USA NATIONAL CHAMPS
MAMMOTH LAKES, CA- July 12-16, 2016 - For the second year in a row, Mammoth mountain hosted the USA gravity and XC National championships. Under bluebird skies, thin air, and pumice soil, the ever shifty conditions in the Sierra mountains made for challenging and exciting racing.
Jill Kintner competed slalom and the DH and was able to score perfect results once again to claim her 16th and 17th elite National Championships over her career. With some conflicts in scheduling and a bit of soreness from a training crash in Downhill, Jill elected not to compete in enduro this year and just celebrated the titles that she came for.
In the men’s field, Aaron Gwin dominated the downhill, while Mitch Ropelado won the slalom and enduro events.
JILL KINTNER…..
Slalom (1st):
“The slalom in Mammoth is pretty hard to race because of how quickly the turns deteriorate. Water is so crucial to corner speed because the soil never really packs in, so by finals it was too dry and the tops of the berms were gone. The tightness and hard braking made it interesting, so while it seemed pretty simple, it was tougher than it looked to go fast. My slalom bike arrived the morning of finals from France, so that made my life a lot easier to be in top form for a W."
Jill’s slalom finals video : http://www.pinkbike.com/video/450890/
DUAL SLALOM
PRO WOMEN
1. Jill Kintner
2. Adrian Sanders
3. Joanna Petterson
PRO MEN
1. Mitch Ropelato
2. Kyle Strait
3. Joey Foresta
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DH (1st):
“ The dH was dry, loose, and shifty with lots of erosion and rocks. I find the course pretty fun in Mammoth, and kinda wish my practice run before finals was my final, cause it was next level. In the actual final I was off line in the rocks, and had a few issues. I held it together enough to still win by a 16 second margin, but that was not my finest run, eek. Highlight was floating down the elevator shaft section at the end; it feels like powder skiing. Special thanks to Fox and Shimano for the tech support!!“
DOWNHILL RESULTS:
PRO WOMEN
1. Jill Kintner
2. Samantha Kingshill
3. Jackie Thomas
PRO MEN
1. Aaron Gwin
2. Mitch Ropelato
3. Shane Leslie
4. Austin Bubba Warren
5. Kiran MacKinnon
NEXT UP: CRANKWORX WHISTLER!!!
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