Tough Visibility for Tignes Moguls

Tignes, France, Dec. 15, 2000–Janne Lahtela of Finland and Kari Traa of Norway fought their way through fog and snow Thursday on the glacierabove Tignes to win the opening World Cup moguls event of the winter. Ryan Riley (Steamboat Springs, CO) in 11th place and Donna Weinbrecht(Killington, VT) in 12th had the best U.S. results in the one-run competition.

Lahtela received 27.09 points for his lone run to lead the 54-man field as Finns took the top three spots; Sami Mustonen, who won the Sprint U.S.Freestyle Grand National tuneup last Friday at Winter Park, Colo., was second (26.65) and Tapio Luusua third at 26.46. Riley had 25.36 pointswith Caleb Martin (Telluride, CO), coming back from knee surgery a year ago, 15th and Evan Dybvig (Tunbridge, VT) 18th.

In the women’s event, Traa received 25.79 points to 24.94 for Aiko Uemura of Japan with Bernice Gregoire of France in third place (24.77).

Weinbrecht, who had won at Tignes in 1991 and ’93 but hadn’t skied internationally since the 1998 Olympics, finished 12th with 23.67. JillianVogtli (Ellicotville, NY) was 18th and Hannah Hardaway (Moultonborough, NH) 20th.

Tignes – originally scheduled as two days, Dec. 16-17, and then cut to one, and bumped up 48 hours – was the opener after Tandadalen, Sweden,was forced to cancel its moguls and dual moguls events Nov. 25-26 because of no snow. The World Cup resumes Jan. 6-7 at the GatewayFreestyle Challenge at Deer Valley, Utah.

WORLD CUP MOGULS
Tignes, FRA – Dec. 14
Men
1. Janne Lahtela, Finland, 27.09 points
2. Sami Mustonen, Finland, 26.85
3. Tapio Luusua, Finland, 26.46
4. Vitali Glushenko, Russia, 25.89
5. Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau, Canada, 25.87
6. Mikko Ronkkainen, Finland, 26.81
7. Gregory Legaillon, France, 25.71
8. Richard Gay, France, 25.53
9. Stephane Yonnet, France, 25.52 (wins tiebreaker)
10. Fredrik Fortkord, Sweden, 25.52
–
11. Ryan Riley, Steamboat Springs, CO, 25.38
15. Caleb Martin, Telluride, CO, 24.83
18. Evan Dybvig, Tunbridge, VT, 24.62
24. Garth Hager, Bothell, WA, 24.38
26. Alex Wilson, Buffalo, NY, 23.95
37. Toby Dawson, Vail, CO, 22.99
—

Women
1. Kari Traa, Norway, 25.79
2. Aiko Uemura, Japan, 24.94
3. Bernice Gregoire, France, 24.77
4. Elena Vorona, Russia, 24.50
5. Sara Kjellin, Sweden, 24.23
6. Katlean Allais, France, 24.15
7. Jennifer Heil, Canada, 24.04
8. Corinne Bodmer, Switzerland, 24.00
9. Maria Despas, Australia, 23.88
10. Sanra Laoura, France, 23.80
–
12. Donna Weinbrecht, Killington, VT, 23.67
18. Jillian Vogtli, Ellicotville, NY, 22.85
20. Hannah Hardaway, Moultonborough, NH, 22.75