Bennet, McMillan on podium at Squaw Freeskiing Open

Squaw Valley, USA, February 16, 2007— After an extraordinary, exciting day of skiing, Scott athletes Cliff Bennet of Snowbird, UT, and Jessica McMillan of Jackson Hole, WY came out on top of the stacked international field as the inaugural Subaru Squaw Valley USA Freeskiing Open concluded today on the Headwall in Enchanted Forest at Squaw Valley USA. Both skiers claimed second place. With good weather, event promoter Mountain Sports International (MSI) was able to include a super-finals run for the top six women and top 10 men.

Sitting in first position going into the morning run, freeskiing legend and ski movie regular Jamie Burge solidified her lead on the women’s field with an extremely easy-looking, smooth and aggressive first run which included a 20-foot cliff drop. Burge went into her second run six points ahead of McMillan. With such a commanding lead, Burge could have taken it easy, yet she chose another technical line with lots of rock exposure which sealed her fate as winner of the first ever Subaru Squaw Valley USA Freeskiing Open. The remaining top six women who advanced to the finals were Jess McMillan, Katharine Lange, Kate Olson, Emily Turner and Molly Baker. They remained in that finish order after the super-finals.

“I love Squaw Valley, I ski here everyday,” said Burge. “I still compete because competitions are great, they really make you push yourself. It forces you to step it up and be competitive and its fun. You get to see everybody. I’m so honored to represent Squaw today and win this!”



Jess McMillan on the podium

After the qualifying round, only 8.6 points separated all 32 men who advanced, so it was almost anyone’s game to win or lose going into today’s finals. First run stand-outs included: Ben Wheeler’s fast, smooth run, which incorporated a 15-foot cliff drop to a straight line; Kevin O’Meara, whose gigantic, perfectly executed double drop off the top section of the venue won him a Sickbird nomination; Craig Garbiel’s fast, aggressive airs and impressive gap-jump; and Adrien Coirier, winner of the recent Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open, whose hesitation-free, beautifully executed run catapulted him into first place going into the super-finals.

The super-finals began with Squaw locals and skiing legends Daron Rahlves and Gunner Newquist forerunning the venue. The two put on a spectacle, skiing together in unison, straight-lining the entire top portion of the venue and airing a 25-foot cliff near the bottom.

The men’s super-finals today will go down as one of the best in freeskiing history. Nine of the 16 men who advanced to the super-finals were nominated for the Sickbird award for their antics. Scott USA athlete Cliff Bennett of Snowbird, UT, in fourth after today’s first run, had an incredible second run, nailing each and every aspect he hit, launching him to second position overall. Kevin O’Meara was sitting in second place going into the super-final, but was knocked back to eighth overall when he did a somersault upon landing a double drop. He did, however receive his third Sickbird nomination of the competition. Adrien Corier of Les Arcs, France, who was just over two points ahead of O’Meara going into the finals, skied impossibly fast and nailed a huge straight-line with two 20-foot cliffs throughout the middle of the venue. He ended up winning the competition by nearly ten points. Coirier now leads the overall point’s standings for the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series.

“I have been working so hard for this,” said men’s champion Adrien Coirier. “I was running out of money before the winter because I spent all my money in the summer training for this. Today the skiing was just like my mountains in France, it was really good snow and the line I did was exactly what I like to ski. It was perfect and I’m so happy to have won another event.”



Cliff Bennet celebrates

As always, spectators enjoyed watching freeskiing’s elite battle it out for the Tobias Lee Memorial Sickbird buckle award. The Sickbird award is presented to the competitor with the most spirited competition run, often involving super-human talent and agility. This weekend’s Sickbird buckle was awarded to brand new Scott athlete Kevin O’Meara, who was nominated more than any other athlete, at this stop of the tour, for his incredible antics.

The North Face Young Gun Award returns in 2007, honoring outstanding new talent in competitive freeskiing. Points accumulated throughout the season will earn one lucky 21-and-under skier a full sponsorship from The North Face and the honor of becoming the next Young Gun winner. This stop’s winner was 21-year-old Brady Smedsrud of Red Lodge, MT.

New in 2007, MSI will post same-day video broadcasts on the newly redesigned usfreeskiing.com site, featuring state of the art video and photo player technology. The daily uploads of video, photos, news and results of each day’s competition action will be available just hours after each day concludes.



MSI's John "Dak" Williams

The Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series continues in three weeks at the 10th Anniversary of the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Nationals at Snowbird, UT. Additional stops to the U.S. Freeskiing Series, which has grown from four stops to five in 2007, include the Subaru Jackson Hole Freeskiing Open at Jackson Hole, WY; the Subaru North American Freeskiing Championships at Kirkwood, CA and past tour stop the Subaru Telluride Freeskiing Open.

Check out Scott’s own Cliff Bennet and Chris Tatsuno winning the qualifying day here:
http://www.usfreeskiing.com/2007/2007%20Squaw/Video/Squaw_qualifiers_mov.html

Check out the final day highlights here:
http://www.usfreeskiing.com/2007/2007%20Squaw/Video/Finals/Squaw_finals_highlights_mov.html