A rush of enthusiasm often associated with snowboarding courses through my limbic system as Molly Milligan weaves through traffic over the Lion's Gate Bridge. Through long suspension cables, my eyes skirt out towards the ocean where deep-sea vessels, tugboats and barges slowly move across misty waters. Within minutes, Milligan's small car breezes up the Mt. Seymour highway, and the city lifestyle of hustle and bustle, morning joggers, and hipster aesthetic turns into the picturesque winter landscape that all snowboarders thrive within. Tantamount to the luxurious highlife in many upscale resort towns, Milligan pulls out to the lodge and finds parking faster than I can update my Facebook status. Just a few minutes back, a ten-speed-riding college kid was cruising the rolling hills below, and within a blink of an eye, we are lacing up our snowboard boots, getting ready for Molly to throw down at least two back-to-back 5s in hopes of winning a cash prize and accommodation, flight, and automatic entry into the final stop of Billabong Flaunt It contest series in Tahoe.

A sea of pink Flaunt It bibs.

Just another shred-chick amongst a sea of pink Flaunt It bibs, we upload the two-seater lift, a throw-back to early resort days, which doesn't make it seem any less normal to see Kevin Sansalone ride off soon after. "I just flew home from a trip overseas," he says, smiling. "I always stop here to get some turns in before heading home to Whistler; I love it here." Ahead in the distance, we see hikers boot-packing it up a powder-filled slope, and as we rip down to the start of the contest's course, Sansalone's words really sink in: less crowds, less hype, and one hell of a mountain. Agreed, there is no other place I would rather be given a shred stick and an afternoon to kill in Vancouver.

In this milieu, where competing usually involves a need for a huge travel budget and the ability to rank high in other competitions to get into the next, it's a breath of relief to find a contest like the Billabong Flaunt It series where the first fifty girls registered get entry, regardless of ability. Five seasons back, Risto Scott saw a gap in the women's market and started Flaunt It with just one stop in Tremblant, Quebec. Today it has now evolved into a contest across Canada (Sunshine, Blue, Big White, Seymour, and Tremblant) with the finals being a 4*TTR event in Tahoe, CA.

The rail jam had to be bumped to the morning due to mist. Gillian Andrewshenko.

Pascal Schram.

Feeling the raw energy circulating at the top of the park, Taylor Godber, scans the two sets of double takeoff jumps to rails below and mentions that she has been concentrating on getting her sled out around Whistler's backcountry, so this contest with it's laid-back jam format is right up her alley. "Even though this is a TTR event with significant cash prizes that attracts some real competitive riders," says Godber, "it's a great contest for girls of all riding levels. Being jam format, it allows the riders to put together different runs with less stress, and girls are far more likely to try new tricks versus safety runs."

Contest results are great and all, but it's more about just going out and trying new tricks, and eschewing what is considered safe for the bigger prize. As MC Craig Beaulieu puts it, "Godber was killing it in the rail jam and slopestyle, performing tricks she has never done before to try and hit that podium spot to earn some cash." Beaulieu quickly explains, "Unfortunately, that's the way contests work sometimes: you can try a new trick to try to come out on top to defeat the leader or you can go down trying. Taylor really didn't go down; she gave first place a little nap time until the next contest."

Lisa Strahl.

Molly Milligan: cab 5 to front 5 off the second booter.

In the end, Breanna Stangeland killed it during the rail jam with her backlip pretzel out - she already won the slopestyle at Sunshine, so she is on her way to Tahoe. Milligan was consistent on the slopestyle course, but her cab 5 to front 5 put her in second to Natsuki Sato's combo of front 5 to switch back 5. For a girl that finished junior high in Japan and now attends Whistler Secondary, this was Sato's first Flaunt It contest and having never competed in the States, she is ecstatic for the finals. "I'll try to get other 5s done before Tahoe and maybe possibly some 7s," Sato says. Jesmond Dubeau, judging for Flaunt It at Seymour for the past three years, says to watch out for Sato down in Tahoe, especially if she gets her switch bs 7s. Beaulieu agrees, adding, "Sato's style for the jumps is top notch. She is very young and has a lot of time to get better, which is scary because she will be kicking boy's asses soon if she keeps it up."

Randa Shahin in the mist.

Overall, Flaunt It is a chance to get involved in the snowboarding community and have fun riding with other girls and be spoiled by Billabong for a day: lunch and a gift bag is provided. It's about getting out there and riding the course as much as possible within the timeframe; it's about how each girl's own individual style that comes out while riding; and it's about how our subculture bonds us together.

17-year-old Natsuki Sato stoked on her first place finish.

Dakine Best Trick
Natsuki Sato $100 (Rome SDS, Dragon, 32)

Sony Style Award
Nicole McNulty (Windells Academy, Blindside Colorado)

Rail Jam Results
1st: Breanna Stangeland $250 (Forum, The Source)
2nd: Molly Milligan $100 (Sessions)
3rd: Natsuki Sato $50 (Rome SDS, Dragon, 32)

Slopestyle Winners:
1st: Natsuki Sato $700 + Flight and accommodations to Finals in Tahoe (Rome SDS, Dragon, 32)
2nd: Molly Milligan $500 (Sessions)
3rd: Breanna Stangeland $300 (Forum, The Source)
4th: Nicole McNulty (Windells Academy, Blindside Colorado)
5th: Randa Shahin (Ride, Smith, Pow, Spacecraft, Evogear, Cilla, Kind Snacks

All photos: Natalie Langmann

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Related:
Billabong Flaunt It 2011: Blue Mountain, ON
You Look Good 2011: Mt. Seymour Results
Billabong Flaunt It 2010: Mt. Seymour Results