points.

"I'm so comfortable here," said Stangeland, who grew up in Calgary and learned to ski and snowboard here. "My parents are here to cheer me on, so that's nice.

"My rail run was pretty solid. I think I can try a little harder on the jumps."

American Serena Shaw was second with 21.7 points while Brooke Voigt, of Fort McMurray, Alta., took third with 19.1 points.

Brad Martin, of Ancaster, Ont., will be the lone Canadian in Saturday's half-pipe final after finishing fifth with 23.6 points in qualifying Thursday.

World champion Nathan Johnstone of Australia finished first with a 28.6-point ride.

"Everyone's riding really well these days and it's definitely tough competition out there," said Martin, the defending Canadian national half-pipe champion. "I definitely want to be on the podium.

"I'm going to try my hardest to be there for sure."

According to Ricker, Martin has what it takes to win a medal.

"I think he definitely has all the tricks and the experience," Ricker said. "He's going to have to put down some nice runs."

Ricker's season ended abruptly Jan. 18 at the world snowboard championships in Spain when she broke her left hand and injured her left shoulder in a crash.

"It is disappointing that I hurt myself at the world championships," Ricker said. "It could have been a lot worse.

"In the grand scheme of things, it's just my hand. In that regard it's all good."