Jeep King of the Mountain Heads to Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek, Colo. (Ski Press)-With word that weather conditions in Zel am See, Austria, were not yet conducive to world-class snowboard racing, the Jeep® King of the Mountain Series wasted little time in re-routing professional snow sports' most prestigious event to a location back in the U.S. that continues to receive steady snowfall, Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado.

On Sunday, Jan. 21, Beaver Creek will play host to the snowboard-exclusive leg of the 2006-2007 Skiing & Snowboarding World Professional Championships, featuring a line-up stocked with Winter Olympic, World Champion and National Champion racers from across the globe. The challengers will battle one another and an innovative Y-cross racecourse for a share of the richest cash purse in the sport, topping $450,000 plus $20,000 in bonus cash from John Paul Mitchell Systems and the keys to a new 2007 Jeep Patriot.

On the heels of an electrifying season-opening race at Snowbird, Utah, which saw 2006 Winter Olympic snowboard-cross gold and silver medalists, Seth Wescott and Lindsey Jacobellis, capture titles in their rookie Jeep King of the Mountain campaigns, the action is expected to only get more intense at Beaver Creek. After all, the points accrued by the snowboarders in Beaver Creek will be critical toward their chances of bringing home the coveted title of World Professional Champion during the grand finale in March at Telluride Ski Resort, also in Colorado.

In the men's snowboarding standings, Farmington, Maine's Wescott currently holds the points lead, trailed by Canada's Drew Neilson, a 2006 Winter Olympian with six World Cup titles, a Continental Cup Championship, a and a slew of gold, silver and bronze medals from the Winter X Games. In third is Nate Holland, a 2006 Winter Olympian from Squaw Valley, Calif., who won the New Zealand National Championship. Other contenders in Beaver Creek will include defending World Professional Champion Graham Watanabe of Park City, Utah, who raced in the 2006 Winter Olympics, Austria's Mario Fuchs, a 2006 Winter Olympian and Austrian National Champion and the notorious Shaun Palmer of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., who this season is competing in both the snowboarding and skiing competitions. Palmer's illustrious career includes five snowboard World Championships, Winter X Games and Gravity Games gold medals in skiing, super-cross designation in the sport of moto-cross, and a mountain biking World Championship.

In women's snowboarding, Stowe, Vt.'s Jacobellis will have to fend off a field as diverse as it is deep. On her heels is Julie Pomagalski of France, a Jeep King of the Mountain title winner last year who has amassed two French National Championships, a World Championship and nine World Cup titles in her career. And it's only a matter of time before Doresia Krings of Austria, a 2006 Winter Olympian and two-time defending World Professional Champion, makes her move to reclaim the crown. Adding to the intrigue in Beaver Creek will be the debut of Jacobellis rival from the Torino, Italy games, gold medal winner Tanja Frieden of Switzerland. She will no doubt look to replicate the instant success of her American counterpart. Also in the hunt is Seattle, Wash.'s Marni Yamada, a member of the U.S. Snowboard Team.

Racing against top rivals in front of thousands of spectators and millions of television viewers is challenge enough. Add in the Jeep King of the Mountain Series' innovative Y-cross racecourse and the result is one of the most exciting race settings in the industry. For the first part of the course, two competitors must navigate the dual features section consisting of single and double rollers. Once through this section, the two courses converge into a single course, forming the approximate shape of a Y. The second section features terrain characteristics of snowboard-cross racing, including banked turns, jumps, and tabletops. Athletes must be able to work the terrain features in order to generate extra speed, use techniques such as NASCAR-style drafting, and feel comfortable with another racer literally breathing down their neck.

The snowboard exclusive race at Beaver Creek will air on Feb. 17, 2007, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. on CBS Sports. Next, the Jeep King of the Mountain Series heads to Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico for a ski-only race. The season's grand finale, set for March 3, 2007, will take place at Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado, featuring both snowboard and ski racing. Each race of the 2006-2007 Skiing & Snowboarding World Professional Championships will air on CBS Sports, with additional broadcast coverage on nationally syndicated television.