Stephen Murta from Stuttgart cruises toward the finish line at the 2005 U.S. Forces Europe Ski and Snowboard Championship in Garmisch, Germany, Saturday. Murta won the boys youth division. (Ben Murray / S&S)
Stephen Murta from Stuttgart cruises toward the finish line at the 2005 U.S. Forces Europe Ski and Snowboard Championship in Garmisch, Germany, Saturday. Murta won the boys youth division. (Ben Murray / S&S)
Snowboarder Joey Perez from Stuttgart, Germany, approaches the final gates near the finish line. (Ben Murray / S&S)
Steven Eckert of Grafenwöhr, Germany, lights up the giant slalom course with a neon-green and star-spangled bandana ensemble. (Ben Murray / S&S)
GARMISCH, Germany — A little time away from snowboarding may have benefited two top competitors on the opening day of the 2005 Chrysler U.S. Forces Europe Ski and Snowboarding Championships on Saturday.
Spc. Christopher Rawlings and civilian Simia Ranieri, who burned their way through the giant slalom course at Garmisch-Partenkirchen to win their divisions, both had taken multi-year respites from boarding.
Of the two, Rawlings’ return has taken longer. The New Hampshire native broke his neck while snowboarding seven years ago, and has been gingerly working himself back into the sport.
After competing in two races two years ago, Rawlings said he was ready to go at Garmisch last year, but he was deployed to Iraq with his unit, Company B from Mannheim’s 72nd Signal Brigade.
On Saturday, Rawlings was the fastest active-duty snowboarder on the hill, with a two-run time of 1:53.22, winning the men’s open category.
“I thought the course was going to be a lot bigger, more aggressive,” Rawlings said of a run that many boarders found too flat in the middle.
Rawlings’ time was bested only by the fastest man on the mountain Saturday, civilian Matt Bush from Heidelberg, who won the men’s senior division in a time of 1:47.61.
For Ranieri, the fastest female on two edges Saturday, this winter is the first one in a snowy clime since she left Montana for Hawaii four years ago.
Ranieri, a Garmisch local and 12-year veteran of the sport who has some competition experience — she broke her nose in a race several years ago — said Saturday’s run was “mostly just for fun.”
Although her time of 2:02.21 was the women’s best of the day, organizers ruled that since she is a member of the ski patrol she was ineligible to win.
As a result, all three women’s categories were combined into one and civilian Marie Tucker, a championship regular from Aviano, Italy, was declared the winner with a time of 2:05.16.
The men’s masters winner was civilian Bryan Schulte from Oberammergau, who had a time of 2:01.57.
Among those Schulte beat was 53-year-old Vernon Hodges of Garmisch, who said he defines victory by a different set of parameters.
“When you’re 53 years old, you’re happy just to wake up breathing in the morning,” he said.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Nicolina Boretti from Garmisch won the girls youth category with a time of 2:28.87, and Stephen Murta of Stuttgart took the boys title in 2:02.51.
About 80 snowboarders competed in races on the windswept Hausberg course. They preceded the second of the weekend’s three events, the skiers’ giant slalom. More than 200 competitors were entered in that race, which is followed by the slalom on Sunday.
