Jackson Hole, WY's Jessica Baker stomped impressive airs on aggressive lines for the women's win. Jackson took a second podium, as Kit DeLauriers' smooth skiing earned her second place. Squaw Valley's Ingrid Backstrom showed her technical prowess early, but a crash in the Super Final kept her from the top of the podium-she finished third.



The men's Super Final lived up to its name, seeing some of the biggest
cliff hucks of the week. France's Romain Maitre's incredibly smooth, fast,
technical line ended with the huck that landed him on top of the podium,
and also snagging the Sickbird Award. Head judge Michael Beaudry
commented, "In seven years of judging freeskiing, this was the most
incredible line I have ever seen." Manu Gaidet also of France gained wows
from the crowd and his creative lines and solid airs, finishing second.
Snowbird's own Ben Wheeler skied one of the best runs of his career for
third.



Ingrid Backstrom and Manu Gaidet continue to lead in overall 2004 World
Tour points.



The U.S. Skiercross Nationals commence Saturday morning at 10:00am with
qualifying runs followed by heated runs at noon. The 2004 Subaru U.S.
Skiercross Nationals is a 2005 Winter X Games qualifying event and is the
first stop of the 2004 US Skiercross series. In addition, $500 prize for
the best male and best female skier, who competes in both the IFSA World
Tour big mountain event, and the skiercross at the Subaru U.S. Freeskiing
Nationals. Skiercross is a racing discipline in which multiple skiers race
simultaneously over a course made of obstacles similar to those found in
motocross courses like table tops, banked turns, rollers, and step-up or
step-down jumps. Recognizing that racers make excellent big mountain
skiers, and that pro big mountain skiers excel at racing as well, Mountain
Sports International began hosting skiercross races in conjunction with
big mountain competitions in 2002.



The Subaru U.S. Freeskiing Nationals produced by Mountain Sports
International, www.mtsports.com, is the second stop on the International
Free Skiers Association (IFSA) World Tour. www.freeskiers.org. The first
stop, the Tylenol Canadian Freeskiing Championships was held January 7-10,
2004. The final event, The North Face Freeride will be held in Les Arcs,
France March 1-5. sThe IFSA was founded in 1996 as the competitor
organization of freeskiing events including Big Mountain, Slopestyle,
Skiercross, Big Air and Pipe competition. The US Skiercross Nationals is
the first stop on the US Skiercross series with additional stops in
Telluride, Colorado, Stowe, Vermont, and Kirkwood, California.



Freeskiing Sport & History Unlike ski racing, where a gated course is set
up for the competitor, big mountain freeskiing allows a competitor to
utilize all natural terrain features between the start house and a finish
area. Competitor's runs may include skiing off of cliffs, down steep,
expert terrain at speeds of up to 45 miles per hour. Freeskiing is a
judged competition that requires 5 judges to evaluate the competitor on 5
categories: Line Choice, Control, Fluidity, Technique, and Aggression.
There are 10 possible points in each category; an averaged total of 50
points possible per run.

Mountain Sports International (MSI) is a private company, founded in
1997,to develop and produce action/adventure sports events and programming
in North America. Partners include Red Bull, Subaru, Saab, The North Face
and Amstel Light. MSI owns and produces the Freeskiing World Tour, US
Freeskiing Nationals, Canadian Freeskiing Championships, and NA Freeskiing
Championships plus several other properties and concepts. MSI manages The
World Superpipe Championships, US Saab Salomon Crossmax Series, Salomon
Oasis Tour, Red Bull Heavy Metal, Red Bull Snowthrill of AK, and Red Bull
Bike Battle. MSI has provided infrastructure and expertise for the NBC
Gravity Games and ESPN Action Sports Projects, including the Tony Hawk
Gigantic Skatepark Tour. MSI specializes in matching clients with events
for brand penetration into target demographics, developing product
identification and loyalty. MSI matches brand and culture, company and
credibility to create sought after events that help to define the action
sports culture.



Located 29 miles from Salt Lake International Airport, Snowbird Ski &
Summer Resort is North America's most accessible year-round resort.
Snowbird already has received over 300 inches of snow this season. For
more information go to www.snowbird.com.




U.S Freeskiing Nationals World Tour Finals 2/6/04