Steamboat Pilot & Today

Park City, Utah's Jake Zamansky capped off a strong week of skiing Wednesday night by winning the final race of the Rocky Mountain Trophy Series' Steamboat Holiday Classic at Howelsen Hill.

Zamansky led the first round with a time of 44.86 seconds and held off the field in the second run for a total of 1 minute, 28.71 seconds.

Charles Christianson of Will--iams College finished slightly less than a second behind, at 1:29.56, and Norway's Tor Hen--n--ing Fodnesbergene was third, at 1:30.10.

For the second night in a row, Steamboat Springs skier Josh Bryan turned in two solid runs and finished in the top 10.

On Tuesday night, Bryan skied to 10th place on the steep face of Howelsen. He improved that showing Wednesday when he finished seventh in a field of skiers crowded with up-and-coming U.S. Ski Team stars and top college racers.

"You always want to win, but sometimes, in a field like this, it's a struggle," Bryan said. "There were a lot of really good skiers here last week, and I'm really happy with these finishes. They will lower my points, and they were a good way to start off the season."

Bryan, who has been with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club the past two seasons, led a group of teammates into the top of the slalom results Wednesday.

Marsh Gooding placed ninth, Gaspar Perricone was 15th, and Thomas Allen placed 20th.

Steamboat's Nathan Asoian, who started the race 62nd, moved to 23rd, Andrew Berglund jumped from 88th to 33rd and Ramsey Bernard jumped from 99th to 34th. Ian Landy, Ryan Coe and Wiley Thayer made significant jumps from start to finish; Landy was 37th, Coe placed 40th, and Thayer was 45th.

Wednesday's race at Howelsen marked the end of four days of racing in Steamboat Springs that included eight different races. The events drew fields of about 140 men and 130 women from around the world.

"We are really proud, and really happy," said Chris Puckett, Winter Sports Club Alpine director. "We are also really tired."