I can’t believe it is snowboard contest season! It seems like only last week I was sitting in a press box at a southern college football game. Wait. That was last week. (Stay tuned for our BCS Championship preview issue. I’ll be deconstructing the McLeadership styles of Alabama QB Greg McElroy and Texas QB Colt McCoy.)

This week, I’ve been in Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, where the average temp has been 0. In Breck, I spent a couple days with X Games ski pipe champ Simon Dumont and his Colorado crew for a story that will run in our Winter X Games preview issue. Stay tuned!

Then I headed to Copper for the first U.S. snowboard Grand Prix halfpipe contest of the season. After much anticipation, the first contest is finally in the books and the Olympic team is beginning to take shape.

Check out my ESPN.com column, Five-Ring Circus, for a full recap of this week’s event.

On the women’s side, Kelly Clark, Gretchen Bleiler and Ellery Hollingsworth earned first-, second- and third-place points. No surprise there. On the men’s side it was Shaun White, Louie Vito and rookie team member Jack Black. He surprised even himself. Hopefully everyone worked out the nerves at this event. Next stop, and the next chance for a post-contest Dance Party USA: Mammoth Mountain, Calif., Jan 7-10.