Kananaskis Valley (AB), Canada – Saturday was Switzerland’s day at Nakiska ski area in Alberta, with Armin Niederer taking the win in the men’s World Cup ski cross season opener and his teammate, Alex Fiva, finishing second. Austria’s Anton Grimus was third and Sweden’s Michael Forslund was fourth. Swiss ace Fanny Smith won a tight women’s final ahead of French veteran Ophelie David. Sweden’s Anna Holmlund was third and Swiss star Katrin Mueller was fourth.

“It’s disappointing any time we have a home advantage and we don’t get someone on the podium,” said Canadian athlete Brady Leman of Calgary, who found himself behind in his semifinal and wasn’t able to make it through to the final, finishing sixth. “My starts were just a little off today. Sixth is still a pretty decent result. Any time you get to the semifinals it’s not too bad. But I wanted to be on the podium really bad today. I wanted to win.”

Wearing denim-style racing pants in memory of their much-loved teammate Nik Zoricic, who passed away in March following a crash at a race in Grindelwald, Switzerland, five Canadian racers went head to head against the best in the world at the inaugural Audi FIS Nakiska Ski Cross World Cup race. Leman was eliminated in the men’s semifinal, while Serwa, of Kelowna, British Columbia – who was competing in her first World Cup race after recovering from a knee injury –was unlucky to go out at the quarter-final stage when she finished third after a photo-finish at the line. Georgia Simmerling, of West Vancouver, British Columbia, was 16th, while newcomers Louis-Pierre Hélie, of Berthierville, Quebec, and Ian Deans, of Kelowna, British Columbia, were 25^th and 27^th, respectively. Hélie made the switch this season from racing alpine with the Canadian World Cup squad.

Mammoth Lakes, Calif.’s John Teller, the first American to win a ski cross World Cup in January 2011 in St. Johann, Austria, finished in 11^th place — not the result he was hoping for, but enough to get him fueled for this coming weekend’s race in Telluride, Colo., the first FIS World Cup ski cross on U.S. snow in three years.

“The biggest thing with Nakiksa was that it was a good start to season, of course, I wanted to be higher up in rankings, but starting off with 11th isn’t a bad place to be,” said Teller, the 2011 X Games champion. “It’s great to start scoring World Cup points especially in ramping up for the Olympic qualifiers. It’s a longer season this year with extra races we’ve got.”

Teller’s result was the only bright spot for Americans on Saturday. His teammate Tyler Wallasch finished 47^th, and the other three Americans in the men’s race — Brant Crossan, Matthew Migel and Trevor Ricioli — finished together in 58^th, 59^th and 60^th, respectively. The two American women who entered Saturday’s competition, Madeline Riffel and Langely McNeal, finished outside the points and near the back of the pack.

The inaugural Nakiska Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup race was part of the Nakiska Snowdown – a first time event that featured ski cross racing and a Monster Energy Snowmobile Freestyle exhibition.

“It was fantastic – I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” said Phil Bernier, the race chairman and Alpine Canada’s director of events. “The weather was good, the track held together, the volunteers stepped up and the whole show came together fabulously.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Nakiska (AB), Canada – Dec. 8, 2012

Men’s Ski Cross

Women’s Ski Cross