The slalom finals of the 1996 American Professional Snowboard Series opener at Vail, Colorado came down to a battle between Canadians Mark Fawcett of New Brunswick and Jasey Jay Anderson of Quebec.

After charging through the prelims with the first and second fastest qualifying times on the 38-gate course, Fawcett and Anderson finally met in the head-to-head final. Fawcett liked the course. "This is a soft snow course and I do well on soft snow so I'm pretty happy," Fawcett said at the top of the course.

Jasey Anderson doing something he's never done before. Beating Mark Fawcett to the checker flag in the Vail Slalom Finals.

Anderson understood the challenges. "This is the longest course we've done this year," he said. "You've got to ride from gate to gate and not worry about anything else."

Unfortunately, Fawcett's soft-snow prowess was not enough. In the first run Anderson edged Fawcett taking an advantage into their second run. Trying to make up lost time Fawcett pushed hard and blew out in the middle of the course handing the win to Anderson.

Fawcett was visibly bummed. Immediately after crossing the finish line he carved away from the cameras and the waiting riders and threw his helmet into the air. After a few moments with his head down on the tip of his board, Fawcett walked back over to the group and congratulated Anderson.

In the women's competition the only surprise came when Michele Taggart of Salem, Oregon crashed in the first run of the finals against new teammate Rosie Fletcher, of Gridwood, Alaska. "This was a race to see who could stand up," Taggart joked. "The course is so long that technique really doesn't play a part. It's just who can get to the finish line."

Taggart was speaking prophecy. In her first run, Taggart went down while chasing Fletcher. With a two second deficit to overcome Taggart pushed it in the second run and crashed a second time allowing Fletcher to cruise into first place.

The runoff for third and fourth places in the men's competition became a contest of who could make it to the finish line. Both Nolan Wadland and Jeremy Jones were extremely tired after their earlier runs. In the run Jones was leading until he hit a rut and blew out of the course. Seeing the opportunity Wadland turned on the juice and immediately hooked a toeside edge and went down. Jones was the first to get up and eventually crossed the finish line to move into the second run with a two second advantage. In their second run both riders finished the run, but Wadland could not make up the time.

      Women's Slalom
        1 FLETCHER RoseyUSA
        2 TAGGART MicheleUSA
        3 BERTRAND PauleCAN
        4 HOLLMANN BirgitGER
        5 OLSON LesleeUSA
        6 KOSGLOW LisaUSA
        7 LUNDSTROM AmyUSA
        8 HENGGE MadeleineUSA
        9 TIRPAK MelissaUSA
        10 LAJOIE ManonCAN
        11 CONNOLLY SusanUSA
        12 HUGHES EmmaAUS
        13 ROSE AmyUSA
        14 PUTNAM JillianUSA
        15 SULLIVAN AliceUSA
        16 BATTON JakiUSA
        Men's Slalom
        1 ANDERSON Jasey JayCAN
        2 FAWCETT MarkCAN
        3 JONES JeremyUSA
        4 WADLAND NolanUSA
        5 THORNDIKE PeterUSA
        6 BROWN RyanUSA
        7 DOWD DaveUSA
        8 MELHUSE ShannonUSA
        9 BALDWIN EricUSA
        10 THOMAS MikeUSA
        11 RINGUETTE FrancoisCAN
        12 ARCHIBALD JeffUSA
        13 SIMMS NateUSA
        14 DUFRESNE Benoit CAN
        15 ZIKAS Tom USA
        16 HOSTETTER Adam USA
        17 KNAACK Frank USA
        18 DORVAL Felix Antoine CAN
        19 RUBINCAM Peter Cook USA
        20 MITCHELL Matt USA
        21 LEASK Brett AUS
        22 MCCLAIN Travis USA
        23 MORENCY Mathieu CAN
        24 MASTAGLIO Scott USA
        25 KREBS Arn USA