Canadian Adaptive Snowboarders Dominate at USASA Nationals

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Vancouver, BC, April 10, 2007 – The 2006-07 snowboard season is wrapping up, but athletes of the Canadian Adaptive Snowboard Program were making every last day count as they cleaned up at the United States of America Snowboard Association Nationals this past weekend.

Leading the charge was Rossland, BC native Ian Lockey, 33, who took Gold in all five competitions over the weekend, including Slopestyle, Halfpipe, Giant Slalom, Parallel Slalom and Snowboardcross. Lockey, who rides out of Red Mountain, is an incomplete paraplegic, with mass deficiencies from the waist down allowing him to stand and walk but have limited use of his muscles in his legs.

Following closely on Lockey’s performances was Whistler’s Tyler Mosher, 35, who took silver in the men’s Parallel Slalom and Snowboardcross, and bronze in the Halfpipe. Mosher is also an incomplete paraplegic.

On the women’s side it was Emily Cavallin, of Smithers, BC who also had an impressive showing over the weekend. Cavallin took home a pair of second place finishes in the Parallel Slalom and Giant Slalom events, and a third in Snowboardcross. Cavallin is a below the knee amputee, and is just 17 years old.

“This was a great way for our Adaptive athletes to finish off the season,” said Danny Buntain, Sport Development Coordinator, CSF. “Canada is a leader in Adaptive Snowboarding, and the performances by these athletes demonstrates that our focus on this program through clinics and training is moving the sport in the right direction.”

The USASA Nationals took place at North Star Tahoe from April 2-6, with the Adaptive competitions run by Adaptive Action Sports, USA. A total of nine men and six women from Canada, USA, Australia, Netherlands and Italy competed in the events. The disability types for these athletes ranged from below the knee amputee, above the knee amputee, incomplete quadriplegia, double below the knee amputee, visually impaired athletes, and incomplete paraplegics.

For full results from the weekend, go to www.usasa.org.

About the Canadian Snowboard Federation
The Canadian Snowboard Federation is the national governing body for snowboarding in Canada. It is the provider of programs and support services, based on established principles of long term athlete development, for all levels of snowboarding ability and is committed to excellence at all levels of competition. For more information, visit www.csf.ca.

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For more information, please contact:
Betsy Cooper
Communications Manager, Canadian Snowboard Federation
778-329-7389 (office)
778-229-4947 (mobile)
betsy@csf.ca (email)