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Hooray for Jasey "Jason" Jay
LIVE: March 17, 2000
[preview] [duel slalom] [big air] [halfpipe] [boarderX]
Sunshine, rain, snow, and bitter cold – in that order – made for a fast and icy duel slalom course. The rock solid, hardly carveable third turn forced the most disqualifications and knocked the wind out of a few racers. However, the rest of the course was slick and grooveable and the shrink-wrapped racers blasted through icy winds and blowing snow, carving huge half moons around every gate. Jasey Jay Anderson and Ursula Bruhin screamed across the finish line, fully tucked, in the fewest ticks of the clock, to take home the first 1st-place awards of The Open.
As badly as Anderson wanted to head down the mountain and suck down his first St. Patty's Day brew, he stuck around and broke it down. "I had fun. The course was challenging, but I'm not complaining. I had a smile on my face the whole time, but I was probably the only one."
That smile never left his face, even after a TV anchorman called him Jason and the interview had to be started over. Ooops — take two. Are you cold yet?
Ueli Kestenholz was six-tenths of a second behind Anderson to take the middle slot on the podium and in 3rd was Canadian Mark Fawcett. The Canucks have beaten the Euros to 1st place at The Open five times in the past eight years. Fawcett calls it "keeping it in the country."
On Sunday, Anderson will trade his hard boots and shin-guards for a full-face helmet and body armor as he lines up atop the BoarderX course.
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| "At some point during the event (and I don't know why or when), the race format changed, taking the duel out of the 'duel GS' event. The racers still sped side-by-side, but the results were determined by the combined time of two runs..." |
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Just before the awards, the sun came out, the wind died down, and the pack of hard-booters moved their parade to the base of the mountain. The results were in for the women: Bruhin in 1st, Brigitte Koeck of Austria in 2nd and Nadja Livers split 3rd with Michelle Charles. Though there's some confusion there and the US Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) reports Bruhin and Koeck tied for 1st. We'll let you know.
After hosing everybody down in champagne, the podium girls kicked back at a slopeside picnic table and signed posters for the fans surrounding them. After signing a pile of swag, Bruhin fessed up. "I started with freestyle, but then people told me that I carve really nicely." I second that.
At some point during the event (and I don't know why or when), the race format changed, taking the duel out of the 'duel slalom' event. The racers still sped side-by-side, but the results were determined by the combined time of two runs instead of eliminating the field bracket by bracket, sending one loser home after each round. This meant less heats, fewer crashes and an earlier happy hour. Beers on me!
The day came to and end and now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing a single spectator on the sidelines. I'm not really surprised - nobody makes much of a fuss about the DS. Nobody understands this event — it's the redheaded stepchild of snowboarding, but you won't see leopard skin body suits at the big air, will ya?
— Lucas Kane, freezin' his arse off for MountainZone.com
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