Photo: Dean Blotto Gray

Last week, David Retzlaff received word that he may want to head out to Mammoth Mountain in California, where one of the biggest events in slopestyle snowboarding, the U.S. Grand Prix, was getting underway.

He hopped a flight and made it just in time to learn he had earned an invite to his first ever Grand Prix competition.

Ski & Snowboard Vail coach Chris Laske said he had never seen the young slopestyle rider put down such an impressive practice run.

“Dave was riding on another level, for sure,” Laske said.

But after the week Retzlaff just wrapped up, that wasn’t surprising to see.

The 19-year-old appeared in the biggest event of his life, the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships, on Feb. 27. A few days later on March 1, he filmed a run on Vail Mountain which Burton selected into the final five of their “best line” contest, where competitors were invited to record an unedited run and submit it for a chance to win $10,000. Burton Snowboards shared Retzlaff’s video on its Instagram page; the post received more than 72,000 likes. …

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