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Broc Waring wins Young Dudes division at Throwback Throwdown

Broc Waring of Edwards, a full time college student, took a little time away from the books this weekend to take down the 'Young Dudes' division at the 4th-annual Breckenridge Throwback Throwdown celebration of halfpipe snowboarding.
Rachel Lawlis | Special to the Daily

BRECKENRIDGE — These days, Broc Waring is more focused on college finals than competition finals. The former pro halfpipe snowboarder who calls Edwards home is now a full-time student at Westminster College in Utah, and is trying to put his high-flying days behind him.

But some weekends, he just can’t stay away.

On Saturday at the Throwback Throwdown — a celebration of halfpipe snowboarding that combines the best of the new (Breck’s 22-foot superpipe) and the best of old with a hand-dug halfpipe like the ones used 30 years ago in competition — Waring took down some tough competition to walk away with a win in the Young Dudes division of competitors under 35.



“It felt good, I was riding well,” Waring said Sunday.

Going up against some of the best in the sport — such as former Dew Tour, Grand Prix, Burton U.S. Open and World Cup overall winner Taylor Gold — Waring had to put together a good run in both the 22-foot pipe and the hand-dug beast to claim the victory.

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“I landed a good run in the 22-foot pipe, and I managed to stay on my feet in the little hand-dug pipe,” he said.

For some of the younger competitors like Waring, who was born in ’92, the hand-dug pipe presented much more of a challenge than it may have for the trailblazers of the sport 30 years ago.

“I have no idea what I’m doing in there,” X Games veteran halfpiper and Olympian Arielle Gold said Saturday. She took second in the women’s competition behind her Red Bull teammate Sarka Pancochova, of the Czech Republic.

For Waring, who is set to graduate in December with a degree in communications, the weightless feeling of soaring out of a halfpipe is much more familier than the weight-on-your-shoulders feeling of finals week in college. But he says he’s just taking things one step at a time, and trying to have a little fun along the way.

“I’m just focused on graduating right now. That’s what’s next for me,” he said.

Taylor Gold, Arielle’s brother, finished third in the Young Dudes division behind Matt Ladley, who was second. Breck snowboarding legend Todd Franzen took the top spot in the Old Dudes (35 and older) competition, followed by Chad Otterstrom and Jim Smith.


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