Ross Powers

Ross Powers was born on 10 February 1979, hails from South Londonderry, Vermont, and is an American world champion halfpipe snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist. He led an American sweep of the men's halfpipe at the 2002 Winter Olympics, the day after his 23rd birthday, claiming the gold medal with a score of 46.1; it was the first time Americans had swept a Winter Olympic event since the men's figure skaters in 1956, and his final run included an 18-foot method grab that was a world record at the time. He regularly competed at the US and European Opens of Snowboarding, the Vans Triple Crown and the X Games, and in the 2004 to 2005 season he won the Mt. Bachelor Grand Prix and the overall series title. In 2007 he turned to snowboard cross and reached his first World Cup podium in that discipline in 2009. In 2010 he became director of the snowboarding program at the Stratton Mountain School, from which he graduated in 1997. He helped design the RossCross Family Terrain Park, founded the Ross Powers Foundation in 2001 to help promising athletes, and is a playable character in the video games Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder and Cool Boarders 4.