6-25-07 // Online Exclusive: Mt. St. Anne WC DH Report

Tracey Hannah's qualifying run over the big drop. Colin Meagher

Ok, the course is a beast—no more need be said about that….

How’d it go?

Women’s semis:

The ladies flowed fast. Airtime isn’t the norm for the ladies, but there’s a mandatory 5-6 foot drop in the upper portion of the course, that easily translates to 8-10 feet with speed—something you need if you plan on winning. For qualifying, I opted to stake that line out and got to see a show! Sabrina Jonnier took the drop at speed and rolled into a top qualifying spot with a six second lead over Tracey Mosely. Other top qualifiers included Emmeline Ragot, Tracey Hannah, and Celine Gros. Fast ladies!

So the thing about St. Anne that most people don’t know about is the bugs. They’re a force to be reckoned with—very much like the midges at Ft Williams (make a note: if you plan on hitting the Worlds this year at Ft. Bill, do yourself a favor and bring some Deep Woods Off with you—citronella don’t cut it and you can’t find anything else at Ft. Bill…). The local version of Off even sports 25% deet as the norm—25%?!?

Anyway, I have the sauce on but the bugs were just too damn much, so I bolted to another spot for the men’s semi…

Men’s Semi:

They went really, really fast. And the one’s who didn’t flat in the rock gardens qualified for the final. Out of 103 starters 81 were in it to win it. Top qualifiers were Peaty, Sam Hill, Minnaar, Barel, and Matti Lehikoinen. One of the nice things was seeing a lot of fresh American faces out there, getting their feet wet in the World Cup; guys like Luke Strobel (qualified 16th), Geritt Beytagh (yeah, he’s a Yank!), Alex Morgan, and Lee Trumpore.

Semi’s are over, it’s the mad dash down the hill with the stupid camera pack on for lunch (it’s a lot like having an angry midget perched on your shoulder), recharging batteries, e-mailing out reports, and getting a start sheet for the final.

Steve Peat giving it his all for third Colin Meagher

Sam Hill railing through the rocks for the win Colin Meagher

Reader Comments 

Posted Wed Oct 1, 2008, 11:15 AM — By douglas

sam hill u better be ready lol prolly not but ima try to get up there as hard as i can

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