It was a great weekend at Canaan Valley as more than a dozen Airboarders took over the slopes and the sport dominated the headlines as it has for weeks now. In the end the overall champ took home the first electric green Airboard 130-X in the USA...and wouldn't you know it, he happens to also be the head Airboard instructor at the resort!

It shouldn't take much convincing then when we suggest you look up Sanford Zirkle for Airboarding lessons at Canaan. Sanford's got the Airboarding genes too apparently, as his son Stephan and daughters Christina and Ameras also competed well and took home prizes of their own in the Adrenaline Team Chess and Boardercross events.

The action started out with the music pumping from DJ Strizy at the starting line halfway up the mountain, and a crowd of excited Airboarders anxious to get going.

A warm weather front had moved in overnight, rendering the absolutely perfect snow from Friday's practice sessions a bit mushy by the race start on Saturday afternoon, but extra wax and extra hot air blown into the boards (mostly from Ice, as the trash talk directed his way seemed to indicate) kept the show going, and as the shadows lengthened the snow hardened and speeds improved.

It was a day for strong, lightweight riders, as the snow speeds altered the course slightly to eliminate the giant "whales" with the perfect line just barely wide enough for only 1 Airboarder to ride. As such, the name of the game was a good start and a strong consistent line on the packed, fairly straightforward course.

The Zirkle family figured this out quickly, with Sanford besting Alicia Monahan's first Speed Race time of 27 seconds in his second run, shaving 9 seconds from his time to post a 21.

Alas, consistency was the name of the game, and Alicia bettered her time the second time around as well, coming in with a time of 23 seconds, to claim the win over Sanford by a single second, 50 to 51.

Rounding out the top 3 was a tie for 3rd with Ice and Joe Ashcraft at 55 seconds, followed by Kevin Yount at 59 seconds, Stephan Zirkle at 60 seconds, and Christina Zirkle at 62 seconds.

In the Boardercross, FLI teammates Alica and Kevin took the 1-2 in their first heat but landed head-to-head with Sanford & Son (Stephan) in the second heat and were bested by the Zirkle duo. Ice blazed through his first two heats followed closely by Mike Herbert to set up a great Bx final.

Ice got off the line first, putting his sprinting skills to good use, but it wasn't long before Stephan charged up from the left side, initiating contact. Ice bumped back, but it only served to slightly slow them both and send him offline while Sanford took advantage of their skirmish and zipped around the outside, crossing the finish line ahead of them both. Final results, Sanford Zirkle in 1st, Stephan Zirkle in 2nd, and Ice once again landing in 3rd.

As the day wore on the snow got faster, so the decision was made to run the Adrenaline Team Chess event back on the whales course where the original plan had been (the Boardercross event unfortunately took place on the flat course).

With 2 teams of 3 people racing at once, the teams had to choose where each member would finish, 1-2-3 overall, bringing in a whole lot of strategy for the staggered A-B-A-B-A-B starting line as well as the race and finishing positions.

The first heat pitted Sanford and Ice and their respective teammates, Sanford's son Stephan and daughter Christina, and Ice's team of Mike Herbert (who finished 4th in Bx) and Paul Kanitra.

Ice (who had called 1st) got off to a ripping start and quickly led at the first jump, but Sanford chose to avoid the aerial up and down and zipped along the outside of the whales, passing Ice bogging down in the slower snow on top and taking back 1st as he crossed the finish line. With Sanford's win the rest of the field ended up out of their called positions, other than Christina who correctly came in 3rd overall.

Team Canaan / Zirkle moved on to the final, and Ice / Mike / Paul would race later for 3rd.

The second heat also included a Zirkle, with Ameras joining Joe Ashcraft and Todd Schoonover to compete against Kevin Yount and Alicia Monahan (they had lost their 3rd teammate to a mysterious ailment). Joe bombed around the outside of the whales as well, taking a lesson from Sanford's previous run, and finished in his called 1st position. The rest of the field finished out of place so Joe's team would match up against the now dubbed Team Canaan / Zirkle in the final.

It was a close race the whole way down, with Sanford taking the bumps this time and leading the way over the varied terrain, launching off the final whale with such force that he literally bounced across the finish line, claiming 1st once again and eliminating all questions as to who was the IN YOUR FACE Airboarding champ on this day!

The consolation race for 3rd was loaded with Team FLI Athletes and the starting line reverberated with talking smack as Ice jawed at Alicia and Kevin, and they dished it back in equal doses. When the snowdust settled at the bottom though, they were faced with a tie and the need for another runoff, as Ice had won the race and Kevin came in second, which he had also called.

Since they were the only ones correct (which was the only criteria for advancement on this day; technically, the Adrenaline Team Chess events are based on the 12-7-5 points system for 1st-2nd-3rd), they headed back up the mountain for another runoff. Kevin and Alicia decided to switch their calls, believing Kev had the best chance of knocking Ice off. The results were similar (Ice / Kevin / Mike going 1-2-3) landing Ice in 3rd again and getting Mike and Paul to the podium.

The lifts had barely been shut off and the booty of prizes given out (from Gath, Numa Sport Optics, SixSixOne, and Airboard) when the FLI crew and Canaan staff started began brainstorming for next winter...more events, more Airboarders, and even more face level fun on the snow!

Sanford cleaned up in the prize department (along with the rest of the Zirkle crew) and you'll soon see him giving lessons at Canaan with the only electric green Airboard 130-X in the US, brand new Numa Sport Optics, a bright orange Gath RV, and padded pants from SixSixOne!

A big thanks to Canaan Valley for their support and efforts to make this event a whooshing success.

Here are the final results:

SPRINT RACE
1st - Alicia Monahan
2nd - Sanford Zirkle
T3rd - Joe Ashcraft
T3rd - Ice

BOARDERCROSS RACE
1st - Sanford Zirkle
2nd - Stephan Zirkle
3rd - Ice

TEAM RACE
1st - Sanford Zirkle, Stephan Zirkle, Christina Zirkle
2nd - Joe Ashcraft, Ameras Zirkle, Todd Schoonover
3rd - Ice, Mike Herbert, Paul Kanitra

OVERALL FINAL STANDINGS (12 points for a 1st, 7 points for a 2nd, 5 points for a 3rd)
1st - Sanford Zirkle, 31 points
2nd - Stephan Zirkle, 17 points
3rd - Ice, 15 points