A Personal Victory for Crystal Wright

April 13th 2009 marked the final day of 10th annual Subaru World Freeskiing Championships held in location at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska, and broadcasted live at freeskiingworldtour.com.

Arc'teryx sponsored athlete Crystal Wright claimed a personal victory, taking home the highly coveted position of Overall Freeskiing World Tour Champion in the Women's Category, soaring above the competition with a combined personal score of 339 points.

The Subaru Freeskiing World Tour invites the world's best freeskiers to take part in a grueling series of events held across North America. Each event pits athletes against each other in a series of epic Big Mountain events, testing the skiers' ability to ski their line of choice through expert terrain at each host resort.

The FWT is comprised of the five events; the Telluride FWT Qualifier, the US Extreme Freeskiing Championships, the US Freeskiing Nationals, the North American Freeskiing Championships, and culminating with the Freeskiing World Championships in Alaska.

Events were judged by a panel of four judges, across five categories to decide the winner of each of the FWT events. Categories were judged as follows:

• Line choice: Each competitor chose his or her line down the course, with top marks being awarded for choosing difficult routes. Difficult routes were determined by steepness, exposure, air, snow and course conditions.
• Control:  Competitors had to remain in control at all times, with any loss of control resulting in a lower score, however, skillful recoveries reduced penalties.
• Fluidity: This category was judged by the constant direction towards the goal and included: continuity, pace, and smooth transitions between sections of the course. Falling or stopping on the course was negatively scored in this category.
• Form and Technique: Competitors were judged on style and turn quality relating to big mountain skiing.
• Aggression and energy: This category encompassed the pace, energy and creativity with which the competitor attacked or descended his or her chosen line.

Having placed on the podium at all the lead-up events, and claiming a successful 2nd place behind freeskier Rebecca Selig at the Freeskiing World Championships, Crystal Wright claimed a triumphant victory with her total combination of points from all events, to take home the title of Overall 2009 Subaru Freeskiing World Tour Champion.

Growing up in Jackson, WY, Crystal Wright had the opportunity to ski from a very early age. Starting her competitive skiing career as a young teenager, Crystal quickly became addicted to downhill skiing events, which in turn led her to the decision to give the big mountain competition scene a try. Crystal has not looked back since. Taking home this year's FWT title is professional notch in the belt for this successful young athlete.

For more info on Crystal and to check out her progress in this year's competitive freeskiing circuit go to: crystalbwright.com