Oregon skier Jacqueline Wiles makes fast tracks in Aspen
The Aspen Times
Jeremy Wallace / The Aspen Times |
Ski racer Jacqueline Wiles likes Aspen.
But she is in a big hurry to get back home to Portland, Oregon.
Wiles won the super-G at the NorAm Cup Finals on Monday at Aspen Mountain, her second victory in three days in Aspen.
The 23-year-old was fastest in the opening downhill of the NorAm Cup Finals on Saturday and finished second in Sunday’s U.S. National Downhill at Ajax.
“I always love coming to Aspen,” Wiles said in the finish area after Monday’s victory. “It’s such a great venue.”
This year, it’s yielded two golds, one silver and one more race for Wiles.
“We have another super-G (Tuesday), and then I get to go home,” she said. “I haven’t been home in over two-and-half months. I am really, really excited to get home (to Portland, Oregon). I’m looking forward to seeing my family and friends and my dog (Jezzi).”
Wiles will lead the field again Tuesday, weather permitting, in another NorAm Cup super-G at Aspen Mountain.
Team races and tech races are scheduled later this week.
“I’ve struggled with super-G all year, so it felt good today to come out and be fast,” Wiles said. “On this course, it’s tricky and you had to lay it all down.”
She said the steep pitch of Aztec required precision.
“Coming down Aztec you had to be active. You had to be ahead of it (the course) all the way down,” said Wiles, who finished .30 ahead of runner-up Breezy Johnson (1:16.62 to 1:16.92).
Anna Marno of Steamboat Springs finished third (1:17.53).
A smooth final section on Strawpile sealed Giles’ victory.
“I tried to make a good move off the bump (road),” Wiles said. “I caught some fun air; it was a blast.”
She credited the work of her technician for her run of success in Aspen. S
“My setup is working really well,” she said. “My technician is here from Europe, and we are good team.”
Galena Wardle, a product of the Aspen Valley Ski Cub, posted an eighth-place finish Monday in 1:18.47.
Dairin Bowers of Aspen finished 12th.
The challenging super-G set for the women produced a bevy of DNFs, when the course called for a difficult left-footer on a fallaway section at the bottom of Spring Pitch before Summer Road.
The super-G course for the NorAm Cup Finals started midway down Ruthie’s Run and then used the familiar World Cup course down Aztec, Spring Pitch and Strawpile to the finish near the base of Lift 1A.
Men’s super-G
Canada’s Terry Werry skied away from the field to win the men’s NorAm Cup Finals super-G on Monday.
He finished in 1:12.96, ahead of runner-up Tommy Ford (1:13:30). Ford, from Bend, Oregon, formerly skied with the Aspen Valley Ski Club.
Erik Arvidsson was fourth to extend his run of top finishes in Aspen.
Aspen’s Wiley Maple, who won the U.S. National Downhill title on Sunday, finished eighth in Monday’s super G. He was timed in 1:14.26.
‘I’ve always been a bit better at super-G than downhill. I’m been able to flow my turns better a bit better,” said Werry, 24. “Today’s course, you really had to stick your nose in it and go.”
He said the course was tricky as you headed onto Summer Road.
“It (the course) comes at you real quick after that airplane turn,” said Werry, who is from Calgary. He skis out of Fernie Alpine Resort in British Columbia.
He’ll be back on the course Tuesday for another super-G, weather conditions permitting. The men’s super-G will follow the women’s super-G, set for an approximate 10 a.m. start today.
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