KRISTI LESKINEN INVITATIONAL, MONSTER ENERGY’S HOMECOMING, SETS THE BAR FOR FEMALE SKI AND SNOWBOARD COMPETITIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEVEN SPRINGS, PA.– Freestyle skiing pioneer Kristi Leskinen hosted the first annual Monster Energy “Homecoming” ski and snowboard invitational this past weekend at her home resort of Seven Springs in Pennsylvania. There couldn’t be a better place to launch out this one-of-a-kind event than Seven Springs, where it all began for Leskinen.
Top female skiers and snowboarders joined Leskinen for the first ever, all female ski and snowboard slopestyle event and rail jam.The event was created as a platform for building awareness around the sport and to showcase the progressive riding of the top female athletes. Working closely with Kristi and Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Snow Park Technologies (SPT) did an outstanding job building the course for the event. After two days of solid riding, two athletes walked away with Homecoming “crowns.”
Southern California’s Chanelle Sladics toped the podium on the snowboard side for her outstanding tricks including a cab 360, cab 540, and fantastic presence throughout the rail section of the course. Right behind her was Germany’s Sylvia Mittermeuller. Rounding out the podium with a third place finish was June Mountain’s Maribeth Switkoff.
The late afternoon brought a serious headwind, yet the female skiers in the finals overcame the adversity and still took advantage of the spectacular competitive environment. The performances all around were outstanding, but the day belonged to Kaya Turski. Turski almost pulled out of the competition because of a separation to her shoulder that was induced during practice, but highlighted her final runs with corked 720s, switch 900s, and large switch-to-switch straight airs called zero spins. Grete Eliassen’s very aggressive skiing style handed her the runner up position. Landing in third place with a corked 720 mute grab, was the hometown superstar Kristi Leskinen.
“I have been dreaming of doing an event like this for years, and after all of the meticulous planning thanks to everyone’s participation and hard work, the contest went off without a hitch and could not have been any better,” says Leskinen. “Seven Springs pulled out all the stops to make this a first class event, and we look forward to making it even bigger and better in year two.”
Leskinen involved the Women’s Sports Foundation in the event weekend, and the athletes were educated about opportunities to help the organization build momentum around women’s sports.
Event sponsors included Monster Energy, Seven Springs Resort, Oakley, Rome Snowboards, and Willi’s Ski & Board Shop. Freeskier Magazine was the event’s media partner.
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About Kristi Leskinen
Leskinen, a pioneer in women’s freeskiing and native of Uniontown, Pa., took home a bronze medal at the Winter X Games IX in the Women’s Superpipe. Her career highlights also include: second place Slopestyle at the 2009 Aspen Open, second place Slopestyle at the 2008 North American Open, third place Slopestyle at the 2007 US and Japan Opens, first place Halfpipe in the 2005 Gravity Games, second place Halfpipe in the 2005 World Championships and in 1999 she was the first female to compete in the US Open.
About Seven Springs Mountain Resort
Seven Springs Mountain Resort, located in Seven Springs, Pa., is the state’s largest ski and four-season resort and has been rated the number one resort in the mid-Atlantic region by the readers of SKI magazine for 14 consecutive years. Located within 200 miles of the major metropolitan areas of Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland and Washington D.C., Seven Springs is easily accessible from either exit 91 or 110 of the Pennsylvania Turnpike
About Monster Energy Drink
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster
Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee and cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot.
About The Women’s Sports Foundation
The Women’s Sports Foundation-the leading authority on the participation of women and girls in sports-advocates for equality, educates the public, conducts research and offers grants to promote sports and physical activity for girls and women. Founded by Billie Jean King in 1974, the Women’s Sports Foundation builds on her legacy as a champion athlete, advocate of social justice and agent of change. We strive for gender equity and fight discrimination in sports. Our work shapes public attitude about women’s sports and athletes, builds capacities for organizations that get girls active, provides equal opportunities for girls and women, and supports physically and emotionally healthy lifestyles. The Women’s Sports Foundation is recognized worldwide for its leadership, vision, strength, expertise and influence.