Vail native Chris Del Bosco was the top American finisher at Saturday’s World Cup skicross race in Meiringen-Hasliberg, Switzerland. But he was racing for Canada.
Del Bosco, a dual citizen attempting to qualify for the 2010 Olympics as a Canadian, continued an impressive World Cup season with his third podium this winter, a second-place finish in Switzerland behind Andreas Steffan of Austria. Biche Rudigoz of Ketchum, Idaho, was the top U.S. racer, finishing 19th. Casey Puckett of Aspen went out in the first round. Frisco’s Jake Fiala was 23rd.
Despite Saturday’s results, the U.S. men’s skicross team has had success this season on an increasingly competitive World Cup tour. Puckett was second in January at Flaine, France, and has six top-10 results. Daron Rahlves of Sugar Bowl, Calif., finished just shy of the podium in this year’s X Games, in fourth.
Hall of Fame honorees.
Olympic medalist and Steamboat Springs native Nelson Carmichael will join three other skiing luminaries inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame on April 4 at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. Carmichael was the bronze medalist in the debut of moguls skiing in the Olympics in 1992.
Olympic moguls medalist Liz McIntyre and former U.S. Ski Team member Cary Adgate also will be honored at the ceremony, along with big mountain skiing legend Bill Briggs. Tickets can be ordered by calling the Alf Engen Ski Museum at 435-658- 4240 or by going online to .
Snowboardcross update.
World Cup snowboardcross champion Lindsey Jacobellis of Stratton Mountain, Vt., nailed down her fifth World Cup win of the season Friday, finishing first at La Molina, Spain, in a photo finish. Jacobellis was joined on the podium by Nick Baumgartner of Iron River, Mich., who was second in the men’s race.
Fisher on podium.
Breckenridge’s Steve Fisher finished third in the World Cup halfpipe event at La Molina on Saturday, a solid day for U.S. Snowboarding that included Louie Vito’s runner-up result. Zac Black of Breckenridge was eighth.
Bleiler places second.
Olympic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler of Aspen finished second behind Kelly Clark of Mount Snow, Vt., on the final stop of the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix in Killington, Vt. The win distinguished Clark as back-to-back-to- back winner of the overall Grand Prix title. Madeline Schaffrick, 14, of Steamboat Springs finished third for her first Grand Prix podium. Steamboat’s Matt Ladley was second among the men.
Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
