Lars Chickering-Ayers and Sole Diaz emerge triumphant in North Face Chilean Freeskiing Championship
America’s Lars Chickering-Ayers and Chile’s Sole Diaz clinched top honours in the men’s and women’s field respectively at the two-day North Face Chilean Freeskiing championship which wrapped up at Ski Arpa in Los Andes, Chile, on Sunday, August 21.
In the men’s field, the entire podium was filled up by the American athletes, with Josh Daiek finishing in second place and Kevin O’Meara rounding out the Top 3.
The women’s field saw America’s Angel Collinson finish in runner-up place, while her compatriot Crystal Wright finished third to complete the podium.
The North Face Chilean Freeskiing Championship was originally scheduled to run over two days at two different venues, namely Cornices and Stairway to Heaven. While the competition ran smoothly on day one at the first venue, overnight winds resulted in thin
snow coverage at Stairway to Heaven.
After inspection and calculating the risk, the event organisers decided to call the second day an optional one and changed the format of the competition.
Originally, the winner was to be determined after taking an average of their score from both the days. However, the revised format made the competition a best of two runs, giving the athlete the option to skip competition on the second day and settle for
their Day 1 score.
In the men’s field, the Mad River Glen-based Chickering-Ayers came up with the most impressive run of the day, which lasted for six turns and 45 seconds. During his run, he dropped fast out of the gate and soared into the air, travelling a vertical distance
of nearly 40-feet before hitting a turn in soft snow. He then sailed smoothly through two more high speed turns and nailed a three on the money booter upon reaching the bottom. The run earned him 40.80 points out of possible 50, sealing the fate of the contest
in his favour.
“My line definitely had me nervous on top of the venue,” said Chickering-Ayers during his post-final interview. “I had to get myself psyched up for that one. It's been a long time since I felt like that, but it was super fun to ski.”
Kirkwood-based Daiek finished in second place after earning 40.23 points off his best run, while Squaw Valley’s O’Meara finished third with 39.73 points
In the women’s field, Diaz made her country proud by defeating some of the best female freeskiers from around the globe to clinch top honours. Her winning run featured her descending straight down the fall-line and taking the aerial route quite a number
of times while exhibiting style, fluidity and control. The run earned her a winning score of 36.17 points.
Collinson, the two-time tour champion from Utah, had to settle for runner-up place after finishing with a best-run score of 34.67 points. Jackson Wright rounded out the podium with 33.87 points.
The North Face Chilean Freeskiing Championships is the second stop of the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour. The third stop of the tour will be at Revelstoke in BC, Canada, in January, 2012.
Tags: