Tuesday, December 17

Pro Nationals of Snowboarding

By Press Release
Vans

Breckenridge, CO (December 15, 2002) The Mountain Dew Pro Nationals concluded Sunday with Luke Wynen (Reading, PA) and Kjersti Buaas Oestgaard (Trondheim, Norway) taking first amidst windy conditions in the men's and women's Super Pipe competitions at Breckenridge Ski Resort.

In the men's Super Pipe competition, Wynen's McTwist to front-side tail-grab to Indy Air to combination frontside quarked seven, finishing with a switch 540, secured his top spot on the podium. Steve Fisher (St. Louis Park, MN) and Rob Kingwell (Jackson Hole, WY) finished a close second and third, respectively, behind Wynen.

In the ladies Super Pipe, the international women proved that they're gearing up and ready to be amongst the top competitors this season with Kjersti Buaas Oestgaard (Trondheim, Norway) and Salt Lake Olympic Silver Medallist Dorian Vidal (Perpignan, France), taking first and second. In third place, Anne Molin Kongssgaard (Mammoth, Ca), was within 5 tenths of a point of taking second place from Vidal.

The Mountain Dew Pro Nationals was chock full of action on Saturday with the Slope Style finals, the Super Pipe prelims and the Mountain Dew Rail Jam all running under blue skies at Breckenridge Ski Resort. The strong international performances started early as Canadian Etienne Gilbert (St. Redempteur, Quebec) and Jennifer Jones of Bristol, England claimed first in the men's and women's Slope Style competitions, while Aaron Keene (Reno, NV) took first in the Mountain Dew Rail Jam pulling a frontside 180, to switch 50/50, to switch backside 540 on the roller coaster rail.

Super Pipe Finals - Sunday, December 15


Men
1. Luke Wynen		88.3	$12,000
2. Steve Fisher		88.0	$8,000
3. Rob Kingwell		87.8	$5,000


Women
1. Kjersti Buaas Oestgaard	91.3	$8,000
2. Dorian Vidal		80.8	$5,000
3. Anne Kongsgaard	80.3	$2,250


Slope Style Finals - Saturday, December 14


Men
1. Etienne Gilbert		79.8	$12,000
2. Josh Dirksen		79.0	$8,000
3. George Oakley		78.7	$5,000


Women
1. Jennifer Jones		82.2	$8,000
2. Jaime Macleod		76.3	$5,000
3. Anne Kongsgaard	68.8	$2,250


Mountain Dew Rail Jam (Saturday)


Men
1. Aaron Keene		$2,000
2. Travis Robison		$1,500
3. Jeff Meyer		$1,000


Women
1. Leanne Pelosi		$500
2. Marissa Funicello	$500

For those who didn't see the action in person, the Mountain Dew Pro Nationals, the first stop of the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding, airs on NBC Sports on January 26 at 5:00 pm EST.

The Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding, with a total purse of $375,000 and Ford Ranger FX4 at stake, continues with the Built Ford Tough Championships at Mammoth Mountain Resort, Mammoth Lakes, CA, January 23-26 and the Vans North American Championships, March 6-9 at Bear Mountain Resort, Big Bear Lake, CA.

The Mountain Dew National Championships of Snowboarding presented by Ford Trucks and Vans are made possible through a partnership of Ford Trucks, Mountain Dew, the Xbox? video game system from Microsoft, Right Guard Xtreme, Transworld SNOWboarding, Fox Sports Net and NBC Sports. The Vans Triple Crown? Series features the world's top athletes participating in premier venues throughout North America for the top prize purse in each of six Core Sports? disciplines: Skateboarding, Wakeboarding, BMX, Freestyle Motocross, Surfing and Snowboarding.

For more information on Vans and the Vans Triple Crown Series, please visit www.vans.com