Garbiel and Ogden win Kirkwood Again
Kirkwood, CA, March 31, 2007— The final stop of the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series and second stop on the International Freeskiers Association (IFSA) World Tour finished off today with an extraordinarily exciting day of skiing on the permanently closed “Cirque” at Kirkwood Mountain Resort, CA. Kirkwood local Craig Garbiel came out on top of the stacked international men’s division and Laura Ogden of Crystal Mtn, WA, took her second straight Subaru North American Freeskiing Championships women’s title. Due to incredibly clear and sunny weather Mountain Sports International (MSI) was able to run a super-final today for the top six women and top 12 men.
Sitting in the top position going into this morning’s first run Laura Ogden was knocked back to second position by Hannah Whitney of Crested Butte, CO, who skied an incredible line which included four big cliff-drops. The remaining top women who advanced to the super-finals were Elyse Saugstad of Squaw Valley, CA, in third, Rachel Burks of Alta, UT, and Jess McMillan tied for fourth. McMillan is the recent winner of the Subaru Jackson Hole Freeskiing Open and the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Nationals. Amber Gale of Snowbird, UT, rounded out the top six.
With Gale, McMillan and Whitney all crashing during the super-finals the door was open for Ogden to walk right through and claim her second consecutive title here in Kirkwood. Elyse Saugstad moved up one position to finish in second and Rachel Burks took the final podium spot finishing third overall.
“It feels awesome to win with such a competitive field,” said overall women’s champion Laura Ogden. “It’s great to come back to the series after taking some time off and to win. I love this venue, it scares me to death. To finish like this feels so good.”
Going into this morning’s first men’s run, Mammoth, California’s Cory Zila sat in first position, but a crash early in his line prevented him from making the super-finals which granted a host of hungry competitors the chance to move up. 2006 World Tour Champion Guerlin Chicherit of France skied an incredible line this morning, posting the top score on the run and launching him from 27th position to seventh going into the super-finals. Another first run standout was the Flyin’ Hawaiian Drew Tabke’s 50 foot backflip which he landed with no problem. A fall later in his run would eventually knock him out of the competition. Kirkwood local Craig Garbiel wowed spectators with a nearly flawless run moving him from eighth to first. Todd Ligare of Snowbird, UT, held onto his second position and Adrien Coirier of France moved up to fourth after Josh Daiek of Kirkwood crashed and was unable to advance.
The men’s super-finals today will once again go down as being one of the best in Freeskiing history. Sitting in fifth and fourth positions respectively, Drew Stoeckline of Alta, UT, and Adrien Coirier skied fast, hesitation-free lines. They remained in their respective positions overall. Christian Boucher of Whistler, BC, had an unbelievable second run, nailing each and every aspect he hit. He remained in third place overall. Todd Ligare was sitting in second place going into the super-final, but was knocked back to 10th when he did a somersault upon landing a double-drop. Guerlin Chicherit once again posted the highest score on the final run which was enough to earn him a second place podium position. Leading by over two points Craig Garbiel put on quite a show for his hometown crowd. His run included several 20-feet and beyond cliff-drops which he skied into with no hesitation. The mob went crazy celebrating Garbiel’s obvious victory as he crossed the finish line.
“This is the best thing in the whole world,” said men’s overall champion Craig Garbiel. “Everyone here believes in me. People were telling me I was going to win this last year! I have a load of fourths this year and I thought I was doomed. I’m working with Core Shot Productions on a documentary about this year’s U.S. Freeskiing Series and this has ended like a fairy tale.”
As always, spectators enjoyed watching freeskiing’s elite battle it out for the Tobias Lee Memorial Sickbird buckle award presented by Salomon. The Sickbird award is presented to the competitor with the most spirited competition run, often involving super-human talent and agility. This week’s Sickbird buckle was awarded to Drew Tabke, whose gigantic back-flip will go down as one of the cleanest in competition history.
“This is almost better than the win,” said Sickbird winner Drew Tabke. “The Sickbird is a great award and I am honored to have the chance to wear a buckle.”