Mentel and Strong win Snowboard Cross
The Netherlands' Bibian Mentel and USA's Evan Strong were victorious at the IPCAS Snowboard Cross Test Event in Sochi, Russia.

The Netherlands' Bibian Mentel and USA’s Evan Strong picked up gold at the IPCAS Snowboard Cross Test Event in Sochi, Russia on Wednesday (6 March).

With just one year and one day to go until the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, 25 athletes from 11 nations competed in warm, sunny conditions on a technical and challenging course in Rosa Khutor, the Paralympic snow sports venue.

There were events for upper and lower limb impairment groups, although only the latter will be a Paralympic event next year.

Strong had the fastest times on the first two runs on the men’s side, allowing him to take gold.

The Hawaiian native did not go into the competition as confidently as he might have hoped, though, having battled illness over the past few days.

“After practice yesterday, I wasn't feeling super-confident, I was sliding down a lot of the turns,” Strong said. “I didn't really know how today was going to go.

“But as soon as I got out the start gate on my first run, it just felt super fluid, really good and I thought, 'I know this feeling, I know how to do this.’”

It was by no means an easy victory, as Strong finished 0.29 seconds ahead of his teammate Mike Shea (1:28.36), who had the fastest time on the third run and was consistently less than 0.2 seconds behind Strong on the other runs. New Zealand's Carl Murphy took bronze in 1:28.71.

“Mike Shea my teammate has been looking super aggressive and really fast all season, and he was definitely keeping it together better in the training,” Strong said. “Seeing that the first six guys were just half a second apart after the first two runs, I knew my work was cut out for me.” Read More:

On February 3rd and 4th the best Para-Snowboarders from around the globe hit the slopes at the resort of Orcières 1850 to compete for the title of Para-Snowboard World Champion.

The 2012 WSF Para-Snowboard World Championship, hosted by Orcières 1850, the French Snowboard Initiative - My Snowboarding, and the World Snowboard Federation (WSF), yielded some of today’s top talent with riders competing from ten different nations including Belgium, Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, and the United States. Add the top riders in the sport to the exciting Snowboard cross terrain and finally with the title of World Champion on the line, the end result was two exciting days of competition.

In the Men’s Standing Category, Tyler Mosher from Canada held the lead after the first day of competition followed by Carl Murphy from New Zealand and Evan Strong from the USA respectively. Day two of the World Championship proved to be a strong day for the American team with Strong posting the fastest runs of the day giving him the lead in the overall results and thus crowing him as Para-Snowboard World Champion. Following closely behind Strong was Murphy and Mike Shea from the USA.

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (August 18, 2011) – 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games today hosted the WSF Para-Snowboard World Cup at Cardrona Alpine Resort, featuring a strong international field from both sides of the world.

It was an all-American victory with world number one, Amy Purdy, taking out the women’s in a combined best of 202.69 and Evan Strong, also world number one, taking out the men’s in 148.25.

The men’s race was incredibly close between X Games gold medallist, Evan Strong and Carl Murphy (NZL), world number two, who took silver.
“That was one of the most fun World Cups this season,” said Strong. “It was nerve wracking in the morning with low visibility and the practice was rough as we couldn’t see very well. But the sun came out, softened up the course and made it way faster. It was fun racing with Carl, he’s an amazing snowboarder. On the first run he had 4/10 of a second on me so I had some pressure to push through. The second run put me in the lead by 2/10 of second but I know Carl is a fast racer and that he could easily take that up so I had to make sure I made my last run count and pushed through to take the win.”
Both athletes agreed Cardrona’s World Cup course was the best they’d ridden for an adaptive competition.

The 2011 World Snowboard Federation (WSF) Para–Snowboard World Cup Tour came to an end in Lake Louise, Alberta, with the presentation of two races during the 2011 Canada~Snowboard Nationals presented by COLD-FX®.

A total 39 athletes from nine nations took to the snowboard cross course at the Lake Louise Ski Resort. The Americans were largely represented with 13 riders in the standing category, and they showcased their world domination with a combined nine podiums in the last two World Cup races of the season.

Evan Strong of the USA was without a doubt the strongest of the 24-men field, winning both races by a landslide. Strong was the only rider to break the 50 seconds mark, and he did it in all three runs in Saturday’s race. AAS advocate Evan Strong put in the fastest mens times from both races, that would have nearly qualified him for the able bodied men's division, and has two gold medals to show for it.

On February 3rd and 4th Para-Snowboarders from seven countries hit the slopes at Orcières 1850 to compete for Gold in back to back WSF Para-Snowboard World Cups hosted by Orcières 1850, the French Snowboard Initiative, My Snowboarding, and WSF.

The 2011 Orcières 1850 WSF Para-Snowboard World Cups yielded some of today’s top talent from around the globe; including riders from Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States. Add the top riders in the sport to the hard packed snow conditions on the course and two WSF Para-Snowboard World Cup Gold medals on the line, and the result was two exciting days of competition.

In the Men’s Standing Category, Evan Strong from the USA set the stage for Para-Snowboarders by bringing home Gold on both days. Not far behind was Tyler Mosher, from Canada and previous WSF Para-Snowboard World Champion, took home the Silver by only .07 seconds on day two of the WSF Para-Snowboard World Cups making for an exciting finish. Mosher also took home Silver on day one. And Keith Gabel assisted Team USA with their overall medal count by finished both days with Bronze medals.

This winter at X Games 15 in Aspen Colorado, Adaptive Action Sports brought a ground breaking event to life: Adaptive Snowboarder X. Partnering with the X Games AAS invited six of the top ranked adaptive snowboarders in the world to compete in an all-out race to the bottom. Evan Strong, Mike Shea and Dan Monzo were among the competitors. They finished in first, second and third places.

Evan Strong, a single below knee amputee, commanded the race from the beginning and crossed the finish line first after nailing the 60 foot jump at the bottom of the course. 
“This is one of the best moments of my life. This is awesome!” Evan exclaimed at the bottom of the course before raising his arms in victory to the hundreds of spectators watching.