Finns Rule

The impression spectators were left with after viewing the World Cup mogul event could be summarized in three words: Finnish massive air. The Fins took 1-2-3 in the men's competition after stealing the show with smooth technique, speed and big air. How anybody can land in a mogul field and keep skiing after, say, a 720, is miraculous, but in Saturday's mogul event, it was plain reality.

For the men, first place was passed down the line during finals. Ultimately, Janne Lahtela, who went last, led his Finnish teammates to the podium with a quad twister off the first jump, nailing the landing, skiing with incredible control, and sticking a huge air off the second jump. And he won it with the second-best score in mogul competition history.

"My teammates were in the number one and two spots before my run. I wanted to make it one, two and three for the whole Finnish team. As soon as I finished my run, I knew that I had done everything that I could possibly dream about," Lahtela said.

"It's a lot of reaction because you're trying to go as fast as you can so you don't really have time to make a calculated turn on every single bump..." — Ann Battelle

What makes the Finns so great at mogul skiing? They have strong camaraderie and passion. They've been training together for the past seven or eight years. They used to live in the same apartment and went to the same high school. According to Lahtela, they've always been together.

	Janne Lahtela

"It's just hard work and it's finally paying off. The Finnish program is getting better all the time. Two years ago before the '98 Olympics there was no program at all. There was nothing in Finland about freestyle — just the competitors. But now, finally after these two really good years of results, everything is getting better." Lahtela, who enjoys skydiving when he's not skiing, apparently has an affinity for air.

Finland's Lauri Lassila, who landed a 720 off the first jump, took 2nd in front of teammate Sami Mustonen who finished 3rd. Canada's Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau was 4th, and last year's winner, USA's Alex Wilson, took 5th. Locals Travis "Flying Burrito" Ramos and 16-year-old Travis Cabral finished 8th and 11th, respectively.

Battelle Charges Women's Moguls
In the women's event, last year's World Cup Mogul Champion and World Champion Ann Battelle, 32, charged the course, taking first. After nine years of freestyle competition, all her hard work is finally beginning to pay off. And though this course was particularly steep and firm, Battelle's experience was key. She claimed mogul skiing is all about reacting.

	Ann Battelle

"By the time you're actually skiing in finals, hopefully you know the course pretty much like the back of your hand," Battelle said. "It's a lot of reaction because you're trying to go as fast as you can so you don't really have time to make a calculated turn on every single bump. You have to remember that there's a trouble spot coming up, so you've got to get ready for it. But right now I'm just going by reaction, left right left right.

"Then the airs, we pretty much know exactly where we're going to land our airs and our first turn out of it. But it's the same thing, you want to just go off by reaction and not have everything totally calculated — because that's slow and it's not as exciting to watch. The course shaped up really nice for finals and I skied about as well as I could ski so I'm pretty happy with it," Battelle added.

As long as she's still having fun, Battelle, a veteran on the team, says she does not plan to retire anytime soon. "I'm just kind of taking it one year at a time right now. I'm going to see how my body holds up and how motivated I stay right now. I'm having a really good time with it. If it gets so that I'm not having a good time, I don't really want to do it, so I'm just taking it one year at a time," she said.

Sweden's Marja Elfman took 2nd. Battelle led the standings going into this event, but Norway's Kari Traa, who took 3rd today, now leads the standings because FIS counts only the top three out of every four competitions. Traa has won two out of the last four events, carrying her to the top of the standings — even though she didn't win here.

An overnight storm dumped a half-foot of snow on the mountain, changing conditions from the bulletproof snow during training Friday. After the qualifying run, a warm sun came out and softened conditions.

During today's mogul event, the aerialists practiced on the adjacent run in preparation for Sunday's jump fest. Stay tuned for more action, all weekend, from Heavenly. Television coverage of the weekend events will be broadcast at noon EST Jan. 30 (Super Bowl Sunday) on CBS.

Event Schedule
Sunday, Jan. 23: Aerials. "B" seed competitors from 9am-11am, "A" Seed from 1pm-3pm, awards ceremony to follow.

— Michelle Quigley, clinging to steep ice without crampons for MountainZone.com