Paul Henderson out in front of Ryan Williams and Dan Adams in the final run. Five seconds later, Henderson was down and Adams took the lead and kept it.

"The course is not happening at all," said Jason Onley, in Kirkwood's base lodge. "There's really nothing there. It would be great if it was really difficult, but it's not. It's just a single track."

The weather was partly to blame for the Kirkwood BoarderCross single track. Snow began falling at 4 AM and by the time the qualifiers got underway the course was covered in ten inches of the lightest powder Tahoe has seen in years. The snow on the course, coupled with the blizzard conditions made things even more difficult for the riders, although none of them really complained. "The visibility really isn't a problem," said Chris Englesman. "You need to get a good start and just hold onto it to the finish."

BoarderCross starts are always important, but it was more important because the Kirkwood course didn't have the double and triple jumps that weed out the less talented riders. It was a simple mix of tabletops, berms, and whoops--nothing too big, but there was enough terrain to slow down riders who made mistakes.

Thirty-one men and sixteen women competitors were raced in four person heats with the top two advancing into the next round. The men's finals was made up of Chris Engelsman, Dan Adams, Paul Henderson, and Ryan Williams. Paul Henderson got the jump out of the gates but by the time the pack got to the landing of the first table top everything fell apart . "I was in there, I think it was third place, and the guys in front of me went down," Dan Adams said. "I rode over somone's board and just stayed on it."

Dan had the lead, but he didn't think it would last. "I kept thinking someone would catch me," he said. "Then when I got to the finish I realized no one was there and I took it. I couldn't believe it."

In the women's competition it was a battle between two racers. Julie Zell and Margarite Cossettini won both of their semi heats before meeting in the final with Iwa Wojcik and Kirstin Bedard. Zell got the jump out of the start but Cossettini charged the bumps at the top and by the time the group dropped over the pro jump she was in the lead. Zell was unable to catch her and finished third ahead of Wojcik and Bedard.

Kirkwood and Athena Win Kirkwood Halfpipe (1-12-97)
Kosglow and Jensen Take Kirkwood Giant Slalom (1-11-97)

Kirkwood Women's BoarderCross Results
Kirkwood Men's BoarderCross Results
Kirkwood Giant Slalom Results
Kirkwood Halfpipe Results

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