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Rail Queens earn their crowns

By Andrew Mitchell When it comes to activities like grinding rails on skis and snowboards, girls may have a few advantages over the guys after all, if this past Saturday’s Queen of the Rail contest is any measure.

By Andrew Mitchell

When it comes to activities like grinding rails on skis and snowboards, girls may have a few advantages over the guys after all, if this past Saturday’s Queen of the Rail contest is any measure.

Whether it’s because girls are lighter, more agile, and have lower centres of gravity, or just the fact that the smaller field gave the girls more runs than the usual King of the Rail crowds, the contest was as impressive as they come.

By the end of the night most girls were throwing combination tricks on the rails, shifting from 50-50 grinds to frontside and backside slides, spinning off the ends, and throwing in a few style moves like grabs and nose presses. As the commentator noted, it would have been a difficult event to judge, if the athletes didn’t judge themselves.

Snowboarder Inga Eilertsen won the overall Queen of the Rail title with the most votes, as well as the Snowboard 16 and Over category. She also won $45, her share of the entry fees.

Jillian Duggan won the Snowboard 15 and Under category, as well as $20.

For skiers, Kyoko Hazazala was the top 16 and Over, and Yuki Tsubota was the top 15 and Under.

The last King of the Rail event is this Saturday, Feb. 17. The cost is $5 to take part with a valid Night Moves pass, and registration gets underway after 5 p.m. in the Blackcomb Daylodge. The contest is a rail jam, running from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. under the lights at the base of Blackcomb.