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Shelley Osterloh ReportingMany of us got our first glimpse at the new sport of Snowcross at the Torino Olympics. Most of those Olympic Snowboarding stars competed at Snowbird today and they were joined by skiers in the Jeep King of the Mountain Skiing and Snowboard World Professional Championships.
It's a high speed, head to head elimination race, and sometimes even a contact sport. Snowboard cross gained lots of fans in Torino and just this week the IOC decided to add a new Olympic sport in 2010, the Skicross.
Jake Fiala, Second in Ski Cross: "We go faster than the snowboarders so the crashes and the passes are going to be that much more exciting."
In snowboarding Seth Wescott was the first man to win Olympic gold in this event and took home the top prize again -- 10-thousand dollars.
Seth Wescott, Snowboard Cross Winner: "I had an amazing week here at Snowbird; I got a couple of really good powder days at the beginning of the week. So for me I'm just getting back on snow this week and it was great way to start the season, so I'm fired up."
Utah's Olympian, Graham Watanabe, finished 6th and says it's the unpredictability of the sport that makes it so exciting.
Grahan Watanabe, Utah Snowboarder: "Also the speed is always exciting, people in the air, crashes, head to head battles. Everything about it is exciting and it's hard to ignore."
On the women's side, Olympic silver medalist Lindsey Jacobellis took top honors.
Lindsey Jacobellis, Winner Snowboard Cross: "I just had arthroscopic knee surgery last May so this is my first competition that I've had; so I was really excited it all went well."
In the men's ski finals were Casey Puckett and Jake Fiala, two guys who skied together on the US ski team and raced Alpine. Both had retired from racing until they discovered this new challenge and possibly new Olympic opportunity.
Casey Puckett, Winner Skicross: "Being 34-years old it's tough to think about something that far away, but yeah, I think it would be fun to shoot for another Olympics. I've had four so far and going for a fifth in another event would be pretty neat."
On the women's side it was France's Ophelie David who sailed into the winners circle, sharing in one of the sports richest cash payouts. Each of the top 32 racers took home a share of 134 thousand dollars in prize money.
