KING OF THE MOUNTAIN
Nothing was going to stop Casey Puckett from winning the 2005-2006 Jeep King of the Mountain World Championship at Squaw Valley on Sunday.
A looming blizzard, a field of Olympians and a Skiercross World Champion were no match for Puckett’s ambition. “I wanted it so bad,” said the Aspen local after beating out Isidor Gruner in Round one, Jake Fiala in the semi-finals and long-time rival Tomas Kraus in the last race of the day. “I couldn’t have asked for better competition,” Puckett said. “It’s really unbelievable how it all worked out.” Behind Puckett and Kraus was first time Jeep King of the Mountain competitor Daron Rahlves, fresh off the plane from the Turino games.
The Jeep King of the Mountain, a dual-start Y-format race with high-banking turns and stepdown finish, was “a lot of fun” said Rahlves, who had little room for error on Sunday’s course but relished in the chance to simply “race for fun.” Despite being started in between wind gusts of up to 60 mph and dealing with heavy snow and flat light all afternoon Jeep racers said they could’nt have been happier to end the season in Tahoe.
“We’re so lucky to be here,” said women’s ski division champion Ophelie Davis of France, who beat out defending Jeep World Champion U.S. Freesking Champion Karin Huttary of Austria to remain undefeated for the 2006 Jeep season. Colorado’s Brett Buckles took home third place after topping Canadian National Ski Team member Anik Demers in the consolation heat.
In the snowboard divisions Graham Watanabe and Doresia Krings shared in the glory, also recieving the keys to a 2006 Jeep Commander and accepting a $10,000 check from John Paul Mitchell Systems.