1997 Big Mountain Extreme Skiing Tour

Latest News from the Races
Friday, February 28, 1997


Bridger Bowl
February 10-14, 1997

New and Old Talent Shines at Bridger Bowl Extremes
See Standings Below

A mixture of established 'stars' and young newcomers turned out for the second event of the Big Mountain Extreme Tour at Bridger Bowl during a snowy week in Montana. Due to unusually high winds which had scoured snow from the higher slopes of Big Sky ski resort earlier this month, contest organizers were forced to move the event from Big Sky to nearby Bridger Bowl, 15 miles north of Bozeman. Despite the last minute change, and snowfall accumulations of almost three feet during the contest week, Bridger Bowl was able to supply two qualifying runs, two Semi-Final runs and a Final run on its upper 'Out of Sight' and 'Ridge' areas.

An ex-Bridger Bowl local, two-time World Extreme Ski Champion, Doug Coombs, showed the youngsters that he still has what it takes to conquer the steeps. In a three-way tie for the lead going in to the last run, Coombs picked a tight 'technical' line through a 50 degree cliff packed with trees and emerged with the highest run score of the contest. Chris Murphy, a 'ripper' from nearby Ennis, MT was a close second.

Bozeman's John Martinsen recovered from a disappointing Jackson Hole performance to take third place among men's skiers. Martinsen's 14th place in the Men's snowboarding division was also good enough to secure him an upset over Combined favorite Chuck Patterson of Tahoe City, CA. However, Patterson's 50 foot 'tail-grab' vaulted him into third in the Men's Snowboarding division from the first day of the contest. A newcomer to competition, Korey led a contingent of undiscovered local talent including second place boarder Chris Ankeny.

The Women's Snowboard division was a see-saw battle between current U.S. Extreme Champ[ion, Janet Antram, Salt lake City's Elizabeth Walker and local favorite Amanda House. Walker risked it all with a dangerous line choice through the cliffs of Out of Sight on the last run and came away with first. Antram's narrow second place finish over House combines with her victory at the Jackson Hole event to maintained her overall Tour Point lead.

New Zealand's Brigitte Mead dominated the women ski field, winning by a 10 point margin. Heidi Van Winkle, determined to recover from her disappointing qualifying performance at Jackson Hole, out distanced Brie MacDonald of Vancouver, BC to finish second. The Tour Point battle going into Crested Butte became tight when Jackson's A.J. Cargill 'kicked a shoe' (binding release) in the Semi Finals. That opened the door for Asia Jenkins to grab the current Tour Point lead.

The Big Mountain Extreme Tour now moves on to the Butte's seminal US Extreme skiing Championships. The Ski Tour Point contest is a wide open affair as many of the top contenders can be expected to emerge at 'the Butte' where the point values are higher than in previous events.

Men's Extreme Skiing Total Tour Standings:
As of February 14
1 Doug Coombs Jackson, WY
2 Brandt Moles Park City, UT
3 Chris Murphy Ennis, MT
4 Eric Rohr Jackson, WY
5 Chris Davenport Aspen, CO
6 William Mushen Crested Butte
7 John Martinsen Bozeman, MT
8 Aaron McGovem Squaw Vly, CA
9 Jason Mack Squaw Vly, CA
10 Jason Prigge Jackson, WY
11 Reece Edwards Teton Vlg, WY
12 Jobe Pilgrim So. Tahoe, CA
13 Mike Calley Pocatello, ID
14 Arden Oksanen Bozeman, MT
15 Rick Armstrong Jackson, WY
16 Patrick Carland Squaw Vly, CA
17 Bill Erickson Snowbird, UT
18 Mickey Price Bozeman, MT
19 Rick Greener Big Sky, MT
20 Luke Statford Bozeman, MT
21 Jack Hannan Crested Butte
22 Mark Newcomb Wilson, WY
23 Chuck Patterson Tahoe Cty, CA
24 Doug Pierini Jackson, WY
25 Kazu Miyano Tokyo, Japan
26 Jason Winkler Wilson, WY
27 Scott Gates Vail, CO
28 Jason Anthony Jackson, WY

Men's Extreme Snowboarding Total Tour Standings:
1 Andrew Boucher Kirkwood, CA
2 Chuck Patterson Tahoe City, CA
3 Eric Arnold So. Tahoe, CA
4 Korey Kaczmarek Big Sky, MT
5 Dan Hunt So. Tahoe, CA
6 Chris Ankeny Bozeman, MT
7 Eric Spitzer Jackson, WY
8 Willie Mcmillion Jackson, WY
9 Adrien Knapp Jackson, WY
10 Eddie Alberton Vail, CO
11 Carsten Bahnson Bozeman, MT
12 Demian McConnell Jackson, WY
13 Neil Boshoff Bozeman, MT
14 Lance Koudele Vail, CO
15 Peter Nelson Jackson, WY
16 Steven Rozendaal Slt Lk Cty, UT
17 Chris Pierre Slt Lk Cty, UT
18 Steven Schumm Bozeman, MT
19 Gareth Van Dyk Crested Butte
20 Brian Johnson Aspen, CO
21 Shaun Tatum Vail, CO
22 Pat Bonser So. Tahoe, CA
23 David McHugh Vail, CO
24 John Martinsen Bozeman, MT
25 Jaime Pierre Salt Lake City
26 Max Goodwin Evergreen, CO

Men's Extreme Combined Tour Standings:
1 Chuck Patterson
2 John Martinsen
3 Jamie Pierre
4 Rick Armstrong
5 Clint Butler
6 Justin Befu

Women's Extreme Skiing Tour Standings:
1 Asia Jenkins
2 AJ Cargill
3 Brigitte Mead
4 Tiffany Shannis
5 Heidi Van Winkle
6 Brie MacDonald
7 Shamai Mushen
8 Chris Hutcheson
9 Juli Almi
10 Brandy Kashiwa

Women's Extreme Snowboarding Tour Standings:
1 Janet Antlam
2 Kate Moriarty
3 Wnow Peterson
4 Marybeth Zambarano
5 Welizabeth Walker
6 Julir Zell
7 Amansa House
8 Martha Renn
9 Tomo Okazaki
10 Julie Larsen
11 Shelby Barsalou
12 Annie Fast
13 Karen Bellina
14 Denise Arnett
15 Erica Baily
16 Abigail Chapman

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