ADRIEN COIRIER AND SQUAW'S JAMIE BURGE WIN THE
INAUGURAL SUBARU SQUAW VALLEY USA FREESKIING OPEN
Freeskiers from around the globe, including Canada,
U.S.A. and France battle it out for $7,500 with the men’s and
women’s overall Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series point leaders taking
home $2,500 each
[Squaw Valley
USA] February 17, 2007- The inaugural
Subaru Squaw Valley USA Freeskiing Open took place this week under
gorgeous, sunny skies and mild conditions in the Enchanted Forest
and Cornice II areas of Squaw Valley USA. After receiving over three
feet of snow prior to the contest, snow conditions were excellent
and competitors put on an amazing show accordingly. After two
extraordinarily exciting days of skiing, Adrien Coirier of Les Arcs,
France and Squaw Valley's Jamie Burge came out on top of the stacked
international field. Due to good weather, Mountain Sports
International (MSI) was able to include a super-finals run for the
top six women and top 10 men.
Sitting
in first position going into this morning’s run, freeskiing legend
and ski movie regular Jamie Burge solidified her lead on the women’s
field with an extremely easy looking, smooth and aggressive first
run which included a 20-foot cliff drop. Burge went into her second
run six points ahead of Jess McMillan of Jackson Hole, WY. With such
a commanding lead, Burge could have taken it easy, yet she chose
another technical line with lots of rock exposure which sealed her
fate as winner of the first ever Subaru Squaw Valley USA Freeskiing
Open. The remaining top six women who advanced to the finals were
Jess McMillan, Katharine Lange, Kate Olson, Emily Turner and Molly
Baker. They remained in that finish order after the
super-finals.
“I love
Squaw Valley, I ski here everyday,” said Subaru Squaw Valley USA
Freeskiing Open women’s champion Jamie Burge. “I still compete
because competitions are great, they really make you push yourself.
It forces you to step it up and be competitive and its fun. You get
to see everybody. I’m so honored to represent Squaw today and win
this!”
After
Thursday’s qualifier round only 8.6 points separated all 32 men who
advanced, so it was almost anyone’s game to win or lose going into
today’s finals. First run stand-outs included: Ben Wheeler’s fast,
smooth run, which incorporated a 15-foot cliff drop to a straight
line; Kevin O’Meara whose gigantic, perfectly executed double drop
off the top section of the venue won him a Sickbird nomination;
Craig Garbiel’s fast, aggressive airs and impressive gap-jump; and
Adrien Coirier, recent winner of the Subaru Telluride Freeskiing
Open, whose hesitation-free, beautifully executed run catapulted him
into first place going into the super-finals.
In true
Squaw Valley fashion, the super-finals on Friday began with Squaw
locals, and skiing legends, Daron Rahlves and Gunner Newquist
forerunning the venue. The two put on a spectacle, skiing together
in unison, straight-lining the entire top portion of the venue and
airing a 25-foot cliff near the bottom.
The
men’s super-finals will go down as being one of the best in
Freeskiing history. Nine of the 16 men who advanced to the
super-finals were nominated for the Sickbird award for their antics.
Cliff Bennett of Snowbird, UT, in fourth after today’s first run,
had an incredible second run, nailing each and every aspect he hit,
launching him to second position overall. Kevin O’Meara of Squaw
Valley USA was sitting in second place going into the super-final,
but was knocked back to eighth overall when he did a somersault upon
landing a double drop. He did, however receive his third Sickbird
nomination of the competition. Adrien Corier of Les Arcs, France,
who was just over two points ahead of O’Meara going into the finals,
skied impossibly fast and nailed a huge straight-line with two
20-foot cliffs throughout the middle of the venue. He ended up
winning the competition by nearly ten points. Coirier now leads the
overall point’s standings for the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing
Series.
“I have
been working so hard for this,” said Subaru Squaw Valley USA
Freeskiing Open men’s champion Adrien Coirier. “I was running out of
money before the winter because I spent all my money in the summer
training for this. Today the skiing was just like my mountains in
France, it was really good snow and the line I did was exactly what
I like to ski. It was perfect and I’m so happy to have won another
event.”
As
always, spectators enjoyed watching freeskiing’s elite battle it out
for the Tobias Lee Memorial Sickbird buckle award. The Sickbird
award is presented to the competitor with the most spirited
competition run, often involving super-human talent and agility.
This weekend’s Sickbird buckle was awarded to Squaw Valley's Kevin
O’Meara, who was nominated more than any other athlete, at this stop
of the tour, for his incredible antics.
The
North Face Young Gun Award returns in 2007, honoring outstanding new
talent in competitive freeskiing. Points accumulated throughout the
season will crown one lucky under-21-year-old a full sponsorship
from The North Face and the honor of becoming the next Young Gun
winner. This stop’s winner was 21-year-old Brady Smedsrud of Red
Lodge Mtn, MT.
New in
2007, MSI will be posting same-day video broadcasts on the newly
redesigned usfreeskiing.com featuring state of the art video and
photo player technology. The daily uploads of video, photos, news
and results of each day’s competition action will be available mere
hours after each day concludes.
The
Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series continues in three weeks at the 10th
Anniversary of the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Nationals at Snowbird, UT.
Additional stops to the U.S. Freeskiing Series, which has grown from
four stops to five in 2007, include the Subaru Jackson Hole
Freeskiing Open at Jackson Hole, WY, the Subaru North American
Freeskiing Championships at Kirkwood, CA and past tour stop the
Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open.
Special
thanks to Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series sponsors:
Subaru
of America
The North
Face
Corona
Nordica
Yakima
Scott
USA
Sports Insurance
Powder
Magazine
Emergen-C
Leatherman
Grabber
Ski Press
Magazine
IFSA
Snowbird Ski
& Summer Resort
Jackson Hole
Mountain Resort
Telluride Ski
Resort
Squaw Valley USA
Kirkwood Mountain
Resort
For more
information log onto www.usfreeskiing.com
INAUGURAL SUBARU SQUAW VALLEY USA FREESKIING OPEN
Freeskiers from around the globe, including Canada,
U.S.A. and France battle it out for $7,500 with the men’s and
women’s overall Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series point leaders taking
home $2,500 each
[Squaw Valley
USA] February 17, 2007- The inaugural
Subaru Squaw Valley USA Freeskiing Open took place this week under
gorgeous, sunny skies and mild conditions in the Enchanted Forest
and Cornice II areas of Squaw Valley USA. After receiving over three
feet of snow prior to the contest, snow conditions were excellent
and competitors put on an amazing show accordingly. After two
extraordinarily exciting days of skiing, Adrien Coirier of Les Arcs,
France and Squaw Valley's Jamie Burge came out on top of the stacked
international field. Due to good weather, Mountain Sports
International (MSI) was able to include a super-finals run for the
top six women and top 10 men.
Sitting
in first position going into this morning’s run, freeskiing legend
and ski movie regular Jamie Burge solidified her lead on the women’s
field with an extremely easy looking, smooth and aggressive first
run which included a 20-foot cliff drop. Burge went into her second
run six points ahead of Jess McMillan of Jackson Hole, WY. With such
a commanding lead, Burge could have taken it easy, yet she chose
another technical line with lots of rock exposure which sealed her
fate as winner of the first ever Subaru Squaw Valley USA Freeskiing
Open. The remaining top six women who advanced to the finals were
Jess McMillan, Katharine Lange, Kate Olson, Emily Turner and Molly
Baker. They remained in that finish order after the
super-finals.
“I love
Squaw Valley, I ski here everyday,” said Subaru Squaw Valley USA
Freeskiing Open women’s champion Jamie Burge. “I still compete
because competitions are great, they really make you push yourself.
It forces you to step it up and be competitive and its fun. You get
to see everybody. I’m so honored to represent Squaw today and win
this!”
After
Thursday’s qualifier round only 8.6 points separated all 32 men who
advanced, so it was almost anyone’s game to win or lose going into
today’s finals. First run stand-outs included: Ben Wheeler’s fast,
smooth run, which incorporated a 15-foot cliff drop to a straight
line; Kevin O’Meara whose gigantic, perfectly executed double drop
off the top section of the venue won him a Sickbird nomination;
Craig Garbiel’s fast, aggressive airs and impressive gap-jump; and
Adrien Coirier, recent winner of the Subaru Telluride Freeskiing
Open, whose hesitation-free, beautifully executed run catapulted him
into first place going into the super-finals.
In true
Squaw Valley fashion, the super-finals on Friday began with Squaw
locals, and skiing legends, Daron Rahlves and Gunner Newquist
forerunning the venue. The two put on a spectacle, skiing together
in unison, straight-lining the entire top portion of the venue and
airing a 25-foot cliff near the bottom.
The
men’s super-finals will go down as being one of the best in
Freeskiing history. Nine of the 16 men who advanced to the
super-finals were nominated for the Sickbird award for their antics.
Cliff Bennett of Snowbird, UT, in fourth after today’s first run,
had an incredible second run, nailing each and every aspect he hit,
launching him to second position overall. Kevin O’Meara of Squaw
Valley USA was sitting in second place going into the super-final,
but was knocked back to eighth overall when he did a somersault upon
landing a double drop. He did, however receive his third Sickbird
nomination of the competition. Adrien Corier of Les Arcs, France,
who was just over two points ahead of O’Meara going into the finals,
skied impossibly fast and nailed a huge straight-line with two
20-foot cliffs throughout the middle of the venue. He ended up
winning the competition by nearly ten points. Coirier now leads the
overall point’s standings for the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing
Series.
“I have
been working so hard for this,” said Subaru Squaw Valley USA
Freeskiing Open men’s champion Adrien Coirier. “I was running out of
money before the winter because I spent all my money in the summer
training for this. Today the skiing was just like my mountains in
France, it was really good snow and the line I did was exactly what
I like to ski. It was perfect and I’m so happy to have won another
event.”
As
always, spectators enjoyed watching freeskiing’s elite battle it out
for the Tobias Lee Memorial Sickbird buckle award. The Sickbird
award is presented to the competitor with the most spirited
competition run, often involving super-human talent and agility.
This weekend’s Sickbird buckle was awarded to Squaw Valley's Kevin
O’Meara, who was nominated more than any other athlete, at this stop
of the tour, for his incredible antics.
The
North Face Young Gun Award returns in 2007, honoring outstanding new
talent in competitive freeskiing. Points accumulated throughout the
season will crown one lucky under-21-year-old a full sponsorship
from The North Face and the honor of becoming the next Young Gun
winner. This stop’s winner was 21-year-old Brady Smedsrud of Red
Lodge Mtn, MT.
New in
2007, MSI will be posting same-day video broadcasts on the newly
redesigned usfreeskiing.com featuring state of the art video and
photo player technology. The daily uploads of video, photos, news
and results of each day’s competition action will be available mere
hours after each day concludes.
The
Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series continues in three weeks at the 10th
Anniversary of the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Nationals at Snowbird, UT.
Additional stops to the U.S. Freeskiing Series, which has grown from
four stops to five in 2007, include the Subaru Jackson Hole
Freeskiing Open at Jackson Hole, WY, the Subaru North American
Freeskiing Championships at Kirkwood, CA and past tour stop the
Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open.
Special
thanks to Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series sponsors:
Subaru
of America
The North
Face
Corona
Nordica
Yakima
Scott
USA
Sports Insurance
Powder
Magazine
Emergen-C
Leatherman
Grabber
Ski Press
Magazine
IFSA
Snowbird Ski
& Summer Resort
Jackson Hole
Mountain Resort
Telluride Ski
Resort
Squaw Valley USA
Kirkwood Mountain
Resort
For more
information log onto www.usfreeskiing.com
