The final stop of the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Series and the Freeskiing World Tour wrapped up Saturday at Alyeska Resort in Alaska with 200 competitors hiking to the summit of Alyeska Peak to pay tribute to John Nicoletta of Aspen. The competition was postponed a day after Nicoletta died from a fall during the big mountain extreme skiing event.
When competition resumed, Jake Cohn of Telluride finished fifth in the men’s division won by Kent Hyden of Alta, Utah.
One of the youngest competitors in the women’s division, 19-year-old Jacqui Edgerly of Aspen, finished fourth behind veteran and women’s champion Crystal-Rose Lee of Whistler, British Columbia.
The overall series titles went to Josh Daiek of Kirkwood, Calif., and Crystal Wright of Jackson, Wyo. A complete list of tour results is at .
Coloradan shares title.
The second and final stop of The North Face Masters big mountain snowboarding tour also wrapped up last week at Alyeska Resort. Crested Butte’s Susan Mol finished second behind Laura Dewey of Snowbird. They also split the overall women’s tour title.
Clif Dimon of Crested Butte finished fourth to claim the men’s series title. Snowboarding stalwart Rob Kingwell of Jackson, Wyo., won the final contest.
Amateur athletes wanted.
The Vail-based Teva Mountain Games has added an amateur category to the GNC Ultimate Mountain Challenge. The challenge is a two-day event that includes a 10K trail running, cross country mountain biking, a 9.6-mile road bike climb up Vail Pass and a Class II downriver kayak race. Competitors can preregister for the June 5-8 event at . Cost is $150.
Footnotes.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Richard Steadman of Vail was the first recipient of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association’s Dr. J. Leland Sosman Award for his contributions as a volunteer medical provider. Steadman has headed the volunteer physicians’ program for more than 30 years after being named chief physician for the U.S. Ski Team in 1976. . . . ESPN reversed its decision and will keep the halfpipe skateboarding and BMX events in this summer’s X Games from July 31-Aug. 3 in Los Angeles. . . . The 2008 Adventure Xstream series got underway in Moab on April 5 with Mike Kloser, Michael Tobin, Dan Weiland and Sari Anderson of Colorado’s Team Nike winning the 50-mile race in about 6 hours. Boulder Performance Network, anchored by kayaker Mike Freeburn, finished second.
Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
