The FIS Snowboard World Cup season wrapped up in Ruka, Finland last weekend with Quebec’s Jasey Jay Anderson taking the Snowboard Cross (SBX) finals and the overall championship title.
It was Anderson’s fifth SBX win in a row, and as usual the day came down to a hard boot verses soft boot battle with Pontus Stahlkloo of Sweden. With the overall World Cup title on the line, Anderson went for it.
"Stahlkloo just took my last bit of energy," said the 25 year old from St-Jovite. "This was a real battle. I had a better start and then was kind of celebrating already, but Stahlkloo had momentarily passed by and I feared to lose it again. So we started elbowing a bit and for the next couple of banks it was a fight for the best line, but I stood my ground."
The March 17 victory also gave Anderson the overall SBX title, with Anderson more than making up a 30 point deficit to the Swede with his performance.
"I wasn’t planning on it at the beginning of the season, but I did too well in the SBX, so I finally decided to put extra effort and make it happen," Anderson said.
This is the first time a Canadian has ever won a snowboard World Cup title.
Anderson also finished ninth in the parallel slalom standings, and 105 th in the overall halfpipe standings, which he dabbles in from time to time. Thomas Bourgault of France and Austria’s Lukas Fruener finished third and fourth in the SBX.
In the women’s SBX, the overall title was also on the line, with Karin Ruby of France and Germany’s Sandra Farmand battling for top spot. Ruby needed a fourth to guarantee her the title, but crashed in the quarter final round to open it up to Farmand. Then Farmand crashed in the semi-finals and the title went to Ruby.
Sisters Claudia and Manuela Riegler finished first and second in the contest, followed by Doris Guenther – all three are from Austria.
On March 14, Anderson narrowly missed the podium in the final parallel giant slalom of the season, finishing behind Nicolas Huet of France, Richard Rikardsson of Sweden and Mathieu Bozzetto of France.
The top women in the PGS were Carmen Ranigler of Italy, followed by Anna Kaltiaimem of Finland and Manuela Riegler of Austria.
In the parallel slalom on the following day, the top three men were Alexander Maier of Austria, Charlie Cosnier of France, and Harald Walder of Austria.
The top women were Carmen Ranigler, folowed by Maria Kirchgasser-Pichter of Austria and Margherita Parini of Italy.
The halfpipe finals on March 16 went to the Swedes Markus Jonsson and Sterner Magnus, followed by Japan’s Takaharu Nakai. The top women were Fabienne Eeuteler of Switzerland, followed by Kjersti Buaas of Norway and Anna Hellman of Sweden. Whistler’s Lori Glazier cracked the top 15 with a 12 th place finish, getting closer to a berth at the Olympics.
