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QUALIFIERS: 2006 SUBARU N.A. FREESKIING CHAMPIONSHIPS SEMI-FINALS
By Brandon Garcia/MSI
The 10th Annual Subaru North American Freeskiing Championships kicked off today to open the final weekend of the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing and Skiercross Series and the Freeskiing World Tour. Over 90 competitors—15 women and 77 men, including 25 snowboarders—charged through howling winds to qualify for tomorrow’s semi finals. CLICK HERE FOR THE GALLERY!
Today’s event was held on Kirkwood Mountain Resort’s Lookout Vista—a wide-open bowl peppered with terrain. “These guys pretty much took care of that venue today,” said head judge Jim Jack.
Forty-five inches of new snowfall this week made for some of the best conditions seen in competition all year.
“Silky, velvety, dry snow—perfect conditions,” said today’s top female skier Kirsty Exner of Red Mountain, B.C. In her second competition in over four years, Exner won today’s event by just over a point ahead of local girl Megan Peabody. Alaina Huestis of Snowbird, UT, finished third, only two points out of the lead.
Shannon Yates of Snowbird, UT, won today’s event for the women snowboarders, followed by Tahoe girls Rose Marie Dittfach of Kirkwood and Christy Deysher of Squaw Valley, CA.
Men’s snowboard competition was dominated by a Colorado crew, with huge, clean airs, floaty spins, and solid riding. Brandon Reid of Vail finished first, barely ahead of Dave Watson of Snowmass, CO. Sam Luebke of Squaw Valley, CA came in third.
“This type of riding is kind of a subculture at this point,” said Reid, “but what people are doing on the big mountain is as cutting-edge and progressive as it gets.”
The highest score of the day went to skier Chris Tatsuno of Breckenridge, CO, whose aggressive style has been making waves all tour.
“Tatsuno throws down every time he puts his skis on,” said judge Eric Schmitz. “He skied so fast, hitting everything in his way, arcing his skis, landing in a turn. Solid skiing.”
Tatsuno, who won the Sickbird award at the Telluride Freeskiing Open, finished one point ahead of Telluride winner Cliff Bennett of Snowbird, UT. Tyson Bolduc, last week’s Jackson Hole Freeskiing Open champion, finished third—less than three points behind Tatsuno.
Twelve women and 50 men advance to tomorrow’s semi finals, where they will be joined by the best skiers in the world—the World Tour pre-qualified athletes—on the Cirque, a permanently closed area that will be opened exclusively for this competition.
“It’s one of the best venues anywhere,” said snowboard competitor Adam DeVargas of the cirque. “That’s a 56 degree pitch up there—it will let you know real quick how good you are. Tomorrow we’re going to see who can ride.” CLICK HERE FOR THE GALLERY!
Along with U.S. Freeskiing Series title sponsor Subaru of America and host Kirkwood Mountain Resort, strong support from tour partners Amstel Light, The North Face, Powder Magazine, Sportsinsurance.com, Nordica, and Smith Optics have allowed for a huge overall prize purse as well as expanded coverage of the competition. New for 2006, MSI is excited to present online, video-on-demand footage of all events, which will be uploaded weekly to www.usfreeskiing.com
For Kirkwood registration, schedules, news, photos, videos, and other important event information, visit the newly re-designed:
www.usfreeskiing.com/2006/Kirkwood/kirkwood_index.html
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