Sunday, January 23, 2000 -- Snowshoe, WV
Giant Slalom Snowboard Competition
Story and photos by Marty Lamp

[Coverage] [Overall Results] [Results by Class]
[Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Pic Set 3] [Pic Set 4] [Pic Set 5]

Bryan Marshall makes it look easy

On Saturday evening, less than 24 hours before the start of the Giant Slalom Snowboard Competition on Sunday, January 23rd, Mother Nature decided to lay some fresh snow on beautiful Snowshoe Mountain to the delight of snowboarders and skiers alike. Not that Snowshoe was in any desperate need of the white stuff, because with snowmakers working overtime in the frigid weather, the slopes were pristine.

Never-the-less, with 4 inches of fresh powder and temps that wouldn't even think about getting above freezing, conditions were great. The 20 gate course was laid out on the Cascade slope of Snowshoe's Silver Creek area. After getting in plenty of practice runs, racers convened at the top of the course under cloudy skies for the mandatory pre-race meeting, and at precisely 12:30pm, the first racer took off.

Enjoying the view in Snowshoe

By far the fastest person down the hill this day was Bryan Marshall(1:37.25). When he wasn't giving the racers the green light at the start, he was stylin' through the gates with two smooth and consistent runs; less the .25 of a second difference between the two. Patrick Cumashot(1:41.51) left Marshall no room for error though as he finished his second run nearly two seconds faster than his first. No stranger to speed, Mike "Swifty" Messinger(1:42.91) finished third overall.

The fastest female on the day was Kristen Personius(1:49.79), and she was being pressed hard by Kirsten Keller(1:52.20). Personius and Keller, racing in the Women's 21-30 class, both posted times faster than anyone else in the Male or Female 21-30 class while finishing 6th and 7th overall, respectively.

Relaxed, but on the edge...

Other class winners include Mike Valach(1:44.41) for the Men's 13-16 class, and Shannon Boehmer(1:53.03) for the Men's 21-30 class. Valach and Boehmer finished 4th and 8th overall, respectively.

Cookie Utz(2:02.57) proved the fastest for the Women's 31 & over division, while Shannon McCollam(2:46.25) had very little trouble taking first place honors in the Women's 17-20 class. Clay Bell(2:08.10) finished 25th overall enroute to his Men's 12 & under class win.

Afterwards, everyone gathered back at the Bear's Den for a typical Snowshoe awards party, complete with a never-ending supply of pizza and drinks, and plenty of great prizes and random give-aways. Thanks go out to Kirsten Keller who provided WVOutside with the results.