PR: Denervaud Wins Swatch Boarder-X World Tour at Mt. Snow
(March 7, 1998)

Mount Snow, Vermont, March 7 - Bertrand Denervaud of Switzerland, who competed in the first-ever Olympic snowboarding event in Nagano, took a walk on the wild side racing to victory in the final U.S. stop of the Swatch Boarder-X World tour Presented by Airwalk at Mount Snow, Vermont. Fabrizio Bonacina (Italy), winner of the Copper Mountain event came in second and Sweden’s Pontus Staahlkloo, also an Olympic rider, finished third. In the women’s finals, Catherine Ine Poetzl (Austria) blew down the course like a blizzard, upsetting Marguerite Cossettini’s shot at winning all three North American events. Cossettini (Australia) finished second and Pepi Ahonen (Finland) finished third.

Finally! My first win! $5,000!, screamed an exuberant Poetzl, just before her boyfriend Christoph Maierhofer, also a very tough competitor in the men’s finals, literally jumped on her.

The women’s race was especially fierce with the addition of Pepi Ahonen. Mount Snow was the first event of this year’s tour for Ahonen, who won at Bear Mountain in 1997 and placed second overall last year. She is one of the sport’s top competitors. Poetzl has been on the tour for two years and attributes her first win today to her lucky hat a gift from her primary sponsor Oxygen. In the men’s race, Denervaud had to move fast to recover from a late start, but quickly caught up with Bonacina who missed the first whoops. On a roll from his impressive placements in North America, Bonacina proudly stood next to Denervaud on the winner’s podium with his board wrapped in an Italian flag.

Anticipating the tour’s move back across the Atlantic, the Mount Snow event was an utter European invasion. Only three American riders -- Jason Brown, winner of the Bear Mountain race in January, March Schulz and Ryan Neptune made the top 20. Adept to the harder-pack conditions, the European riders made this one an especially tough race.

Event producer Erik Kalacis commented, Boardercross is attracting more and more world class competition. What started out as an extreme sport for a handful of thrill seekers has become one of snowboarding’s most popular disciplines and a true test of skill.

Developed as a hybrid between snowboarding an motocross in 1991, boardercross is the only snowboard discipline where hard and soft boot riders meet head-to-head on the same course. Each Swatch Boarder-X event embodies an alternative style with a unique language, fashion and musical taste that has captured the hearts of snowboarders across the globe. Six riders simultaneously race the terrain-feature-filled course at high speed with no judges or timing, and the winner takes all. Boardercross is by far the sport’s most exciting form for spectators.

Snowboarding premiered as an Olympic event for the first time at the Nagano games, and boardercross is being discussed as a possible addition in 2002. It has quickly become the preferred vehicle for tearing up the slopes by millions and is breathing new life into resorts everywhere.

Mount Snow marks the last U.S. stop of the Swatch Boarder-X World Tour Presented by Airwalk. In each of the U.S. Events, riders competed for a $35,000 cash purse. The next event will take place in Laax, Switzerland with a cash purse of $50,000. The tour airs on ESPN2 and a special behind-the-scenes look will appear on Fox’s Board Wild. The Swatch Boarder-X World Tour presented by Airwalk is sanctioned by the International Snowboard Federation (ISF) and is sponsored by Swatch, Airwalk and O’Neill. The North American segment of the tour is produced by Peak Productions. Mount Snow’s race will air on April 17 at 2:00 am.

Check out the Mt. Snow Qualification News.

At a press conference following the event, Kalacis announced next year’s proposed dates:
SOLDEN, Austria, November 14-15
COURMAYEUR, Italy, December 18-20
BEAR MOUNTAIN, California, January 8-10
COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colorado, January 29-31
JAPAN, February 12-14
USA TBD, February 25-27
CANADA TBD, March 12-14 LAAX, SWITZERLAND, April 8-11