By Rachel Drinkard
Turnagain Times Correspondent
Monday, April 7, broke with a tinge of hope on the horizon as The North Face Masters event coordinators and competitors alike kept their fingers crossed for the good weather which had eluded them for two days, effectively delaying the super finals of the competitive big mountain snowboarding tour.
The wait paid off for patient riders, however.
While women’s winner, Laura Dewey, admitted to some nerves due to variable conditions, Men’s third place finisher, Martin Gallent, scored one of the clean lines on the Shadows Headwall.
“The conditions were very nice for me, champagne powder, perfect,” he said before heading out for cat skiing the next day.
Fairbanks native Ryland Bell walked with sixth place with what judges called one of the more inspiring runs of Monday’s super finals, including a perfectly executed backside 360 tail-grab at high speed in the middle of an already aggressive run through the rocks.
Other Alaskans to make the super finals include Jake Young, finishing in eleventh place, Kenny Jones in twelfth, and Adam Billings in fourteenth place.
This two-stop pioneering competitive tour is the first stepping up to fill a gap in the sport of big mountain snowboarding. These competitions are judged based on a cumulative method, taking into account consistency over three days of competition and rewarding sound line selection, fluidity, control and style.
Tour champions based on cumulative scores from Alyeska and the previous Snowbird, Utah stop were Clif Dimon, Susan Mol and Laura Dewey (tied for first). They shared a portion of the $45,000 total tour prize purse.
Women
1. Laura Dewey, Snowbird
2. Susan Mol, Crested Butte
3. Rachel Sheidow, Mt. Buller
4. Shannon Yates, Snowbird
5. Michelle Locke, Lake Louise
Men
1. Rob Kingwell, Jackson Hole
2. Korey Kaszmarek, Moon light Basin
3. Martin Gallant, Whistler
4. Clif Dimon, Crested Butte
5. Ashley Call, Eaglecrest
6. Ryland Bell, Cleary Summit
Subaru Freeskiing World Championship Results
Day one of the Subaru Freeskiing World Championships looked promising for Alaskans, as Thursday, April 10 wrapped up with four out of the top twenty men in the qualifying round claiming Alyeska as their home resort, including Cody Barnhill and Jake Young, who swept the first and second places of the day, respectively.
Barnhill ultimately finished sixteenth out of a field of 71 competitors.
This ultimately emotionally charged sixth and final stop on the 2008 Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series exposed competitors to some of the best terrain in the world for big mountain skiing.
The Freeskiing World Tour titles went to Brett Crabtree and Jen Ashton, both of Whistler, B.C. The Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series titles went to Josh Daiek or Kirkwood, California and Crystal-Rose Lee, also from Whistler.
Women
1. Crystal-Rose Lee, Whis tler/Blackcomb
2. Janina Kuzma, Fernie
3. Jess McMillan, Jackson Hole
4. Jacqui Edgerly, Aspen
5. Crystal Wright, Jackson Hole
6. Jennifer Ashto, Whistler
Men
1. Kent Hyden, Alta
2. Craig Garbiel, Kirkwood
3. Aaron Schmidt, Fernie
4. Luke Nelson, Fernie
5. Jake Cohn, Telluride/Whis tler
6. Dylan Crossman, Alta