Saturday, March 24, 2001



KASS, CLARK WIN SUPERPIPE AT X-NIX U.S. SNOWBOARD CHAMPIONSHIPS

NEWRY, Maine (March 24) - Danny Kass (Hamburg, NJ) blew up like a
Grenade in his second run as he and Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow, VT) won
national superpipe titles Saturday night at the X-Nix U.S. Snowboard
Championships at Sunday River Resort.

ESPN will air coverage of the Championships April 12 at 2 p.m. EST.

The Championships followed the FIS World Cup format with qualifications
Saturday morning and the top six women and top ten men advancing to the
finals. The men's finals field included just nine as Luke Wynen
(Reading, PA) qualified but slightly injured himself in practice and did
not compete in the finals. All 15 riders took two runs apiece with their
best score counting.

Kass, who rides for Grenade Gloves, GNU and Dragon, used a super solid
second run to take the title over unheralded Andy Finch (Fresno, CA) and
U.S. Snowboard Team rider Tommy Czeschin (Mammoth Lakes, CA) under the
lights.

After a semi-sketchy first run, Kass pulled out all the stops in his
second run and blew people's minds with an insane Corkscrew 900 Indy on
his final hit of the night. Prior to the nine, Kass busted out some
large straight airs and his patented Kasseroll. Announcer Pat Bridges
called it right away as he proclaimed "give the truck keys to Kass" as
soon as he landed the nine cleanly.

Not only did Kass win the national championship, he also wrapped up the
overall Chevy Truck U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix title and will officially
win the new Chevy Truck that comes along with it Sunday. It was his
third superpipe win on the circuit as he won the opener at Okemo
Mountain, Vermont and was victorious again at Breckenridge, Colo.
Saturday's win ensured that no other rider could catch him in the
standings.

"It was fun - the pipe was good and the crowd was loud," said Kass, who
took away $1,700 for the win and got a $7,000 bonus for winning the
Grand Prix halfpipe title. "I just started charging, going faster and
faster and larger and larger. The judges like the large amounts of spins
and the big airs."

Just 18 years old, Kass now owns just about every title that matters in
snowboarding. Aside from the overall Grand Prix crown, he recently won
the 19th Annual U.S. Open and took the gold medal at the X Games.

"I didn't have any idea (how well he would ride this season)," said
Kass. "I was like, eh, I'm gonna do some more halfpipe contests this
year."

Finch also unleashed an amazing second run after crashing in his first.
He followed Kass' lead and threw a Corkscrew 900 of his own on the last
hit. Finch nailed the landing and left a lasting impression in the
judge's minds.

Czeschin laid down a typical smooth, stylish first run that was full of
big straight airs and included a frontside 900 flat spin at the bottom
of the pipe. His second run wasn't as good, but Czeschin's opening score
had him in second for quite some time until Finch dropped in.

Missing from action was last year's U.S. champion Adam Petraska
(Andover, VT), who sat out to nurse a minor injury.

U.S. Team rider Clark beat out some outstanding talent to take her first
national title. Teammates Gretchen Bleiler (Snowmass Village, CO) and
Tricia Byrnes (Stratton Mountain, VT) rounded out the podium.

As usual, Clark could be found much higher out of the pipe than most of
the other women's competitors. She pulled a 540, huge methods, Indys and
boned out a tail grab and a nose grab.

"My second run, I just picked it up and was a lot more consistent," said
Clark, who won her first career World Cup earlier this season in Japan.
"I just went really big and had fun. My first run was kind of sketchy. I
did some big airs, but they weren't very clean and I wasn't very psyched
with it."

The women's overall Grand Prix title will not be decided until Sunday.
Byrnes, who did win the halfpipe title with her third place finish
Saturday, is the current leader with two wins and a second place finish
for 2,800 points, but another 1,000 points (and another Chevy Truck) is
up for grabs at Sunday's snowboardcross event.

The pipe was in good condition as groomer Pat Malendoski recut it
following the qualifications. Snowfall, heavy at times, was prominent
throughout most of the finals, but it didn't seem to bother the riders
or the pipe conditions. Strong wind gusts, which blew away the judges
tents after the event, swirled snow around inside the pipe but the gusts
were infrequent enough that they didn't play a part.

"It's so much better tonight (the pipe)," said Clark. "I think it's got
a lot to do with the consistency of the snow, it's not as slushy and as
slow. The slow thing really got me today. Tonight, I was going a lot
bigger."

The X-Nix U.S. Snowboard Championships conclude Sunday with
snowboardcross. A second superpipe event, which will not be part of the
Grand Prix, will be run Monday.

X-NIX U.S. SNOWBOARD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sunday River, Maine
March 24, 2001
Superpipe

MEN
1. Danny Kass, Hamburg, NJ
2. Andy Finch, Fresno, Calif.
3. Tommy Czeschin, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

WOMEN
1. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, Vermont
2. Gretchen Bleiler, Snowmass Village, Colo.
3. Tricia Byrnes, Stratton Mountain, Vermont

- Best in the World! -