Lake Tahoe, CA. (March 5, 2006) – The 2nd Annual Vans Cup at Tahoe drew to a close Sunday at Northstar-at-Tahoe with Finland’s Antti Autti and Australian Torah Bright coming up big in the winter storm-shortened Superpipe Jam. With the guys given an hour to show there stuff, the judges and crowd both ordained Autti, who represented Finland in the Torino games, the day’s best, with Louie Vito and Kazuirho Kokubo of Japan finishing second and third. A wave of relief swept over those in attendance as Mammoth Lake’s Mason Aguirre recovered from a scary fall on the deck that had him taken away on a stretcher to later address the crowd and acknowledge his fifth place finish.

In the ladies’ Superpipe Jam, the 19-year-old Bright grabbed the $17,000 first place check finishing ahead of Torino silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler and Aguirre’s sister, Molly Aguirre.

The Superpipe comp today wrapped up a great weekend of snowboarding at Northstar-at-Tahoe that began Friday night under the lights with Mike Casanova and Leanne Pelosi laying claim to the weekend’s first two titles in the Rail Jam. On Saturday, 15-year-old Jamie Anderson, a local from South Lake Tahoe, and Nate Sheehan each captured Slopestyle titles.

Superpipe Finals - Sunday, March 5

Men Purse
1. Antti Autti (Rovaniemi, FIN) $20,000
2. Louie Vito (Bellefontaine, OH) $12,000
3. Kazuirho Kokubo (Hokkaido, JPN) $7,000

Women Purse
1. Torah Bright (Cooma, AUS) $17,000
2. Gretchen Bleiler (Dayton, OH) $8,000
3. Molly Aguirre (Duluth, MN) $3,000

Slopestyle Finals - Saturday, March 4

Men Score Purse
1. Nate Sheehan (Salt Lake City, UT) 86.7 $22,000
2. Mason Aguirre (Duluth, MN) 73.1 $14,000
3. Chaz Guldemond (Laconia, NH) 70.4 $7,000

Women Score Purse
1. Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA) 85.9 $17,000
2. Izumi Amaike (Yokohoma, JPN) 68.5 $8,500
3. Tara Dakides (Mammoth Lakes, CA) 56.2 $3,000

Rail Jam - Friday, March 3

Men's Purse
1. Mike Casanova (Breckenridge, CO) $15,000
2. Darrell Mathes (Lake Oswego, OR) $8,000 * plus $4,000 bonus from Tylenol
3. Lucas Magoon (Rutland, VT) $4,000

For those who didn’t make it out, the Vans Cup at Tahoe will air on Fox Sports Net in two parts at 3 pm April 28 and May 5 with re-broadcasts on May 12 and May 19.