However we woke to heavy cloud and some light rain. Amber and I both did a practice run and conditions were pretty decent with the track surface being not too wet and traction was not too bad.
For this race the organizers went back to the normal order of things and the Beginners would be first to race. Unfortunately weather was deteriorating quickly and light rain started before the first racers left.
Amber had a tough run down on the upper part of the course coming off her bike many times. In one of the crashes she broke her gear shifter and because she wasn't sure of the damage and didn't want to risk a jammed chain she opted to run the rest of the course without pedaling. She ended up very happy with her run despite the problems simply because she rode the Waterfall section cleanly and picked up good time in the bottom technical sections.
However she lost a lot of time to Kristin who had placed second behind her in the Super-D on Saturday. Amber had started the day with a 1:10 advantage over Kristin and because the overall standings were not handy it wasn't clear how the overall standings were after the final DH race for Amber's class. It turned out she did enough to hang on and she got 2nd place for the DH race and won the overall by 5 seconds. Her riding the waterfall section instead of crashing or walking it was very likely the difference that let her hang on for the win!
By the time I started my race run conditions were totally crap. It had been raining non-stop and was raining for our race. I managed to pass the two guys who started ahead of me in the upper section but once I was in the tree sections I was pretty much just tripoding my way down the course constantly keeping one foot on the ground. I walked both of the technical sections and was just happy to get to the bottom in one piece! I did enough to comfortably hold onto 3rd place for the final race and for the overall standings. The guy behind me in 4th place entering the race crashed badly in the waterfall section and broke his nose, dislocated his shoulder and tweaked his knee.
It was just an absolutely epic day of racing and was great fun. It was exciting watching the times improve despite the terrible conditions as the experts, semi-pro and finally pro racers came down.
The winner on the day was Aaron Gwinn, he was on an great run but slipped out on a slippery bridge within sight of the finishing line. He was fully off the course and had to push his bike over the finish line - and he still won by 6 seconds. It was crazy to watch! He had placed 10th earlier in the year at his first ever world cup race in similar muddy, crappy conditions so it would seem that he is going to be a guy to watch in the future!
Amber's DH#2 Podium
Sean's DH#2 Podium
Amber's overall Podium!
Snowmass G3 Overall - Beginner/Jr Women:
1. Amber Price 27:19.1
2. Kristin Buell 27:24.8
3. Brittany Engleking 34:07.7
4. Katy Monger 34:41.6
5. Lana Lawson 35:25.0
Sean's overall podium.
Snowmass G3 Overall - Sport Men 40+:
1. Michael Monsauret 20:30.6
2. Blake Nelson 23:30.6
3. Sean Smith 25:34.0
4. Scott Branney 32:54.3
5. Tom Stevens 35:03.2
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