Hosted by recent X-Games half pipe gold medallist, Gretchen Bleiler, the inaugural Snow Angel’s Invitational went down at Snowmass, Aspen, last weekend. A first of its kind, the event which was presented by Oakley, was a woman’s-only halfpipe contest, combined with a women’s pampering weekend, photo shoot opportunity for all the riders and environmental education for all those interested.

Before the final event went down on Saturday, the girls had a day to spend shooting, followed by massages, cooking lessons, workshops, etc. In typical Oakley style, nothing was done in moderation, thus all the invited riders were spoiled and pampered beyond what was expected. Gretchen hosted an environmental workshop where she appealed to her fellow riders to make more of an effort to make positive changes to our planet, and went as far to ask riders to use their fame where it would help.

On Saturday morning, the Superpipe Jam got started, and has been reported as being the “most progressive hour of women’s halfpipe ever to go down.” With the 13 riders trying to fit in as many runs as possible in an hour and a half, there was absolutely no holding back. With only each other for support and crit, the girls went all out, each and every one improving and progressing to levels that would have the boys quivering. Gretchen however was the shining star, and her experience and mad skills led to her claiming the title and victory. Kelly Clark was another stand out, and she took the prize for the Best Trick and also, the Highest Air. Another first for the girls, each rider walked away with a cash prize from the $20 000 prize purse, which is a positively indirect statement from Oakley saying they are fully behind women’s snowboarding.

The weekend ended with yet more pampering at Snowmass’s Spa, and of course, a party hosted by Oakley, with none other than Angel Drinks and Snow Queen Vodka as the two popular drink specials of the night.

With massive brands like Oakley going ahead and creating these incredible platforms designed to progress women’s riding, and only women’s riding, there can only be good things to come. Similarly, with Gretchen’s motivation to improve her world as well as enthuse fellow riders to do their part, its only logical that snowboarders will be doing all they can to improve the disintegrating quality of our environment.

Tags: Oakley, Snowboarding