The first place team was made up of Candace Crawford(CAST), Stephanie Fleckenstein (BCST), Trevor Philp (CAST) and Erik Read (DU). The third place team was Valerie Grenier (CAST), Georgia Burgess (AST), Phil Brown (CAST) and Raphael Quenneville (SAQ).
The Canadian team of Candice Crawford, Stefanie Fleckenstein, Trevor Philp and Erik Read won the inaugural Nor-Am Cup "Team" event at the NorAm Finals in Aspen, Colorado. After Tuesday's cancelled SG race due to snow, the team event was held in excellent conditions at the base of Aspen. A second team from Canada, composed of Valerie Grenier, Georgia Burgess, Phil Brown and Raphael Quenneville finished in 3rd place.
The team event is run in a head-to-head format on a 22 gate paneled SL course which was about 20 seconds long, placing a premium on the start and no mistakes. Aggregate time differential for the 4 member team decides the winner, and there were 3 heats to determine the winning team. Winning team rookie Fleckenstein exclaimed “it was a really fun format, head-to-head racing, and super intense. The start was everything, and racing down that short a course, right beside your competitor, was totally new to me. I’m still smiling from the adrenalin…”
The team event was run as a test event for next year, when the FIS World Cup Finals come to Aspen. It is arguably the most spectator-friendly event, due to the head-to-head format and the fast pace of the races. Crawford, Read and Philip were members of the silver medal winning team at last year’s World Championships help at Vail/Beaver Creek. Crawford noted “it was a fun day for all participants. I now have another team event medal to hang beside the silver medal from last year’s World Championships. I hope to make it to next year’s World Cup Finals here at Aspen.”