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 BEAVER CREEK, Colo.(January 22, 2007)- As the Jeep® King of the Mountain Series (www.jeepsports.com) acclimates to its new race site in Beaver Creek, Colo., extreme sport legend Shaun Palmer has begun work on his customized Y-cross racecourse and a stellar field grows deeper by the day in anticipation of the Skiing & Snowboarding World Professional Championships on Jan. 21. The event, recently re-routed to Beaver Creek due to less than ideal snow conditions at Zel am See, Austria, has now added 2006 Winter Olympic snowboard-cross silver medalist Radoslav Zidek of Slovakia and bronze medalist Paul-Henri "Polo" Delerue of France to its roster. The field at Beaver Creek will be a near-perfect replication of the men's and women's medal podium from Torino, Italy. Already scheduled for the starter's gate include 2006 Winter Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott of Farmington, Maine, and women's gold and silver medalists Tanja Frieden of Switzerland and Lindsey Jacobellis of Stratton Mountain, Vt. Bronze medalist Dominique Maltais of Canada, a member of the Jeep King of the Mountain roster for 2006-2007, was injured during a practice run at the first race of the season in Snowbird, Utah, and will not be able to compete. Many Jeep King of the Mountain athletes will arrive at Beaver Creek from Arosa, Switzerland, where they participated in last weekend's Snowboard World Championships. There, Jacobellis added to her already impressive resume by capturing the World Championship. In the men's competition, Wescott finished in second place and Nate Holland, a 2006 Winter Olympian from Squaw Valley, Calif., earned third place. Awaiting the field will be an innovative Y-cross racecourse designed by South Lake Tahoe, Calif.'s Palmer, an athlete who for the past two decades has been unmatched on both dirt and snow. Palmer will bring the same passion, energy and competitive drive to designing the racecourse at Beaver Creek as he did while earning five snowboard World Championships, Winter X Games and Gravity Games gold medals in skiing, super-cross designation in the sport of moto-cross, and a mountain biking World Championship. For the first part of the Y-cross course, two competitors must navigate the dual features section consisting of single and double rollers. Once through this section, the two courses converge into a single course, forming the approximate shape of a Y. The second section features terrain characteristics of snowboard-cross racing, including banked turns, jumps, and tabletops. Athletes must be able to "work" the terrain features in order to generate extra speed, use techniques such as NASCAR-style drafting, and feel comfortable with another racer literally breathing down their neck. Wescott, who captured the title in his first Skiing & Snowboarding World Professional Championship outing, sits on top in the points standings, trailed by Canada's Drew Neilson, a 2006 Winter Olympian with six World Cup titles, a Continental Cup Championship, and a slew of gold, silver and bronze medals from the Winter X Games. In third place is Holland, who also lists a New Zealand National Championship among his accolades. Other contenders in Beaver Creek will include defending World Professional Champion Graham Watanabe of Park City, Utah, who raced in the 2006 Winter Olympics, Austria's Mario Fuchs, a 2006 Winter Olympian and Austrian National Champion, and Palmer, who is competing in both the skiing and snowboarding fields during the World Professional Championships. In the women's standings, Jacobellis rests on top after grabbing the title during her rookie Jeep King of the Mountain campaign. In second place is Julie Pomagalski of France, a Jeep King of the Mountain title winner last year who has amassed two French National Championships, a World Championship and nine World Cup titles in her career. Rounding out the top three is Doresia Krings of Austria, a 2006 Winter Olympian and two time defending World Professional Champion who finished fourth at the World Championships. Rounding out the line-up will be Seattle, Wash.'s Marni Yamada, a member of the U.S. Snowboard Team, and Frieden, who will be making her Jeep King of the Mountain debut. The athletes at Beaver Creek will be competing for a share of the richest cash purse in the sport, topping $450,000 plus $20,000 in bonus cash from John Paul Mitchell Systems and the keys to a new 2007 Jeep Patriot. The snowboard exclusive race at Beaver Creek will air on Feb. 17, 2007, from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. (ET) on CBS Sports. Next, the Jeep King of the Mountain Series heads to Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico for a ski-only race. The season's grand finale, set for March 3, 2007, will take place at Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado, featuring both snowboard and ski racing. Each race of the 2006-2007 Skiing & Snowboarding World Professional Championships will air on CBS Sports, with additional broadcast coverage on nationally syndicated television. About the Jeep King
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