Background
Powers, Ross was born on February 10, 1979 in Bennington, Vermont, United States.
Powers, Ross was born on February 10, 1979 in Bennington, Vermont, United States.
Though he originally rode at Stratton Mountain, Vermont, his home mountain is now Okemo, Vermont. Ross helps with the design of the Superpipe and also helped design the RossCross Family Terrain Park. Ross also runs a snowboard camp through Okemo. He led the United States. sweep in the 2002 Winter Olympics men"s halfpipe competition, one day after his 23rd birthday.
This is the first time the Americans have swept a Winter Olympic event since the men"s figure skaters did in 1956.
Powers, with a score of 46.1, dominated the competition. During his final run, Powers dropped in and aired out with an 18 foot method grab (a world record at that time), and followed up with two McTwists, a cab 720 industry grab, a frontside 720 industry grab and a switch frontside air.
Powers is one of the most high profile figures on the halfpipe snowboard circuit. He regularly competes in such events as the United States and European Opens of Snowboarding, the Vans Triple Crown (now known simply as the Vans Cup), and the X-Games.
In 2007 Powers, shifted gears and began (or returned to) racing in snowboard cross.
He had his 1st world cup podium in that discipline in February 2009 at Sunday River Maine, and again in December 2009 in Telluride, Colorado.
In 2010 Powers narrowly missed earning a spot on the United States Olympic Team, this time for snowboard cross.
He finished the season with his SBX World Cup rank at 11th.
In April 2010 Powers was named Director of the snowboarding program at The Stratton Mountain School (SMS), in Vermont. Powers is a 1997 graduate of SMS. His current snowboard sponsor is RAMP Sports.
In 2001 Powers founded the non-profit "Ross Powers Foundation" a philanthropic organization dedicated to providing financial aide to promising athletes from all economic backgrounds. In 2010 the Foundation provided unprecedented assistance to a number of up and coming snowboarders.
In 2010 The Ross Powers Foundation teamed up with Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps and formed the "Level Field Fund", a non profit organization with the mission statement:"The Level Field Fund strives to bridge gaps in funding for uniquely talented athletes, following the belief that opportunities to pursue excellence in sport should not be limited by an athlete"s financial situation.".