Pat Donnelly Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 Schoch Wins Snowboard Opener Soelden, Austria (Sunday, October 17, 2004) - Phillip Schoch of Switzerland took the win as the Swiss swept the top four places in the opening FIS World Cup PGS in Soelden today. Olympic medalist Chris Klug (Aspen, CO) led three Americans in the finals Sunday, finishing seventh. While the Americans missed the podium in Soelden, it was a reasonably strong opener to get three into the finals. Joining Klug were Ryan McDonald (Entiat, WA) and Peter Thorndike (Meredith, NH), who finished 15th and 16th respectively. Klug qualified eighth and dispatched Harald Waldner of Austria to win his opening heat in the finals. But that put him up against qualifying leader, Gilles Jaquet of Switzerland, who won the heat and went on to finish second. Klug was just off the pace in the first run against Gillet. He turned the heat up in the second, but fell, giving the Swiss the win. In the consolation round, Canada's Jasey Jay Anderson knocked off Klug, who finished the day beating Austrian Lukas Gruener to take seventh. "It was a pretty decent start with three guys in the finals," said Head U.S. Alpine Coach Jan Wengelin. "But we can for sure do more." Adam Smith (Tangent, OR) was the only American to not make the finals. Smith, who has been suffering from a pulled hamstring, was surprisingly strong in the first qualifying run, finishing 12th, but didn't finish the second to miss the cut. "Overall it was a pretty good weekend for us," said Wengelin, who had coached the U.S. going into the Olympics but took two seasons off from coaching. "This is actually my first camp with the guys, and I think we're coming together really well as a team. But we can do more and I'm going to keep pushing." The World Cup now heads to Landgraaf, The Netherlands for an indoor parallel slalom next Sunday, an event won by Smith a year ago. The U.S. team will train a final day on the glacier in Soelden Monday, before driving 12 hours to Landgraaf for indoor training beginning Wednesday morning. "We joked with Adam that if he's going to fall like that (second run of qualifying), he should wax his stomach," joked Wengelin. "It was actually his first day back riding after injuring a hamstring Monday. The men's alpine ski team trainer Paul Meier was really helpful in working with Adam to get him back 100%. Having won in Landgraaf last year, I think he has a great chance there next Sunday." FIS Snowboard World Cup Sun. Oct. 17, 2004 Soelden, Austria Men's PGS 1. Philipp Schoch, Switzerland 2. Gilles Jaquet, Switzerland 3. Urs Eiselin, Switzerland 4. Heinz Inniger, Switzerland 5. Jasey Jay Anderson, Canada U.S. Riders: 7. Chris Klug, Aspen 15. Peter Thorndike, Meredith, NH 16. Ryan McDonald, Entiat, WA 26. Adam Smith, Tangent, OR 37. Eric Warren, Bennington, VT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeW Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 speaking of world cup, aren't they hosting it at Copper Mtn in Nov ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dragon fly jones Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Lee, It is a continetal cup. Lower on the scale but it will be used for seeding purposes for the world cup and other events as prescribed by USSA. Be aware it is on Monday and Tuesday the 15th and 16th. Expecting some Canadians and most US domestic teams to be training and riding from around the 9 till the end and I am sure some of the Euro's will make the leap over the pond to ride there also. Come on up and have some fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Anyone know what the North American broadcast schedule is for these events, if any? Last year, I caught a race by chance on Sports Sunday CBC. If these are televised, I want to know in advance so I can record them. Watching Jasey Jay ride is inspiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I will go to Landgraaf, I can tell you what it's like if you want me to. I had a race over there two weeks ago, it's great things like this can be done in a flat country like Holland... Erwin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Now that we know who the winners are, is there a way to find out what kind of gears these pro's are using? is that info on any site available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I noticed custom Kesslers and Tomahawks this morning. I myself ride Tomahawk, too. But such an event is al kind of new to me - I'll be forerunner this weekend - so I have to apoligize I don't know all the names. Snow was much softer than 3 weeks ago = too bad! Just after a few runs already many ruts in the course, I hope they will have it better for the weekend. But outside the complex it is raining and pretty warm today. Erwin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Hey Erwin, thanks for reporting. I am really eager to find out what the state of the art is with these pro's gears,..so keep up with the news broadcasting:D en natuurlijk, groeten uit VS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Originally posted by chooblaykhan Now that we know who the winners are, is there a way to find out what kind of gears these pro's are using? is that info on any site available? Thorndike, Smith and Warren are all riding Donek. You can find their various models on the web site. Warren hasn't chosen a GS stick yet, but has his SL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest boogieman Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 dont think that if you buy the same board as the world champion youl be riding better then you are now, i bought myself a nidecker custom gs a fuw years aggo when the champ at that moment was riding that board to i and i coudnt handle it since that guy must have been like 25 kilos heavyer then i was at that time!(66 for me then) so if you do base yourself on that do check his weight and yours becouse the stiffnes of your board is a verry important factor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Kamran (choob), The best way to learn what people are riding is to go to an event. In North America there are very few spectators at a World Cup event so there's virtually unlimited access to the competitors (assuming they speak English and don't have an attitude). There's World Championships in Whistler this January. Anyone who is anyone will be there. My observations from last year's WC at Bachelor: Some americans on Donek (Sean forgot to mention that Greenwood rides an Incline in BX). A few Tomahawks around. Swiss riders seem to all ride Kessler, the Krauts (Austrian and German) mostly ride F2. Boots vary. Lots of Burtons still hanging around. Some Head boots and mostly Raichle/Deeluxe. A surprising number of Burton bindings, plus the low-profile F2 bindings. Surprisingly few TD bindings (I don't understand that). Very few intec step-ins. As boogieman points out, if most of us rode on the same decks at the top competitors, we still wouldn't ride nearly as well. In fact, I'd venture to say that top competitors decks probably would hurt the riding of most of us. I had a deck spec'd for Thorndike a couple of years ago and didn't like it nearly as much as ones that Sean has made specifically for me. Thorn and I are similar size, but he's way stronger and dynamic than me on the board. That said, I'd like to try one of those Kessler boards. The swiss team has been kicking ass lately. I know they are great riders, but it would be fun to try their equipment out. Anyone got one they'd like to bring to Tahoe this winter? I'll let you ride anything in my quiver in exchange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Geee......and I was hoping that if I would try Tiger Wood's golf stick, I would be as good as he is. I was merely interested to find out what the pro's preferences (and sponsors) are.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 The Swiss have a guy from Kessler at the race. I heard they really do loads of testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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