The first edition of the winter 2017  Empire Games / Superdemo took place last Saturday, February 25, at Station Touristique Stoneham, and the slightly wet conditions did not prevent the event to be an overall success. We could even say that our day, filled with snowboarding and good times, was simply exceptional.

 

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Starting last Wednesday, the Empire, Stoneham and Todaysparks teams worked day and night to create the long-awaited Empire Games course.

The rainy and hot weather sure made us fear for the worst, but fortunately, the heat did not have any negative impacts on our facilities. In fact, this unexpected spring weather was not unpleasant at all.

 

Warm up

It was with great enthusiasm that the Stoneham Empire Games riders dropped in on our fresh course to test its difficulty. It was impressive to see how quickly the participants got used to the absurd and unique obstacles we put in front of them. All seemed to have a crazy amount of fun carving, jumping and slashing through the course.

 

Open

• 1 - Frank Bourgeois
• 2 - Jason Dubois
• 3 - Keassy Patenaude

Juniors

• 1 - Simon Olivier
• 2 - David Tourigny
• 3 - Jerome Laporte

Women

• 1 - Laurie Gauvin
• 2 - Marjorie Couturier
• 3 - Marie-Pier Lepine-Proulx

15 and under division

The battle was really tight in the junior division. As the youth proceeded to decimate the course with almost as much ease as the adults, they showed us what’s up and believe us, the future looks brigt. The current generation may well be scared, young guns are hungry and still have many years ahead of them to progress and develop their styles.

 

At the end of the competition, it was Simon Olivier who took the first position, followed by David Tourigny taking second place and Jerome Laporte in third. To all the young people who participated in the event, keep on riding and loving it ! You seriously impressed us.

Women division

Once again, the women stood out during their session at the Stoneham Empire Games. each year the skill level in women snowboarding seems to multiply exponentially. If you had seen them rip the incongruous course of our last event, you would understand.

 

After leading a more than legitimate battle, it was Laurie Gauvin who took the first position, followed by Marjorie Couturier and Marie-Pier Lepine-Proulx for the second and third positions, respectively.

Open Division

The last and most important division of the Empire Games was so good and exciting that the judges were standing on their chairs throughout the whole competition. Punctuating their runs with technical and impressive maneuvers, the riders showed us their ability to adapt to different terrain with a maximum amount of style and skills.

 

After leading a serious battle, only two riders made it to the finals. Frank Bourgeois cleared the Finish Him Obstacle first and went home with the $ 600 cash prize for 1st position. In second position, Jason Dubois earned $ 250 and in third, Keassy Patenaude, who got his hands on a respectable $ 100.

Thanks to the snowboarders who entered the competition, to the spectators, the organizers, the people responsible for the construction and maintenance of the course and all the brands that were present at the Super Demo for making this Empire Games day an unforgettable one. A big thanks also goes to our sponsors (Monster Energy and Burton Snowboards) and our partners (Oakley and Volcom), without them, none of this would have been possible.

 

See you at Bromont on march 25th for the second edition of the winter 2017 Empire Games.