With competitors sacrificing their bodies at every turn and nobody giving an inch, the Atomiccross Feb. 22 on Blackcomb was a days of thrills, chills and spills for skiers and boarders aged 19 and over.
The first turn, a hairpin to the right, claimed the most victims with competitors barely in control after taking the first air. The second turn also claimed a large number of competitors – deep ruts carved by the snowboarders gobbled up and spat out skis with alarming regularity. The remainder of the course was tight and technical.
In the women’s snowboard event, Marni Yamada of Seattle, Washington, was the top rider, beating out Bodil Drewsen, Krista Hoffs and Cori Olafson.
The women’s ski bracket went to Whistler’s Kim McKnight, followed by Cara Dolan, Wendy Brookbank, and Julie Mountfield.
In the men’s snowboard competition, first place went to Christian Pepin. Chad Kolcze was second, James O’Connor third, and Craig Tucker fourth.
Davey Barr led the skiers to the finish line, followed by Alexis Vagelatos, Clay Dolan and Matthew Tweedy. It was the second silver medal finish for the Vagelatos family, as Alexis’ sister Julia claimed second place overall in the West in the Pontiac GMC Cup racing series last weekend.
The second Atomiccross is scheduled for March 8. Pre-registration is highly recommended as some categories were sold out prior to event day. Once again the competition is restricted to racers 19 and over, helmets are mandatory and mouth guards are strongly recommended.
