Jaquet

Good morning, it's Sunday. Saturday night was alright, not too heavy and not too lame. The Jungle Brothers represented big time down in the Garage here in Laax. Reto Gurtner, the unofficial owner of the town, tries every year to get somebody special over here, and he also tries to bring these music guys together with these snowboard guys and girls.

So it happened that Stine Brun Kjeldaas went snowboarding with Snoop Dog last year and MC Solar was here in 1994, when I played golf in the cellar of the hotel with their band, back in the day. This year the Jungle Brothers were rhyming on and on and on, on and on. I went to bed pretty early, and today started out nice. Good weather for the last few days and no hangover. What a great feeling.

In the starting area, before the first run, the riders seemed to be super relaxed. With temperatures around -1°Celcius, the riders danced down the course just to keep warm. Among the competitors there were two riders, Gilles Jaquet (SUI) and Jana Sedova (SLO) who couldn`t compete last season because of serious injuries. But after the first run these two were placed on the top. Jaquet tied with Sedova for the best time in the first run. The legendary skier Martin Freinademetz (AUT)checked the course with his skies before the race. His board ultimately took him to 24th place, but he was 2nd after the first run. The run times ranged between 43 and 48 seconds. Andi Egger (AUT), my special friend, took 11th and was stoked.

	Sedova

Dieter Happ (AUT) had the best time in the second run but placed 5th overall. Austria's Heidi Jaufenthaler's had a very strong second run and ended up 4th. The top three spots — and the real bucks — went to Ueli Kesenholz (SUI), the handsome Swiss who the girls love to see in a skin suit. Second place went to Sigi Grabner (SUI), who has been suffering physically lately. The doctors told him to relax a little longer, but you know. Seems like there's nothing in Grabner`s way, not even his knee injury.

Lucky, lucky Gilles Jaquet won the race and got to take his tax-free winnings back home to his hometown of Neuchatel, Switzerland. It's enough for him to buy a little used car. The girls' race was tight, but Jana Sedova from Slovakia took it. Polona Zupan (POL) ended up 2nd and Swiss Nadia Livers placed 3rd. It was a victory for Eastern European riders and it shows that there is talent all over the world, not just in and around the top mountain resorts. After the race, the sun went down the mountain and brought that mysterious shadow of dusk into the finish area. The riders celebrated and were stoked. There were abundant congratulations for Jaquet — the man is back. He will also compete in Vienna on New Year's at the Soul City 1999, so there will be more than alcohol at that event.

"So it happened that Stine Brun Kjeldas went snowboarding with Snoop Dog last year and MC Solar was here in 1994, when I played golf in the cellar of the hotel with their band, back in the day...."

Before we go to Vienna, there is still the Air and Style on the 4th of December waiting for us in Innsbruck, Austria. Enough snow has been brought by god himself into the BERG-ISEL Stadium for the contest to go off. I checked it out last week and it looks pretty much finished. But the organizers are nervous. Looks like they might get a big bad weather front from the north within the next few days. I am waiting for that. Pow, Pow, Pow and just before the Grindelwald comps, December 17-19, we will hang out for a few days in Sepp's hut up on the mountain. We all need some time to relax in a hut after so much stress. My fourth issue of the Snowboard Revue will come out here in Austria in just a few days.

	click

My back still hurts from the pipe on Saturday, not from riding but from standing around from 11am to 3pm and leaning against banners — doesn`t really relax your back. But it`s my own fault. Why am I doing this job? Today I did some three pipe runs. I snaked, since there were so many people waiting on the top of the pipe. But if I hadn't snaked I wouldn`t have had a perfect day. The pipe was packed since a lot of the competitors stayed a few extra days. Sebu Kuhlberg (FIN), snowboarding legend, was suddenly in the pipe. I talked to him for a while. He seems to have no real plan for the next few weeks, but I bet he'll hang out in Innsbruck for a while

A little hurting here or there is normal and at the end of the day it comes down to this: What doesn`t kill you will make you tougher. And so it was after I followed the camera on the GS course today. I was stoked that Technical Supervisor Chris Polletis (USA) allowed me to do it. I made the whole run just behind the rider down to the finishing area. Once I get this digi-cam set perfect, there will be some digi videos coming your way. I have to trade work with some Innsbruck locals to cut them together. But it`s going to work, I am sure. These were the first two ISF contests in '99 season. So far, so good.

We'll check in again around the 5th or 6th of December with a report from Air and Style`s seventh flight. Let`s hope that everything will fit there, that Ice T will not get lost in the city and Creed won't freeze on stage. Over and out from Laax.

— Nils, MountainZone.com European Correspondent