HOOD RIVER, OR- Adam Schwippert, of Stratton, took the summer off from snowboarding this year to concentrate on skateboarding and as his primary skateboard sponsor said, it “paid off in spades.” Schwippert not only had a banner payday at the 2009 World Championships in Hood River, OR on July 17 to 19, but, he also greatly improved his chances to captain the United States team at the 2010 World Slalom Skateboarding Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands, next summer.

Schwippert finished a respectable sixth in the giant slalom event. He scorched the hybrid slalom course in his qualifying run and went into the dual slalom course event as the top-seeded rider. He dispatched all his opponents in the skateoffs and made it to the finals, where he was nipped at the finish line by George Pappas, the reigning North American champion.

Schwippert was knocked out in the semifinals of the tight slalom and had to settle for third place and his second podium finish in two days. As a result of his sensational efforts, Schwippert captured third place overall in the three-day event behind George Pappas (first) and Martin Reaves (second).

The Slalom Skateboarding World Championships alternate between North American and Europe each year, with the 2010 event scheduled for Amsterdam in mid-July. Schwippert will compete individually in all three racing disciplines: giant slalom, hybrid slalom, and tight slalom, and then join his teammates, who are all from Colorado, Martin Reaves, Joe McLaren, and Zak Maytum, in the Nations’ Cup events.

Teams from the US and Canada, along with those from Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands are comprised of the top four racers from each nation who then compete in a special series for both prize money and “bragging rights” until the next competition two years from now.

Schwippert previously competed as a junior racer in the Nations’ Cup that was held in Stockholm, Sweden during the Summer of 2005 where the U.S. team finished a respectable third behind the Swedes and the Germans. Schwippert, 19, is a sophomore at the University of Vermont and a member the college snowboard team.