Sammy Luebke and Shannon Yates claim overall 2012 North Face Championship title at Snowbird
Sammy Luebke and Shannon Yates claimed the overall North Face Masters Tour Championship title after prevailing in the men’s and women’s final that went down at Snowbird, Utah, on Saturday, April 14.
Finishing behind Luebke in men’s final was Jamie Rizzuto, while Brian Bozack took third place to complete the podium.
The women’s field saw Beth Weissman secure runner-up place, whereas Cindi Lou Grant rounded out the top three to earn her place on the podium.
Despite a challenging year in terms of low snowfall, the event organisers managed to run the stops of the 2012 North Face Masters of snowboarding in ideal snow conditions. Mother Nature was not exactly in a cooperative mood on Saturday either, but the organisers
had their minds made up to bring the event and thus the tour to its conclusion by holding the grand finals of both, the men’s and women’s contest.
Despite intermittent clouds, blizzards and fogs making it seem quite unlikely, the final of men’s contest at Snowboard went down eventually. With 35 contenders for the event title, the final took nine hours to complete due to unfavourable weather conditions.
As the final got underway, Luebke stepped up to steal the show completely. Manoeuvring his board through the rocks, executing methods, pulling of massive technical airs and shredding at autobahn speeds, he went on to earn an 85.83 for the effort. The score
held up until the end to carry him off to victory, thus taking home the $6,500 prize money as well as a katana sword and giant howitzer shell trophy.
Rizzuto took second place after finishing with a best-run score of 83.33 points, whereas Bozack rounded out the top-three with a score of 78.17 points.
The women’s final saw Yates, the 2010 North Face Champion, utilised her experience to put down a sensational run at her home mountain. A score of 80.17 kept her in the lead until the end to seal the fate of the final in her favour, allowing her to claim
her second overall North Face Masters Tour Championship title in the process.
Another local talent Weissman took runner-up place with a score of 72.83, whereas Lou Grant rounded out the third position with a score of 72.00 points.
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