THE CANYONS -- Marguerite Cossettini and Christophe Maierhofer came through the back door to win firsts in the Swatch Boardercross World Tour event on Sunday.
Both snowboarders lost in early round face-offs and had to work up through the loser's or second-change bracket to make the finals. Both said they held nothing back in the final race and both won by wide margins.This is the fifth and last stop on the Swatch world tour. The finals will be in Laax, Switzerland, in early April.
Boardercross is a relatively new sport that, like women's bobsled and skeleton, is looking for Olympic recognition. The sport itself is a mixture of snowboarding, moto-cross racing and a decathlon. Six snowboarders at a time run a course carved out of snow.
After qualifying on Saturday, 48 men and 24 women moved into Sunday's finals. To make it into the finals, Cossettini, from Australia, and Maierhofer, from Austria, had to compete in eight races. Had they been able to place in the top three in each of the winner's brackets, they would have had to race only five times.
Both said at the finish they were tired and, coincidentally, each had lost track of how many rounds they'd skied. "Enough," was how Maierhofer put it.
The course, which was set on the lower slopes of The Canyons, was called one of the more technically challenging so far on the major tour. It started with two large rollers or jumps, then a tabletop or flat-top jump, then into a series of small rollers. This was the most difficult section and caused a number of tour favorites to fall. It then went into three step-ups, a double jump, a hip-jump right, a field of "snow ghosts" and ended with a large jump called a "showboat."
This was, in fact, the first time the "ghosts" had appeared on a boardercross course. It consisted of 15 mounds shaped like mountain peaks that stood six to eight feet high. Boarders could take anyone of a number of lines through the valleys, which was good for those who chose right and bad for those who didn't. The reaction from the boarders to the large bumps was mixed.
With the field narrowed to the final six in both the men's and women's, the two winners stationed themselves near the center of the group at the start. Both were among the leaders at the start.
Maierhofer said he was a little anxious and went into the first jump too fast.
"I landed on the flat and almost lost it. It was a dangerous thing to try. I easily could have crashed. I just kept telling myself, 'Stay on the board, stay on the board.' This was a very challenging course for me. Very tough," he said.
Cossettini also had her troubles early in the final race. Off the first jump she almost collided with Carlee Baker of Canada, who finished second. Baker landed in front of Cossettini and both were able to stay upright. A little further down the course, Cossettini was able to pass Baker and then extend her lead.
Maierhofer won $10,000 and Cossettini $5,000.
The question many are wondering about is whether Boardercross will be in the 2002 Games. Among those at this event, feelings were mixed.
Some felt, with three events already in the Olympics -- giant slalom, halfpipe and dual slalom -- Boardercross has a good chance.
Paul Rossi, who builds courses for the group putting on the event, said he would prefer "Boardercross mature a little first.
"The FIS (International Ski Federation) has diluted this from a six- to a four-person event. That's what they're proposing to the Olympic committees. This is an event for six. It was in the beginning and it always will be. It would be a mistake to make it a four-person competition. As it is now it's a good media and spectator event."