NORTH AMERICAN FREESKIING CHAMPS: Day 2
SKIERS PULL THROUGH HIGH WINDS, WHITEOUTS AT SEMI-FINALS OF SUBARU N.A. FREESKIING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 10th Annual Subaru North American Freeskiing Championships continued today with the semi-finals on Kirkwood Mountain Resort’s Cirque. Yesterday’s 62 qualifiers joined 31 pre-qualified World Tour athletes in a stacked international field.
“You will not find better skiers than you’re going to see here today,” said MSI event organizer Dak Williams to open today’s event.
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High winds and six inches of new snow overnight delayed the start over an hour to allow for avalanche control work on the Cirque’s 50-plus-degree face. Skier men ran first down Hourglasss—the far left section of this permanent closure that has been opened exclusively for this weekend’s competitors.
“It’s kind of a mix of open powder fields and iced-over billy-goat lines,” said current U.S. Series Standings leader Drew Tabke. “You have to pick the right spot to land in. Some guys find it, others have gone down pretty hard.”
The morning’s competition saw a split between technical, precise lines on the right side of the course, and big, full-throttle skiing down the center. The best runs of the day were laid down by local boy Craig Garbriel, Mathiew Richard of Whistler, B.C., and Guerlain Chicherit of Tignes, France, with 11 men still to compete tomorrow.
Increasing winds, snow, and fog all morning shut down competition around 1 pm, after over two-thirds of the men’s field had finished. The final 16 men—including the current World Freeskiing Tour standings leader Guerlain Chicherit of Tignes, France—were put on “aggressive standby,” waiting to compete at a moment’s notice in windows of clearing.
At 2 pm, whiteout conditions forced organizers to postpone the remainder of the men’s skiers, women’s skiers, and snowboarder semi-finals until tomorrow. The afternoon was spent struggling to finish the final men’s skier competitors, amidst patchy fog and extremely flat light.
“The winds are so strong up here, it’s hard to see one turn ahead,” said official starter Mike Bittner. A few men stepped up with solid runs despite the conditions, including Matt Jackson of Squaw Valley, John Witherspoon of Jay Peak, VT, and Chicherit, who had the third highest score of the day—1.2 points out of the lead.
However, at 4 pm, with 11 men left to run, Dak was forced to make the final call. “It’s completely socked in up here—we’re done.”
Forecasters are calling for heavy storms all weekend, with two feet of snow overnight. Weather permitting, competition will resume tomorrow with semi-final runs for women skiers, men and women snowboarders, and today’s final 11 men.
“It makes you realize how talented and determined these athletes are when they deal with weather like we had today,” said Mountain Sports International (MSI) National Logistics Director Nicole Leitner. “We count on snow to make these events happen, but weather’s unpredictable. Sometimes, there’s only so much we can do.”
Official semi-final results will be posted tomorrow after the remaining men compete.
Current Men’s U.S. Freeskiing Series leader Drew Tabke is sitting in fifth overall for the semi-finals. Second place Tyson Bolduc of Vail, CO, was knocked out of the running with a pre-release today. Currently tied with Bolduc for third in series standings, Snowbird, UT, boys Cliff Bennett and Nick Greener have yet to compete.
Greener is also sitting in third in Freeskiing World Tour standings. Tour standings second-place Olivier Meynet did not finish today, opening the door for fourth-place Mathieu Richard, who had today’s second highest score. However, eleven men are on deck to compete tomorrow, so nothing is final yet. Stay tuned.
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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