Aussie woman takes first place and all the Kiwi rippers are here:
In a race otherwise dominated by Europeans and Canadians, Australian snowboarder, Marguerite Cossettini, who is currently ranked number-one in ISF standings, schooled the women's division this weekend at the Swatch Pro Boarder Cross event in Snowmass, Colorado and took home a $5,000 check for her efforts.
Sunny skies and fresh powder set the stage for a fast paced and intense competition that featured top snowboarders from 14 countries jamming head-to-head down an obstacle laden course six at a time.
Pontus Staahlklo of Sweden took first place in the men's field which was noticeably absent the reigning world champion, Shawn Plamer. Number-one ranked Frenchmen, Philipe Conte, blazed the course all weekend and finished in second, while the wild rasta-man from Austria, Harald Putz, came in right behind for a tight finish in the final heat that gave him third.
Canadian/Team Burton rider, Drew Neilson, who rode off with the gold at last week's Gravity Games, looked like he might take the day, but crashed in the final heat ending up in fifth ahead of Norwegian, Tor Bruserud. Mark Schultz, the top placing American, finished sixth.
The only male rider from "down under" was Team Rossignol shredder from New Zealand,
Stephen Scott, who hung in for a respectable forty-first out of 90 pro racers.
Team Burton rider and primo Aussie betty, Marguerite Cossettini, raged down the mountain for an undisputed first place in the women's final heat, while Austrian/Bluwindow ace, Catherine Poetzl, fended off a last minute attack by hard charging Canadian, Erin Simmons of Team Burton for a second place photo-finish. Simmons ended up with a big grin and third place.
Kiwi, Rene Hollis, snagged fifteenth place riding for team RPM, and fellow New Zealand rider,
Suzy Parker took twenty third riding for team Ten-Eighty.
"It was a great race, and everybody rode hard. I'm just stoked to have done so well,"
Cossettini told reporters.
The course, which was fast and technical by all accounts, featured a total drop of
300-meters over its 754-meter length. There was a10-foot half pipe kicker right out of the gate, dubbed the Wu Tang, that took more than a few competitors out of the race, and a fast corkscrew mid-course leading into an evil drop-turn called Murphy's jump that was universally scorned by riders. Another wicked feature was a double step-up at the finish line. Only the fastest riders on the course consistently cleared the second, higher, hump of double step-up. Weather was immaculate as storms rolled in each night to deposit a few inches of fresh powder then cleared out during the day, allowing copious amounts of sunlight to spread good vibes across the mountain.
Though there was a fair number of injuries over the weekend¾most notably Nicholas Conte, who suffered a probable broken back¾the atmosphere was festive and electric.
The Swatch pro tour makes its next stop in Garmish, Germany. Though many riders will remain state side for next week's Winter X-Games.
— Johnathon Allen, BoarderZone.com Event Coverage
