Clair Bidez
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| Full name | Clair Bidez | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | August 7, 1987 Vail, Colorado, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Snowboarding | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Clair Bidez is a former professional snowboarder who just missed competing at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She was a halfpipe specialist from Colorado who graduated from Westminster College in Salt Lake City with a degree in Environmental Biology. She now attends graduate school at the University of Utah.
Career
Clair started competing at age 10, after realizing that her brother, Dylan, was having more fun as a snowboarder than she was as a skier. She competed with great results in contests all over the world.
When she was 16, she placed 5th at the US Open at Stratton Mountain, VT. and was asked to join the US Snowboarding team soon after.
In 2006 she became the Halfpipe Junior World Champion in Vivaldi Park, South Korea. At the 2006 Winter X Games, she was a 4th place finisher in halfpipe. 2007 brought finishes of 3rd at the Cardrona, NZ World Cup, 3rd and Best Trick at the Abominable Snow Jam in Mt. Hood, Oregon. In 2008, at the Squaw Valley Jeep King of the Mountain, she pulled in the Silver. In 2008/09, she podiumed at the Tamarack and Killington Grand Prix contests and at the Squaw Valley Jeep King of the Mountain. In the last Grand Prix of that year, at Copper Mountain, she broke her heel in the finals.
While battling the injury in 2009/10, she made it to finals in every Olympic qualifier and was featured in the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition as a potential Olympian, but an persistent ankle injury turned out to be the end of her professional snowboard career. The injury, along with a desire to go back to school, influenced her decision to retire from competitive snowboarding.
She was sponsored by some of the best companies in the business, including Nikita, Flow, Giro, and Copper Mountain.
Personal
Clair was born in 1987 and grew up in the little town of Minturn, CO. Her younger brother Dylan was also a member of the US Snowboard Team.
Influenced by fellow team member Gretchen Bleiler, and witnessing global climate change through her travels inspired her to go back to school. She attended Westminster College (through a special Tuition Grant Program with USSA) as an Environmental Science major with career goals in ecological research.
References
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