In a nail-biting final to the Roxy Chicken Jam 2007, Cheryl Maas clinched the title for the second time, taking back the trophy from last year’s winner, Jamie Anderson (USA). At Kitzsteinhorn, Kaprun, Austrian Claudia Fliri came in third while Norway’s Kjersti Buaas was awarded the ‘most stylish trick’ award. The world’s best female slopestyle riders showed strong riding and loads of progressive tricks at the DC Central Park.
Though the sun was shining the whole weekend, the weather played a trick on the organizers of the Roxy Chicken Jam 2007, with heavy winds preventing the final from taking place at the Roxy Park. The final had to be shifted from Saturday to Sunday, with the park shapers building a reduced set-up at the DC Central Park near Sonnenkarbahn at lower altitude to avoid the strong winds. Here, the finals of the Roxy Chicken Jam 2007 were held on Sunday. “Many thanks to the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun”, Matthias Hofmann from event organizers Mellow Constructions stated. “Without their strong commitment it wouldn’t have been possible to carry out the event.”
On Friday, the qualifications had been held at the Roxy Park with its varied lines and lots of rails, kickers and a quarter-pipe. The eight best riders qualified for the finals where they met the 22 invited athletes. At the finals at the DC Glacier Park, they showed their skills on a Flat Down Box and three different kickers. The 30 riders had one hour training in the morning to prepare for the new course before the starting signal for the 5th Roxy Chicken Jam Europe was given at 11 am. All 30 riders had four runs with the best one counting. The judges Andreas Monsberger, Lesley McKenna, Bjoern Hartweger and head judge Christian Reinhardt looked for difficulty, style and variety of the tricks.
Despite the short settling-in period, the riders coped well with the new park. “It was not easy to adapt to the new set-up but we saw a good variation of tricks – it worked out well”, winner Cheryl Maas said after the prize-giving ceremony. The 23-year-old bagged a €15,000 cheque and with that took the half of the €30,000 prize-purse. In addition, she got an original Gibson guitar – the reward for her rocking the park with a Frontside 360 Indy, a huge Backside 360 Indy and a Backside 720.
Obviously, Kitzsteinhorn is a good place for Jamie Anderson. Last year, the 17-year-old from South Lake Tahoe (USA) won the Roxy Chicken Jam here. With a strong run including a Cab 540 and a Frontside 360, she took the second place this time. “Kaprun is beautiful and I love riding here”, she gave reasons for her repeated success. “I was a bit scary first because of the new park but it turned out fine!” As there where lots of precious points up for grabs at this 6-star TTR event, Jamie also made a big step forward at the Swatch Ticket To Ride Women’s World Snowboard Tour overall ranking and is on third place now.
Another happy face on the podium was that of Austrian Claudia Fliri. She had been injured for three months and only had been begun snowboarding again three weeks ago. “I came here without any expectations but now I’m even more stoked”, the girl from Kramsach said. “The third place at this important event means a lot to me.” She had earned her place on the podium showing a Frontside 180, Cab 540 and Frontside 720 combo.
Kjersti Buaas, third of the Torino Olympics 2006, also won an original Gibson guitar and now may rock together with Cheryl Maas. Her Frontside 360 Stalefish was crowned the ‘most stylish trick’ of the day. “The contest was fun and the course was really good”, she said. At the finals, the Norwegian ranked fifth behind Brit rider Jenny Jones.
For more information hit the Roxy Chicken Jam website.
Roxy Chicken Jam Results:
1. Cheryl Maas (NED)
2. Jamie Anderson (USA)
3. Claudia Fliri (AUT)
4. Jenny Jones (GBR)
5. Kjersti Buaas (NOR)
6. Meri Peltonen (FIN)
7. Ursina Haller (SUI)
8. Lisa Filzmoser (AUT)
9. Sina Candrian (SUI)
10. Heidi Paumola (FIN)
