World Pro Ski Tour Bear Valley - Women's Clckr Pro Challenge & Men's CB Sports Pro Challenge

The World Pro Ski Tour crew and athletes came together for a second day of racing for Super Slaloms at Skyline Bear Valley, met with high winds that delayed the start by one hour. Once racing was underway for the Women’s CLCKR Pro Challenge and the Men’s CB Sports Pro Challenge, the winds calmed and the course set up hard and fast.

MEN

Right out of the gates for the men’s round of 16, David Ketterer of Germany again showed his dominance. Ketterer won yesterday’s Mazda Far West Classic Giant Slalom and set his sights on a second $10,000 prize to round out his weekend. The round of 16 was consistent with seeding except for a wild second run between Norwegian Brede Halsnes and American Nick Cohee; both racers went down at the same time after the second pro jump. Upon jury review, it was too close to call and both athletes agreed on a re-run, with Cohee coming away with the win.

After a disappointing day yesterday in the GS for Tour veteran Michael Ankeny, he showed much stronger skiing on the super slalom course. Growing up skiing at Minnesota’s Buck Hill, Ankeny is familiar with icy conditions and his comfort level showed against Ketterer. Ankeny won the first heat off the blue course by 0.082 of a second, but was not able to hold his lead in the second run and Ketterer advanced to the semi-finals. 2022 WPST Rookie of the Year, Drew Duffy also skied strong in the quarterfinals; after an early elimination in yesterday's GS, Duffy easily put away Cameron Smith and set to face off with Ketterer. 2018 WPST Champion Nolan Kasper also showed stronger skiing today as he defeated Norway’s Joachim Lien and set to face Austria’s Simon Breitfuss-Kammerlander who efficiently defeated Cohee.

The semi-finals brought more strong skiing yet predictable results, with Ketterer and Breitfuss-Kammerlander each advancing to the finals for the second day in a row, making way for a Duffy/Kasper small final in what was selected as the Mazda Run of the Day. Duffy prevailed in the first heat and earned the maximum differential advantage out of the start on the second run. There, Kasper trailed until the flat below the last jump, making up his 0.8 second deficit in the final three gates and inching past Duffy to the finish by 0.147 of a second. This earned Kasper third place on the podium.

In the finals, Ketterer and Breitfuss-Kammerlander skied aggressively; Ketterer wanted to retain his top spot and Kammerlander’s first possible victory of the season was in sight. Ketterer dominated the first run and all eyes were on Breitfus-Kammerlander to come from behind, but in the end it was Ketterer on top for a sweep of the Bear Valley men’s races.

WOMEN

The women’s super slalom field for the CLCKR Pro Challenge was again decreased due to nagging injuries that left two women deciding not to race. The sole race of the round was between Slovakia’s Sona Moravcikova and Canada’s Mikaela O’Brien. Moracvcikova showed solid proficiency on todays course and advanced. Yesterday’s Mazda Far West Pro Classic winner and top qualifier Erin Mielzynski earned a bye for the round of 8, and 2022 WPST Champion Tuva Norbye was also gifted a bye due to an opponent DNS. Local athlete Michele Morozinski was automatically set to advance due to another DNA, but after a few nasty spills yesterday and trouble again on the course today, Morozinski decided to kick out of the gate and take a fourth place finish without pushing her limits.

Moravcikova met Norby in the quarters, and the Slovakian came from behind and prevailed by .255 when Norbye back-seated after the second jump, showing some discomfort on the ice. This left Norbye with a third place spot that she did not have to ski for, and she instead took a lap on camera to complete the Surefoot Course preview, met with cheers from the crowd in the finish.

Into the finals, Mielzynski had the definite advantage, having not skied as many runs as Moracvikova and she easily won her second race in as many days.

RESULTS

WOMEN