Balharry earns bronze with dislocated shoulder

Canmore snowboarder Robby Balharry finished his slopestyle season with a third-place finish at the TTR stop at Grouse Mountain, last weekend.

Balharry, who earned his first world cup medal recently at Calgary Olympic Park, entered the 'Showdown Over the City’ as one of the favourites, however, his expectations quickly changed.

Remarkably, Balharry completed much of the competition with a dislocated shoulder suffered early in the competition.

“I dislocated it on the second qualifying run. I was able to pop it back in and thought I’d go for it, " he said. “I worked it out and just switched my hand on the grabs. "

Despite the pain, he was able to complete all of his tricks.

“It was pretty awesome. I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish, so third is great, " Balharry said.

While the event was ranked a four-star event on the TTR tour – attracting many top boarders – Balharry said the course was relatively short, with only three rails and two jumps.

“The course was fun, quick and short, " he said.

He followed the competition with a photo shoot for Snowboard Canada magazine and filming for snowboard clothing company Westbeach.

After a surf vacation in Mexico, Balharry will return to Canmore for dryland training. He’ll then travel to Whistler and later New Zealand for more training with his coach.

The International Olympic Committee will announce this month if slopestyle will become an Olympic event at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Baharry will await the announcement patiently, as he knows it could be his ticket to Olympic glory.

Next season, he may switch off the TTR tour for a period to earn a shot at the X-Games. The 21-year-old said he hasn’t had time to reflect on his season just yet, as he’s still keeping his eye on the prize – taking part in the 2014 Winter Olympic opening ceremonies with childhood friend Tristan Tafel.

“That’s still the goal. "