Hey World!

Day 2 picked up right where Day 1 ended; with awesome skiing and unbelievable cut lines. The Under 17 and under 21 boys and girls started the day off. U17 – Kara MacIntyre and Brie Carter had the top scores of 1.5 and 2 at 38off. In U21, Caroline Hensley put up a huge score of 2@39 and Makayla Haw ran 1@38. The lowest score in U21 men was 2.5@39 and there were 6 skiers. K.C. Wilson had a HUGE score of 3@41, tying his Boys 3 National record and Zane Nicholson ran a personal best of 6@39 as he had a ton of slack coming out the gates. These youngsters are ripping!!! Brie, Caroline and K.C. all went on to win their divisions and a $500 scholarship.

For Open Men Slalom, Terry Winter started the semi round off by running 3@41, Cale followed him with a 2 1/4@41. Nate Smith had the top score of 5@41, Chris Parrish ran 4@41 again and Travers, Rossi, Asher, TGAS all ran 3@41. So 5 guys ran 3 but there were only 4 spots remaining. They came off the dock at 39. Terry was first out again and he hadn’t skied in over and hour. He ended up getting 4, while the rest of the guys all ran 39 and they advanced to the next round. WHAT????? Terry runs 3@41 and doesn’t advance…YUP, stiff competition this year. Nate and Rossi ended up making it to the finals after they knocked out TGAS and Asher. Nate chose to go first and ran through 38 while Rossi, skiing for the 5th time in the day, took an early fall at 4 ball at 38. Nate has now won all three elite point events: Moomba, Masters and Malibu Open.

Open women slalom semis also started off quick with fellow team HO Syndicate skiers April Coble Eller and Breanne Dodd running 5@38 and Karen Truelove running an impressive 3@39. Those three skiers along with Manon Costard (France), Regina and Whitney all advanced to the next round. In the finals, Regina knocked out Breanne and April knocked out Manon. Regina and April would once again face each other in the super finals just like in 2010. The results would be different though as Regina would be on top of the podium for the 3rd time this year; Masters, Atlanta ProAm, Malibu Open. This was Manon’s first pro event and she ran 38 all 4 rounds. She is skiing on a MC Ski. I told her that her performance reminded me of Nate’s 2 years ago at the 2010 Global in Michigan. Coming on the pro scene for the first time and being consistent whether it was during the day or under the lights. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her on the podium again in the near future!

During the day we had an athlete autograph signing where fans could get a Malibu Open poster signed by all of the skiers or bring a personal item that we could sign. It’s always fun to interact with the fans and spectators that come out to the events.

Men’s jump is always exciting to watch especially at venues like Veterans Park where they are jumping in the dark and still going over 225ft. Freddy was top seed after the prelims but in the semis Dodd had the farthest leap; i believe it was 223ft. In the finals Chile’s Rodrigo “Toti” Miranda was first out and he put a few good jumps together that were well over 200ft. Scott “The Rocketman” Ellis had another close call in the finals where he came off the ramp in bad shape but was able to recover a bit but landed awkwardly. In the end, Freddy was on top of the podium with Dodd 2nd and Miranda 3rd.

Women’s jump finals with the likes of Natallia Berdnikava and Jacinta Carroll not making the trip to Milwaukee and Maj Jepsen hurting her right knee in the semis would open the door for a few ladies who were looking to capture their first pro tour win. Danyelle Bennett, Whitney, Regina, Lauren “Poochie” Morgan and Marion Mathieu were all in the finals with the young Poochie, 19 years old, being the top seed with 163ft. Marion would edge her out though by a few feet in the finals as Marion goes on to win her first pro tour event with a 163ft jump. Poochie came in 2nd followed by Regina in 3rd.

In my opinion, this was the most competitive pro tour event in a long time for men’s slalom. 1@41 doesn’t advance you to the 2nd round, 3@41 doesn’t advance you to the 3rd round. I didn’t expect to end up in 16th place, out of 29 guys, with a score of 4.5@39. I didn’t like getting only one ride and having to watch most of the tournament. I am excited to go back home to train both on and off the water and continue to mature and advance as a skier. I am looking forward to skiing at Nationals and in Canada, at the Calgary Pro Shootout, in a few weeks.