Post & McMillan Win at Jackson Hole

J Dogg — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 12:40:45 -0400

Rating

After an incredibly exciting day of skiing, Griffin Post of Alta, UT, and Jackson local Jess McMillan came out on top of the stacked international field as the 2nd Annual Subaru Jackson Hole Freeskiing Open concluded today on “Unskiable” and “Tower 3” at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Due to favorable weather, event organizer Mountain Sports International (MSI) was able to include a super-finals run for the top four women and top 14 men.

A tight race after the qualifying round, this morning’s hard-pack conditions were less than ideal and competitors were forced to dial-down their difficulty and harness their speed. With 34 men on today’s roster, the snow didn’t soften until the super-finals. First run stand-outs include; Bryce Newcomb’s pillow-like line and perfectly landed airs which moved him from 21st to 12th going into the super-finals; Drew Stoeckline’s 25-foot cliff-drop which he stomped, bringing him up from 17th to 6th; Adrien Coirier’s exposed line and fast run-out through moguls which pushed him from seventh to fourth; Griffin Post’s aggressive and extremely fast run which moved him from 10th to second; and Cliff Bennett’s near perfect line and technique which pushed him even further out in front of the field, sending him to the super-finals with an unprecedented five-point lead.

With the snow softening significantly in the afternoon, the super-finals were a sight to behold and competitors dialed up the difficulty factor accordingly. A few competitors revved just a little too much, crashing and opening the door for lower-seeded athletes to move up considerably in the standings. Sitting in third, Rob LaPier had a huge crash which knocked him back to eighth overall. Current Subaru US Freeskiing Series overall point’s leader Adrien Coirier had an incredible second run today launching him from fifth to second overall. Griffin Post made quick work of the top portion of the venue, skiing the gnarly, exposed rock face as if it were covered in fresh powder. Post’s run, although nearly flawless, might not have been enough to push him past current leader Cliff Bennett had Bennett not made a small mistake in his final run costing to fall to third overall.

“I had so many nerves going into this weekend and to ski to my expectations is just so satisfying,” said men’s overall champion Griffin Post. “Cliff was five points ahead going into the final run and that’s a lot to make up. I knew my line this morning scored well so I just tried to ski it harder and faster. I got a little lucky I guess when Cliff fell, but I feel I skied the best I could.”

Sitting in first position going into this morning’s run, Crystal Wright of Jackson Hole had some bad luck when she mistakenly missed her line and was forced to ski the unchallenging guts of the chute. Tied for first with Wright was Suzanne Graham of Alta/Snowbird who also played it safe this morning, sticking to a mellow line and opening the door for Jackson locals Jess McMillan and Hannah Horigan who were sitting in third and eighth respectively. The two had incredible runs which moved them up to second and fourth going into the super-finals. Hannah Whitney of Crested Butte, CO, nailed a double-drop popular with the men’s field which pushed her past some hefty competition and into first place going into the super-finals.

In the final run of the women’s competition Whitney attempted the same double-drop which had scored so well the previous run, but was unable to pull it together and crashed, costing her to slide from first position to fourth overall. Hannah Horigan’s consistent smooth style and aggressive skiing pushed her just ahead of Crystal Wright who tumbled at the bottom of her final competition run. Recent U.S. Freeskiing Nationals Champion Jess McMillan rounded out the Jackson Hole podium sweep with a very fast, hesitation-free run which won her the title of Subaru Jackson Hole Freeskiing Open women’s champion.

“It feels awesome to win at home,” said women’s champion Jess McMillan. “My whole family is here, all my friends and we had a Jackson sweep which is almost better than me winning alone.”

As always, spectators enjoyed watching freeskiing’s elite battle it out for the Tobias Lee Memorial Sickbird buckle award. The Sickbird award, named for the final Sickbird winner of 2006 who passed away in an avalanche just weeks later, 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 Adrien Coirier of Les Arcs, France, who was nominated for all three runs of the competition for his incredible antics.

“I wasn’t expecting to win the Sickbird this year,” said second place overall finisher and winner of the Tobias Lee Memorial Sickbird award Adrien Coirier. “It’s almost more important for me to win the buckle than to win the event. I knew Tobias and he was such a good guy and took such good care of me over here last year. I miss him on the tour. I gave him my run today.”

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 Young Gun overall front runner Brady Smedsrud of Red Lodge, MT.

New in 2007, MSI will be posting same-day video broadcasts on the newly redesigned www.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 tour wraps up in a weeks time at the Subaru North American Freeskiing Championships at Kirkwood, CA, March 26-April 1. Past tour stops the Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open at Telluride, CO, the Subaru Squaw Valley U.S.A Freeskiing Open at Squaw Valley U.S.A, CA, and the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Nationals at Snowbird Ski Resort, UT.

For photos, videos, stories, schedules and more information log onto www.usfreeskiing.com

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Post & McMillan Win at Jackson Hole