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Eliassen Repeats X-Games Gold

J Dogg — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 00:00:00 -0500

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The weather slowed down the Winter X Games 10 Skiing SuperPipe Women's competition, but it wasn't enough to slow down Grete Eliassen. With snow beating down on Buttermilk Mountain at Aspen/Snowmass, 10 finalists participated in a thirty minute jam session to determine the winner of Skiing SuperPipe Women's. For the second year in a row, Eliasson (Lillehammer, Norway) edged out Sarah Burke (Squamish, B.C., Canada) to secure the top spot on the podium. It is her second Winter X Games medal in two appearances. Eilassen started her run big, with a 15 foot mute grab on her first hit and then threw in big tricks including an alley-oop 540.

"There was a lot of pressure because I won last year," Eliasson said. "I just had to keep my head and keep my level of competition up. I was really trying to go as big as I could." Burke, who beat the elements to land a corked 900 on the way to her second silver medal in two years at Winter X Games, felt the elements played a big role in the competition, but was still pleased with her result. "I didn't get the run I was looking for," Burke said. "It just came down to how slow it was because of the weather. But obviously I'm happy to be here at the X Games and in second place."

Marie Martinod-Routin (Aix Les Bains, France) improved on her fifth place showing at Winter X Games Nine to grab the bronze ahead of fourth place finisher Kristi Leskinen (Uniontown, Pa.). "The pipe was great," Martinod-Routin said. "It was the longest I've ever skied, which helped me get more speed even with the adverse weather. I have a bunch of new tricks that I still need to perfect, but I have a lot of good years ahead of me."

In the Mens competition, X-Games ringer Tanner Hall grabbed a gold medal for his collection, with Laurent Favre and Simon Dumont rounding out the podium.

SKIING SUPERPIPE WOMEN'S

1. Grete Eliassen 524 Lillehammer, Norway 10.00
2. Sarah Burke 525 Squamish, BC, Canada 9.00
3. Marie Martinod-Routin 527 Aix Les Bains, France 8.00
4. Kristi Leskinen 526 Uniontown, Pa. 7.00
5. Jess Cumming 532 Wilton, Conn. 6.00
6. Michelle Parker 542 Squaw Valley, Calif. 5.00
7. Ashley Saba 533 Waterville Valley, N.H. 4.00
8. Virginie Faivre 528 Montreux Beach, Switzerland 3.00
9. Jen Hudak 529 Park City, Utah 2.00
10. Gina Gmeiner 531 Steamboat Springs, Colo. 1.00

SKIING SUPERPIPE MEN'S

1. Tanner Hall 550 Park City, Utah 92.66
2. Laurent Favre 510 La Clusaz, France 91.00
3. Simon Dumont 552 Bethel, Maine 90.00
4. Loic Collomb-Patton 543 La Clusaz, France 84.66
5. Andreas Hatveit 541 Sudndalen, Norway 81.33
6. J.P. Solberg 542 Waterville Valley, N.H. 80.00
7. Peter Olenick 506 Carbondale, Colo. 79.33

Schiller Takes X-Games Gold

J Dogg — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0500

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Mother Nature Plays Havoc With Skiing Slopestyle

It wasn't the event he planned on winning, but TJ Schiller will take the gold anyway. With snowfalls blanketing the Slopestyle course on Buttermilk Mountain at Aspen/Snowmass, the Skiing Slopestyle Final became Skiing Best Trick. Instead of riding the full course, all 20 competitors took two runs on its final jump, taking the best of two scores. Schiller (Vernon, BC, Canada) went big with a switch nose 1080 on his first jump, good enough for a 91.33 and the gold.

"I was pretty bummed we couldn't have Slopestyle. I was really working on my rail tricks," Schiller said. "Then mother nature decided to dump a foot of snow on us, so there's nothing you can do about it. But it was a great show, and it was really great to be here." "We do this kind of thing all the time," he said about Best Trick, "whether it's in competition, or just riding the mountain."

TJ Schiller.
Photo by Tony Donaldson

Charles Gagnier (Victoriaville, QC, Canada), who landed a switch 1080 mute grab to take the silver, believed the elements were definitely a challenge. "The final run was hard because we were waiting so long, I really didn't know what would happen. By the second run, I got over it," Gagnier said. "Watching the other guys doing it, I got really pumped up. I felt I had to go big." Andreas Hatveit (Sundalen, Norway) overcame sore ribs suffered at the US Open of Skiing to take the bronze with a switch true tail 1080 and a score of 87.66. His excitement at finishing with a medal was more than enough to dull the pain. "For the last five years, my goal has been to get to the X Games podium. I was too stoked to feel the pain," Hatveit said.

SKIING BEST TRICK
(Originally Skiing Slopestyle. Due to snow, competition was modified to a Best Trick format with all 20 competitors, in a best of two run format)

Final Results from Aspen/Snowmass on Sunday, January 29, 2006
1. TJ Schiller 505 Vernon, BC, Canada 91.33
2. Charles Gagnier 500 Victoriaville, QC, Canada 89.33
3. Andreas Hatveit 541 Sudndalen, Norway 87.66
4. Candide Thovex 509 La Clusaz, France 83.00
5. Jon Olsson 502 Are, Sweden 82.00
6. John Spriggs 520 Vail, Colo. 81.66
7. Sammy Carlson 512 Tigard, Ore. 80.66
8. Corey Vanular 507 Niagra-on-the-Lake, ON, Canada 79.00
9. Simon Dumont 366 Bethel, Maine 78.33
10. Peter Olenick 506 Carbondale, Colo. 75.00
11. Laurent Favre 510 La Clusaz, France 73.00
12. JF Houle 519 Drummondville, QC, Canada 68.66
13. Derek Spong 513 Woodinville, Wash. 67.00
14. Jacob Wester 516 Stockholm, Sweden 65.33
15. Pep Fujas 511 Sandy, Utah 65.33
16. Steele Spence 514 Aspen, Colo. 64.66
17. Tanner Rainville 515 Squaw Valley, Calif. 54.33
18. Rory Bushfield 517 Balzac, AB, Canada 43.00
19. Josh Bibby 508 Vernon, BC, Canada 14.00
20. Tim Durtschi 521 Bend, Ore. 11.00

Rory Bushfeild in the middle of
his big switch double back-flip.
Photo by Tony Donaldson

US Freeskiing Open, 2006

J Dogg — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0500

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SUPERPIPE & BIG AIR FINAL RESULTS

As anticipated, the Jeep U.S. Freeskiing Open went out with a bang in Vail Colorado earlier this week with the men's and women's Halfpipe competition and the exciting nighttime Big Air invitational, coming on the heels of Friday's Slopestyle finals. The largest cash prize of the contest, $10,000, went to TJ Schiller of Vernon, BC for his first place finish in the nighttime Big Air invitational. BC boyz representin'. Schiller beat out last year's Slopestyle winner Charles Gagnier with a huge switch 1440 - the first ever seen at an official competition. Tanner Hall of Park City, UT took first in men's Halfpipe, claiming the $7,000 prize, while Sarah Burke of Whistler, B.C. placed first in the women's division carrying a $2,500 prize.

For more information including complete contest results, visit www.usfreeskiingopen.com

Check the PHOTO GALLERY

Complete results for HALFPIPE:

Mens:

Place	First	Last	Best Run
1	Tanner	Hall	84
2	Loic	Collamb-Patton	80.2
3	Corey	Vanular	80
4	Dan	Marion	78.8
5	Tanner	Rainville	78
6	JF	Houle	77
6	Matt	Philipi	77
8	Arnaud	Rougier	75
8	Simon	Dumont	75
10	Scott	Hibbert	70.8
11	Sean	Collin	70
12	Mike	Riddle	69.2
13	Stefan	Thomas	67.4
14	Greg	Tuffelmire	65.8
15	Sean	Field	65.6
16	Matt	Hayward	45.2

Womens:

Place	First	Last	Best Run
1	Sarah	Burke	83.2
2	Jen	Hudak	70.6
3	Jess	Cumming	70.4
4	Marta	Ahrenstedt	67.4
5	Gina	Gmeiner	67.2
6	Stephanie	Sirianni	65.4
7	Mirjam	Jaeger	64.8
8	Mille	Windeldt	60.6
9	Natalie	Sirianni	60.6
10	Pip	Simmonds	58.6
11	Whitney	Wickes	56
12	Claudia	Bouvier	55.8
13	Julie	Johnson	54.6
14	Marie	Martinod	37.4
15	Kristi	Leskinen	34.6
16	Jenny	Lee	34.4

Complete results for the nighttime BIG AIR invitational:

1st Place	TJ Schiller
2nd Place	Charles Gagnier
3rd Place	Andreas Haveit
4th Place	Sammy Carlson