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For Immediate Release

TIM DUTTON AND REBECCA SELIG WIN THE SUBARU WORLD FREESKIING CHAMPIONSHIPS AT ALYESKA RESORT, ALASKA.

Crystal Wright and Julien Lopez win the overall 2009 Freeskiing World Tour

Girdwood, AK, April 13, 2009 – The weather improved for the final day of the 2009 Subaru World Freeskiing Championships at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska, enabling the competitors to get up onto The Headwall and into some big Alaskan lines. After a long day of waiting, the skies cleared and the sun came out for the final stop on the 2009 Freeskiing World Tour (FWT). A total of 39 competitors qualified for the invitation only event, and in the end, Tim Dutton of Squaw Valley, California, and Rebecca Selig of Snowbird, Utah, stood atop the podium.

Alyeska Resort once again delivered the powder, with over 11 inches of fresh snow falling in the last 24 hours. Alyeska Ski Patrol flew in a helicopter to the top of The Headwall to prepare for today's event, keeping a close eye on the snowpack after triggering avalanches during their control work. The goal of the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour is to showcase the best terrain of each host resort, but consideration is always given to weather, safety, and snow conditions. Once patrol gave the green light, competitors hiked up the boot pack of the 1,000-foot vertical face for their inspection run, getting a chance to scope their lines on the way up. Clouds were intermittent during the inspection, but blue sky pushed in, allowing the helicopter to shuttle the competitors back up to the top of the venue for their final runs. "The heli ride was awesome," said Crystal-Rose Lee, "I got to sit in the front seat with Crystal Wright." Wright also said the lift to the top got her "fired up".

The four competition judges use five categories to decide the winner of FWT events: line choice, fluidity, control, aggression/energy and form/technique. Line choice is the first score the judges decide, and all following scores are directly related to that line choice score. Each category is worth 10 points, with a total possible score of 50 points.

A total of 9 women competed in the final, leading off with some incredible runs. Rebecca Selig dropped straight into an area of exposed rock known as the Wedge, skiing confidently to win her first event on the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour and $3,500 in prize money. "For some reason, I knew I was going to win." She said with a smile, "This place was just meant to be." Tour leader Crystal Wright of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, finished second for the women, attacking the fall line and hitting three big airs linked together with smooth turns. "I'm stoked," she said, "I don't care how I placed, I did this for myself." Last year's champion, Crystal-Rose Lee from Whistler, British Columbia, ended up in third place with a fluid line, moving well from feature to feature while holding on to her speed. Ariana Stufano also from Whistler, British Columbia, was awarded The North Face Young Gun Award, which recognizes young talent in Freeskiing, for fluid style and consistent performances.

A total of 29 men rode the helicopter up to the start venue, reversing the order of the finish from Day One, and Tim Dutton emerged on top. Coming off his win in Kirkwood at the Subaru North American Freeskiing Championships, Dutton sent an aggressive line, airing over rocks and skiing confidently through exposure and scored the points he needed to become the World Freeskiing Champion along with the $5,000 prize money. Lars Chickering-Ayers of Vermont ended up in second after picking his way through the rocks at the top of the run and straight lining through the chowder. Frenchman Julien Lopez placed third, blazing through the exposure on the top and pulling a huge air off a cliff while making it all look so easy. Near the Subaru finish arch he pulled a backflip for the appreciative crowd.

Making headlines all season long, consistency paid off for both Crystal Wright and Julien Lopez as they won their first FWT overall titles respectively.

Dylan Crossman of Alta won the Backcountry.com Sickbird Award for his fluid jump turns through tight, exposed rocks with controlled high-speed exit. The coveted Backcountry.com Sickbird buckle is an award, which is given out at the end of each FWT event, to the athlete with the most spirited run. These runs usually include super-human talent and agility.

The John Nicoletta Freeskiing Scholarship will be presented this weekend. The $3,500 award will go towards the skier that best represents John's focus and dedication to the sport of Freeskiing.

Thousands tuned in to watch Mountain Sports International's live webcast of the Subaru Freeskiing World Championships from Alyeska, on www.freeskiingworldtour.com, www.newschoolers.com, www.backcountry.com, www.powder.com, www.espn.com, www.doglotion.com and www.theskichannel.com. Live coverage of the best freeskiing in the world can be viewed from the comfort of your desk chair. MSI's content creation team will be producing and posting same-day, world-class photography on its newly redesigned website, www.freeskiingworldtour.com and media partners www.powder.com and www.skipressworld.com  

2009 Freeskiing World Tour Schedule of Events
Subaru Telluride Freeskiing World Tour Qualifier, Telluride, CO.             February 5-8
Subaru US Extreme Freeskiing Championships, Crested Butte, CO.         February 17-22
Subaru US Freeskiing Nationals, Snowbird, UT.                              March 10-15
Subaru North American Freeskiing Championships, Kirkwood, CA.        March 18-22
Subaru Freeskiing World Championships, Alyeska, AK.                           April 8-13  


Special thanks to our sponsors:
Subaru of America
The North Face
Corona
Backcountry.com
Powder Magazine
Emergen-C
Ski Press Magazine
Sports Insurance
Grabber
Beyond Coastal
IFSA
The Ski Channel

Special thanks to our resort partners:
Telluride Ski and Summer Resort
Crested Butte Mountain Resort
Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort
Kirkwood Mountain Resort
Alyeska Resort

For more information log onto www.freeskiingworldtour.com
 
MEDIA INQUIRES AND FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Cara Williams
Media, PR & Communications Manager
Mountain Sports International
801-349-4608
cara@mtsports.com

Justine Chellel
Marketing & Sales Coordinator
Mountain Sports International
801-349-4606
jchellel@mtsports.com

REGISTRATION INFORMATION AND ATHLETE INQUIRIES CONTACT
Sara Pinsoneault
Mountain Sports International
Athlete Communications
801-349-4650
sarap@mtsports.com


About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States. Subaru makes the best-selling All-Wheel Drive car sold in America based on R.L. Polk & Co. new vehicle retail registration statistics.

About Mountain Sports International
Mountain Sports International (MSI) is a private company, founded in 1997, to develop and produce action/adventure sports events and programming in North America. MSI owns and produces the Freeskiing World Tour, in addition to several other properties and concepts.

MSI provides event management services for Burton, Salomon, and Red Bull and has provided infrastructure and expertise for the NBC Gravity Games and ESPN Action Sports Projects, including the Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour. MSI specializes in matching clients with events for brand penetration into target demographics, developing product identification and loyalty. MSI matches brand and culture, company and credibility to create sought-after events that help to define the action sports culture.