BMX rider Jed Mildon lands first-ever triple back flip

Jed Mildon made sporting history Saturday, becoming the first BMX rider to land a triple back flip.

"This is the perfect result to three intensive months of practicing and training for this moment," said Mildon, 24, who completed the stunt at the Unit T3 Mindtricks BMX Jam, an exhibition event in Mildon's hometown of Taupo, New Zealand.

Among the estimated 2,000 spectators was a Guinness World Records representative, on hand
to witness and certify the groundbreaking stunt.

"The impact and implications hasn’t sunken in yet, but I’m so pumped to have aimed for something once deemed impossible and made my dream a reality," Mildon said. "Once I was in the air, it felt like time stood still and I could see each rotation perfectly.

"Landing with both wheels on the down ramp was the most amazing feeling in the world!”

-- Kelly Burgess
Twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Video credit: YouTube

'Jetman' Yves Rossy completes Grand Canyon flight

Swiss daredevil "Jetman" Yves Rossy successfully completed his flight along the Grand Canyon in his jet-propelled wingsuit on Saturday.

Swissinfo reports that Rossy, 51, launched from the side of a helicopter at about 8,000 feet and, flying at speeds of up to 190 mph, remained airborne 200 feet above the rim of Grand Canyon West for more than eight minutes before deploying his parachute and safely descending to the canyon floor.

This was the first U.S. flight for Rossy, who had previously completed flights over the Swiss Alps and the English Channel. Originally planned for Friday, the Grand Canyon flight was postponed because of issues with Federal Aviation Administration permissions.

"My first flight in the U.S. is sure to be one of the most memorable experiences in my life. Not only for the sheer beauty of the Grand Canyon but the honor to fly in sacred Native American lands." Rossy said in a press release. "Thank you Mother Nature and the Hualapai Tribe for making my lifelong dreams come true."

-- Kelly Burgess

twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Video: Swiss "Jetman" flies over Grand Canyon. Credit: YouTube

Surfing's Big Wave Awards include Wipeout of the Year category

The 2011 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards will take place April 29 at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, with some of the top names in the surf industry gathering to honor male and female surfers and their greatest successes on huge waves worldwide during the last year.

Watching top surfers ride big waves perfectly is mesmerizing. And so is watching those not so successful in their execution.

One of the crowd-favorite award categories is not for those who pull off a perfect ride, but for those who don't -- the Verizon Wireless Wipeout Award.

This year's nominees for the worst wave-riding crash of the last 12 months are: Brazilian Thiago Candelot, meeting misfortune at Maui's Jaws break; Australian Mark Mathews and Brazil's Everaldo "Pato" Teixeira, both unsuccessful at Tasmania's Shipstern Bluff; Laurie Towner of Australia, feeling defeat at Cloudbreak, Fiji; and Australian Ben Wilkinson, learning firsthand how difficult Maverick's, the infamous big-wave break off Half Moon Bay, can be.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Video: Verizon Wireless Wipeout Award nominees. Credit: BillabongXXL.com via YouTube

A dizzying look at the Valparaiso Cerro Abajo bike race

The video above is from this year's Valparaiso Cerro Abajo, an urban bike race held annually on the streets of Valparaiso, Chile.

Race winner Filip Polc, from Slovakia, is seen navigating the crazy course during his qualifying run, braving jumps and flights of stairs and avoiding myriad obstacles, including an almost-unlucky dog.

Polc's helmet-cam really provides a unique and dizzying perspective of what has to be one of the craziest urban downhill races around.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Video credit: Filip Polc via YouTube

Hawaiian big-wave rider Sion Milosky, 35, dies in surfing accident at Maverick's

Big-wave surfer Sion Milosky died Wednesday while surfing Maverick's in Northern California. He was 35.

Pete Thomas Outdoors reported that Milosky died after being pummeled by waves late in the day while surfing the infamous big-wave break off Half Moon Bay.

Milosky, of Kauai, Hawaii, was brought to shore by other surfers and taken by ambulance to Seton Coastside Medical Center after unsuccessful CPR efforts.

Maverick's surfer Ken Collins, who Milosky was staying with in Santa Cruz, told the Mercury News that Milosky apparently drowned after the lip of a wave he was riding collapsed on top of him, driving Milosky's board straight to the bottom. Another wave crashed over Milosky shortly after, Collins said.

Milosky, who is survived by his wife and two young children, is only the second surfer believed to be killed at Maverick's. The first was Mark Foo, also of Hawaii, who drowned in 1994.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Video: Sion Milosky's biggest wave. Credit: abstractlines.tv via Vimeo

 

Lance Mackey completes 2011 Iditarod, finishing 16th

Popular musher Lance Mackey pulled into Nome, Alaska, at 8:55 a.m. Wednesday, officially ending his 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race finishing in 16th place.

"The top 15 guys and some of the ones behind me have been trying to beat me for the last four years, and they all got their shot at once," Mackey told the Anchorage Daily News. "So now it's over with. I'll be back."

Upon arriving in Nome, he was met by cheers and well-wishers. "I didnt have to be first to still have a fan club. That was nice," Mackey said.

When asked if Wilson was his dog of the future, Mackey replied, "Oh, absolutely, look at him, he's so happy. He led every step, and a lot of it in single lead.

"As you've all seen they're fast enough to win this race and I've been on a training trip since Nikolai with plans for the next year or two."

His responses made it pretty clear that we'll see the Fairbanks musher back for the 2012 "last great race on Earth."

Mackey, 40, who won four consecutive Iditarod races from 2007 to 2010, was down to seven dogs in harness of the original 16-dog team he started with in Anchorage.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Video credit: Kyle Hopkins / Anchorage Daily News

Alaska native John Baker wins his first Iditarod and sets new race record

With 10 dogs in harness, musher John Baker passed under the burled arch that marks the finish line in Nome, Alaska, at 9:46 a.m. Tuesday to win the 39th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Covering the 1,131 miles of the Southern Route in 8 days, 19 hours, 46 minutes and 39 seconds, the native Alaskan from Kotzebue has set a race record, besting the time set in 2002 by Martin Buser by about three hours.

"I feel good. Real good," Baker, 48, told the Anchorage Daily News at the finish line. "Running a team like this, there's nothing better. They are willing to climb any obstacle and make the most of it. I'm really proud of them."

Instead of the head-to-head finish anticipated against Ramey Smyth, who had been in seemingly close pursuit leaving recent checkpoints, Baker pulled away from the Willow, Alaska, musher Tuesday morning, thereby eliminating any chance of Smyth overtaking him. Smyth crossed the finish line in second place 64 minutes later, also under Buser's previous record time.

Baker's victory also ended Lance Mackey's Iditarod consecutive win streak at four, though the Fairbanks musher admitted Sunday that he wouldn't win this year. Mackey is currently listed as running in 16th place with seven dogs still in harness.

Once the last musher is off the trail -- a spot currently held by rookie Kris Hoffman -- the Widow's Lamp hanging from the burled arch will be extinguished, marking the end of the 2011 Iditarod.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: Musher John Baker pets his lead dogs Snickers, left, and Velvet after winning the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, also setting a race record. Credit: Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News

Surfer Josh Kerr on hand for premiere of his surf film, 'Kerrazy Kronicles,' in Newport Beach

ASP World Tour surfer Josh Kerr will be in Southern California for the premiere of his first feature-length surf film, "Kerrazy Kronicles," Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Lido Theatre, 3459 Via Lido, in Newport Beach. The movie follows Kerr and his pals as they seek out surf, and all kinds of adventure, around the globe.

For those interested in attending, Surfside Sports in Costa Mesa will be offering a limited number of VIP and general admission tickets for customers who purchase Rusty surf gear before the premiere. A select number of tickets will also be available at the Lido Theatre box office on Wednesday.  All tickets will be honored on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Kerr and other surfers will be on hand at the Lido for a meet-and-greet before the movie, and will head to the Blue Beet in Newport Beach following the premiere for an afterparty (open to those with VIP passes) with retro cover band Flock of 80's.

For Kerr fans who can’t make it to Newport Beach, Rusty will be offering a live webcast on its Facebook page.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Video credit: Rusty North America

Four-time Iditarod champ Lance Mackey concedes 2011 race

Defending and four-time consecutive Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Lance Mackey has decided that a five-peat isn't in the cards for him.

"This is somebody else's year," Mackey told the Alaska Dispatch after arriving at the Kaltag checkpoint. "We’ve been lucky and now it's someone else's turn," he said. "I’ll be the first to congratulate that winner as soon as I get there to see them."

Mackey said that he did a lot of thinking between recent checkpoints about his lost shot at a fifth win, and resolved that this year's race would not be about losing but instead remembered as the race that punctuated what has been a long run of good fortune.

"It would be really greedy of me to think that I should have another perfect run," the 40-year-old Fairbanks, Ala., musher said. "These are world-class dog teams I am running against and every one of them deserves a victory."

Who will get that victory remains to be seen, though it will likely be decided in the next few days.

Current race leader John Baker, 48, headed out of the Unalakleet checkpoint about three hours before the second-place team of Hans Gatt. During his layover at the previous checkpoint of Kaltag, Baker, a native Alaskan from Kotzebue, said that his strategy now to the finish will simply be to "keep traveling as much as we can" and to "just keep moving'' so as to maintain the lead he has established.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: Musher Lance Mackey with one of his sled dogs at a checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Credit: Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has a new leader

We'll likely see continued leaderboard changes as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race makes its way from Anchorage to Nome. Currently, the musher holding the first position is Sebastian Schnuelle, who grabbed the lead by hitting the trail four minutes after arriving in Anvik Friday morning.

The Anchorage Daily News has been posting profiles of different mushers and their sled-dogs, including the one above of Skunk, one of the Schnuelle's teammates who "knows that she's kind of cute and gets away with a lot," the veteran musher from Whitehorse, Canada, says in the video.

Defending and four-time consecutive champion Lance Mackey is now competing with a reduced team of nine dogs, dropping seven of his 16-dog team thus far. Mackey is still in contention, and is currently listed in fifth place.

Meanwhile, Martin Buser, who has been making tremendous time between checkpoints thus far, has fallen back in the pack and is in seventh.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Video credit: Anchorage Daily News

 

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher reaches halfway point

The 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race reached the halfway point for one musher early Thursday.

Trent Herbst of Ketchum, Idaho, was the first to arrive in the abandoned mining town of Iditarod, which marks the midpoint of the race, and in doing so was awarded the GCI Dorothy Page Halfway Award as well as $3,000 in gold nuggets.

Herbst, however, had not yet taken the mandatory 24-hour layover for his team. Race frontrunners took layovers in Takotna on Wednesday, so Herbst will watch as others pass him, including Martin Buser, who has been making tremendous time between checkpoints thus far.

Veteran musher Mitch Seavey had to drop out of the race Thursday morning with an injured hand. The Anchorage Daily News reported that Seavey, who won the 2004 Idatarod, was cutting open a bale of straw at Ophir checkpoint when he injured his fingers. Race marshal Mark Nordman determined that the injury was severe enough to warrant Seavey's removal from the race.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: Sled dogs rest at a checkpoint. Credit: Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News

 

Kelly Slater wins ASP Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast

Reigning and 10-time Assn. of Surfing Professionals World Tour champion Kelly Slater has started the 2011 season off victorious, winning the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast at Australia's Snapper Rocks by defeating defending event champion Taj Burrow.

Slater sprung to life on the final day of competition, posting his top results en route to the final against Burrow. Slater slowly built upon his scores in his bout against the Australian and his refined strategy proved to be enough for the Floridian to win.

"I’m having a lot of fun," Slater, 39, said. "It’s pretty easy. You go out and surf Snapper by yourself, it's pretty fun. To get to surf a contest is a bonus."

Burrow, 32, fell just short of the score needed to surpass Slater for the victory in the back-half of their duel.

"I’m excited about the tour for 2011," Burrow said. "It was a fun event and it’s just a bummer the waves didn’t hang in there at the end. I couldn’t better a 3. Hats off to Kelly, he built a house and it worked."