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SKI SUPERPIPE
Darice Bailer
Lerner Publications Company Minneapolis
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Copyright 2013 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except
for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.
Lerner Publications Company
A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
241 First Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.
Website address: www.lernerbooks.com
Content Consultant: Skogen Sprang, Freeskiing pioneer, X Games medalist, and current U.S.
Freeskiing Slopestyle Team coach
With special thanks to Canadian Half-Pipe Team Head Coach Trennon Paynter, U.S. freeskiers Devin
Logan and Peter Olenick, and Justine Spence, the U.S. Freeskiing press officer, for all of their help.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bailer, Darice.
Ski superpipe / by Darice Bailer.
pagescm. (Extreme winter sports zone)
Includes index.
ISBN 9781467707572 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)
ISBN 9781467717328 (eBook)
ISBN 9781512417616 (Audisee ISBN)
1. Skis and skiingJuvenile literature. 2. Extreme sportsJuvenile literature. I. Title
GV854.315.B36 2014
796.93dc23 2013001739
Manufactured in the United States of America
1 PP 7/15/13
The images in this book are used with the permission of: Jonathan Moore/Getty Images, ; Haslam
Photography/Shutterstock Images, ; Christian Murdock/The Colorado Springs Gazette/
AP Images, ; Jeffrey Van Daele/Shutterstock Images,
10; Vincent Curutchet/DPPI/Icon SMI, ; Vincent Curutchet/
DPPI/Icon SMI, ; Nathan Bilow/AP Images,
; Ryan Slabaugh/The
Aspen Times/AP Images, ; Nick Stubbs/Shutterstock Images,
25; gorillaimages/Shutterstock Images, ; Marc Piscotty/Icon
SMI, .
Front cover: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; backgrounds: kcv/Shutterstock.com.
Main body text set in Folio Std Light 11/17.
Typeface provided by Adobe Systems.
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TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
SARAH LEADS THE WAY
THE PIPE AND
ITS BEGINNINGS
SKIING THE SUPERPIPE
HITTING THE SNOW
Superpipe Stars
Glossary
For More Information
Index
About the Author
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CHAPTER
ONE
S arah Burke smiled at the top of the snowy ramp. It was January
27, 2011. Burke was heading into her second run of the ski
superpipe finals at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado.
The
Winter X Games is one of the most exciting extreme sports competitions
of the year. Athletes compete for medals and prize money. Before
pushing off, Burke high-fived her coach. In moments, Burke would be
performing aerial spins and flips off the superpipe, a U-shaped ditch
with 22-foot (6.7-meter) walls.
Burke was 28 years old. She had been skiing since she was just
five years old. This was her seventh trip to the Winter X Games. She
had won three gold medals and two silver medals in past superpipe
competitions. But this year, a medal seemed like a long shot for Burke.
She was recovering from shoulder surgery. Shed had only nine days
to practice before the 2011 Winter X Games. And Burke hadnt skied
her best during the elimination rounds the night before. She was in last
place going into the finals. To make matters worse, she had fallen on
her first of the three finals runs.
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Sarah Burke
won her third gold
medal in superpipe
at the 2009 Winter
X Games in Aspen,
Colorado.
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