Coirier & Burge Win at Squaw

J Dogg — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:49:57 -0500

Rating

OK so we're a bit slow on this one, but the Freeskiing Comp at Squaw wrapped up on the weekend and here's the full meal deal... story, photos, videos...

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.

Watch the HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO>>>

Watch the SICKBIRD AWARD GIVING>>>

Watch the TOP 2 MEN VIDEO>>>

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.

Watch the HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO>>>

Watch the SICKBIRD AWARD GIVING>>>

Watch the TOP 2 MEN VIDEO>>>

For more information, photos, results, videos log onto www.usfreeskiing.com

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Coirier & Burge Win at Squaw