After an extraordinarily exciting day of skiing, Drew Tabke of the U.S. and Aurelien Ducroz of France beat the stacked international men’s division and tie for first while Jess McMillan of Jackson Hole, WY, takes the women’s title as the 10th Annual Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Nationals concluded today on North Baldy at Snowbird Ski Resort, UT.

Due to poor weather yesterday, Mountain Sports International (MSI) was unable to run the final two athletes of the day. They were run this morning (a scheduled weather day) and in addition to finishing the finals, the extra day also allowed time for a super-final run for the top three women and top 22 men.

Sitting in first position going into this morning’s run Jess McMillan solidified her lead over the women’s field with a smooth and aggressive run which included a 10-foot cliff-drop. The remaining top women who advanced to the finals were Jane Somerville of Aspen, who recently won the Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open, in second and Tanya Christensen of Crested Butte in third. They remained in that finish order after the super-finals.

“I went into the final run four points ahead of the field,” said overall women’s winner Jess McMillan. “I knew all I really had to do was stay on my feet to win. So I dialed it back a little bit which is not my style. I’m usually one who goes for it no matter what but I really wanted it today. I feel like I skied smart and it paid off. It feels so amazing to finally win one.”

After Friday’s first run only 7.9 points separated all 33 men who advanced, so it was almost anyone’s game to win or lose going into yesterday’s finals.

Second run stand-outs included: reigning World Tour champion Guerlain Chicherit’s fast, roller-coaster-like line which launched him from 11th to third; Nick DeVore, the only athlete competing on telemark skis, who skied so fast and furious and landed such huge airs you would think he was on alpine gear; Aurelien Ducroz’s high-speed run with gigantic, hesitation-free airs; Josh Daiek, whose fast aggressive airs and impressive back flip won him a Sickbird nomination; and Drew Tabke, last year’s North Face Young Gun winner, whose athletic, perfectly executed original line catapulted him into first place going into the super-finals.

The men’s super-finals today will go down as being one of the best in Freeskiing history. 18 of the 22 men who advanced to the super-finals were nominated for the Sickbird award for their antics. Olivier Meynet of France, in 21st place going into today, had an incredible second run, nailing each and every aspect he hit, launching him to 10th position overall. Jesse Bryan was sitting in seventh place going into the super-final, but was knocked back to 22nd when he did a somersault upon landing a double-drop.

Drew Tabke who was just .6 points ahead of Aurelien Ducroz going into the finals, skied another original line impossibly fast and nailed a huge 360 followed by a backflip. Ducroz, who was one of the unlucky athletes unable to finish yesterday, ran his first finals run first thing this morning. In second place going into the super-finals, Ducroz made a statement by skiing extremely fast into each and every aspect he attempted. His run included several 20-feet and beyond cliff-drops which he skied into with no hesitation.

“The snow was really hard first thing this morning,” said co-winner Aurelien Ducroz. “I had to do two runs today which was hard but it such an enormous pleasure to win. It feels just incredible.”

After deliberating and reviewing footage of the super-finals the judges decided that it was an absolute tie between Tabke and Ducroz. Each will receive the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Nationals championship cup and $2,750.

“I always try to do something a little different to keep people entertained and of course to find the best snow,” said co-winner Drew Tabke. “Now I want to win again, and win it all by myself. Tying isn’t good enough for me.”

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 week’s Sickbird buckle was awarded to Josh Daiek, whose perfect 360s and gigantic back-flips will go down as the cleanest in competition history.

“I had a pretty good feeling that I wouldn’t make the podium today,” said Sickbird buckle winner Josh Daiek. “So I just went for it and tried to entertain the crowd with 360s and back-flips. I was definitely gunning for the Sickbird award. I’ve wanted it for a long time now and I’m stoked to finally have a buckle.”

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 18-year-old Neal Valiton of Verbier, Switzerland who finished 14th overall.

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 next weekend, March 15-18, with the Subaru Jackson Hole Freeskiing Open at Jackson Hole, WY. The series wraps up at The Subaru North American Freeskiing Championships at Kirkwood, CA, March 27-April 1. Past tour stops include the Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open at Telluride, CO, and the Subaru Squaw Valley U.S.A Freeskiing Open, at Squaw Valley U.S.A, CA.

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