1997 World Ski and Smnowboard Festival presented by the Mountain Zone


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boarder cross
saturday, april 12
finals today

Kokanee Kross Snowboard Series made its final stop on the slopes of Blackcomb Mountain today. The Kokanee North American BoarderCross Championships had everything to make a great event; close races, some big air, crashes and the inevitable "carting away" of some unfortunate competitors. Leanne Slade (CAN), in one of her training runs, had to be taken away by helicopter on Thursday after crashing in the first double jump. We heard that she dislocated her hip and broke her pelvis. The double jump where she injured herself was conveniently changed into a table-top for the finals.

In the men's division, Darren (Wing Nut) Chalmers (CAN) who rides for the Canadian Snowboarding Team, held on to take the prize. In his alpine setup (hard boots), he managed to pass the pack in the flats and hold on through the corkscrew to take the top honors and the $3000. Darren said that he is going to Barbados to celebrate and relax after a long season on GS tour. Chalmers also won last week's Coloir Extreme Race.
      In the women's divion, Alison Clark (CAN) smoked all the other girls. In the finals, she grabbed the hole shot out of the start and held on to win. Kelly Kaye (CAN) took second shortly behind Clark. Nillard Pilavakis (USA), who was one of the favorites, didn't make the final, but won the conciliation round.