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Winning the Skier-X FIS World Cup Overall ranking in both men’s and women’s category, Salomon riders dominated the Skier-X season with 11 World Cup victories out of 12!
Once again taking the lead in the final Skier-X World Cup of the season in Vamalenco, Ophelie David claimed her 6th World Cup victory this season with a total of 14 successes since she joined the Skier-X Tour. With perfect technique, aggressive style on jumps and most of all fantastic starts, Ophelie dominated every Skier-X race she took part in, excluding those where she fell of course. It’s victory or nothing for this experienced skier from Alpe d’Huez. Thanks to an amazing season, Ophelie won her 5th World Cup Overall ranking and brought home her 5th crystal globe in a row, making her the discipline leader since 2004! Since joining the Saab Salomon Crossmax Pro Team in 2007, Ophelie won her first World Champion title in 2007 and two Gold medals at the 2007 and 2008 X-Games. The Skier-X queen is now looking forward to winning a new title in the 2009 World Championships and more importantly a gold medal during the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, where Skier-X will debut as an official Olympic discipline!
In the men’s category, Czech skier Tomas Kraus also dominated the World Cup season with four victories and a podium in Valmalenco, finishing 3rd in the finals. The 2007 Skier-X World Champion joined the Salomon team last spring and achieved his best season yet, claiming a total of 11 World Cup successes and most importantly his 3rd World Cup Overall ranking following crystal globes in 2005 and 2006. Just like his team-mate Ophelie, Tomas will now be seeking a new World Champion title in 2009 and Gold at the coming Olympics!
2005 X-Games Gold medalist and Saab Salomon Pro Team member Lars Lewen has also had an impressive season. After a severe fall during the X-Games, Lars came back in great shape to claim three World Cup victories in a row including the finals in Italy! Earning his first victories in World Cup after several podiums in previous seasons, Lars now stands in second position in the World Cup Overall ranking just a few points behind his team-mate Tomas, thus offering Salomon a great double in the men’s Overall.
Young Salomon hopeful, Meryl Boulangeat, 10 years younger than her team-mate Ophelie David, confirmed her talent this season with her second World Cup victory and three podiums. This young skier from Tignes also finished 3rd in the women’s Overall ranking and will be one of the great favorites eager for medals in the coming seasons!
Before getting seriously injured during the X-Games competition, our two other Skier-X stars Enak Gavaggio (X-Games most titled athlete) and Karin Huttary (2005 World Champion) also achieved great results with a victory for Enak at the Solden Saab Salomon Crossmax Series and success for Karin at the Tignes Air Waves Skier-X. We wish them both a speedy recovery and lots of success for the future.
Congratulations again to Ophelie, Meryl, Karin, Tomas, Lars and Enak for their fantastic results this season. Thanks to the work with our technicians and engineers, they had the opportunity to dominate all the Skier-X events and they did, winning almost everything possible with their ultimate weapon: our Salomon Crossmax W12 skis!
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