Mr. Fuzzy Fawcett found first fast with flow under the Mt. Bachelor sun this afternoon. Rosey Fletcher again proved her finesse with speed against the best the world has to offer.

Not that Mark didn't battle proven speed machines from planets beyond, like Ross Rebagliati, but Ross hasn't been dominating the gates like France's famed Karine Ruby who took second only one-tenth of a second behind Rosey.

The Ladies

The difference today was the addition of speeds that Karine and others don't train for because the Super-G rarely comes to town and when it does, there are always a few lights of speed that get to shine. Chris Klug would have been at least in the second paragraph of this story were he not injured.

Rosey managed again (last time '97 US Open) not only to drop some serious speed upon the world's best, but to do it in a discipline that in Mr. Mark's words "is the core of the carving disciplines."

"I realized today that what it comes down to is not the size of your stick but the girth of your turns..."

Sondra Van Ert and Jeff Greenwood stole third in the bottom of the ninth. Last weekend Sondra confessed that she was more scared than she had ever been on a board during the Whistler Super G . Today she said her strategy was to simply "keep my breakfast down... It kinda scares you, but it's a neat feeling and everyone's stoked on it."

I think this quote sums it up for the majority of the riders even though most might not admit it because they think they're tough with their big sticks and skin suites...wussies.

Mike Jacoby

Jeff Archibald took his second podium of the season and has easily proven his worth on this year's US Snowboard Team. He stuck his one run just .08 of a second out from Fawcett. I bet it has something to do with American mascot Animal or maybe just US Snowboard Team prescribed goofballs. Actually it's coach Foley's good eye for expertise combined with a few goofballs on the side.

Like Chris Klug, there are many stories today of the could-a, should-a been. Ian Price, who won the '97 US Open Super-G and last weekend came in fourth, today landed only .03 of a second behind third place holder Jeff Greenwood and .14 of a second behind Fawcett.

Lisa Kosglow, Jasey Jay Anderson, Darren Chalmers, Anton Pogue and Betsey Shaw are just a few of the freaks that could have been on the podium were it not for a gate that went across the mountain, against the fall line right as the slope dropped. This fun feature that forced racers to check speed had many realizing they were carrying way too much momentum to drop without ollying the gate at the last minute. It was a sick place to watch the race, but an incredibly dark one as well (thus my slew of shitty shots).

Ross Rebagliati

I realized today that what it comes down to is not the size of your stick but the girth of your...turns...yeah that's it..turns. Dual Slalom is the European specialty. It's soooo like skiing's dual. They all train for it. Zoooopa G is the rare event that we won't see again until the US Open because too few speed specialists are fighting for it.

I've never ridden hard boots, so I guess I've never "carved" but I know when Fawcett says "there's a lot of steel touching the snow. I mean when you're laying it over, making this big quick smooth move similar to like when you're making a big powder slash, big lay back powder turn, it's just one of those after another after another. It makes it really interesting."

I know what you're thinking, what happened to Rosey? To view the Rosey interview you need the special, unlicensed plug-in version of WHANS. It's only compatible with Hans' Final Fantasy IV...sorry.

— Hans Prosl, forever fantasizing out loud for The Mountain Zone

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