Six advance in women’s snowboard slopestyle

ASPEN ” Jamie Anderson’s attempt at a third straight title in the women’s snowboard slopestyle competition ended before she made her first run Friday at Buttermilk in Aspen.

The 18-year-old dropped out with an ailing left hip, an injury she suffered during a fall in the halfpipe at a European event last week.

“I was trying to go for it and hurt my hip pretty bad,” she explained of her crash. “It’s really bad timing, but I’m lucky it wasn’t worse.”

Nothing was broken, nothing torn, just lots of pain. She’s out for at least two weeks.

“I tried to ride the last two days, but the hip just didn’t feel good,” she said.

In Anderson’s absence, Jenny Jones of Bristol, Great Britain, had the top run in the elimination round. Americans Megan Ginter, Hana Beaman and Kimmy Fasani also advanced to the Winter X Games finals in the event on Saturday.

Anderson was also slated to compete in the superpipe competition, an event she’s diligently working on with the hopes of possibly qualifying for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Her bread and butter event, slopestyle, isn’t an Olympic event yet.

“I just want to be a well-rounded rider,” Anderson said.

U.S. snowboarding halfpipe coach Mike Jankowski thinks Anderson could be among the elite in the pipe in the future.

“She’s scratched the surface of the potential that’s there for her in halfpipe riding,” Jankowski said in a phone interview. “With focus and time, she can have success in halfpipe.”

1. Jenny Jones / 84.33 / Bristol, Great Britain

2. Spencer O’Brien / 80.33 / Whistler, BC, Canada

3. Megan Ginter / 76.66 / Seattle, Wash

4. Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas / 70.66 / Trondheim, Norway

5. Hana Beaman / 64.66 / Big Bear, Calif.

6. Kimmy Fasani / 63.66 / Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

7. C.C. Curry / 44.00 / Deschutes River Woods, Ore.

8. Bev Vuilleumier / 42.66 / Incline Village, Nev.

9. Chanelle Siadics / 42.33 / Newport Beach, Calif.

10. Silvia Mittermueller / 42.00 / Munich, Germany

11. Leanne Pelosi / 34.66 / Calgary, AB, Canada