A lot of freestylers left today so they could relax a little here in Grindelwald before going home for Christmas. Yesterday the party went pretty long. I got home at 3:30 in the morning, and was headed up to gondola at 9. I rode up with Sigi Grabner, who was on his way back up because earlier he took Dieter Happ's boots up instead of his own.

	Kestenholz

We reached the slope so late, Grabner didn`t even have time for a slope-check and had to almost run to the start. He made it through the first round, but lost to Ueli Kestenholz (SCOTT/SUI) by two hundredths of a second.

At the end there were only Swiss guys left for the two final heats. For the girls it was Austrian dominance, except Bianca Elzenbaumer (BURTON/Italy), who snaked on 3rd. She is a former Junior World Champion and is easygoing. The weather wasn't too bad, but the course was in poor shape after all the snow and rain of the past few days. Soon there were the duel holes around the gates, but the winners can handle all kinds of situations. That's what it is all about.

"Soon there were the duel holes around the gates, but the winners can handle all kinds of situations. That's what it is all about...."

Heidi Jaufenthaler (BURTON/AUT) won, but not before encountering a side slipper whose skis were tangled in a gate. Watching her try to help the poor woman was the day's entertainment.

Jaufenthaler's teammate Heidi Neururer (Burton/AUT) placed 2nd. For the guys it was tough, but Ueli was the best rider. Gilles Jaquet (Scott/SUI) placed 2nd. Gilles is having a good season so far, after sitting out for most of last season with an injury. He took 1st place in Laax at the GS, and 2nd today - not too bad.

	Jafenthaler

Andi Egger (Burton/AUT) was 4th after the qualification but was beat by Simone Salvati (Burton/Italy). Egger stopped over were I was standing and took my 35mm camera, to shoot around a little bit. It was not his day, but when is it going to be? Janne Kaitala is probably asking himself that same question. But we will see as the season goes on.

Another competition is over, and X "mess" is already here. We will go to Vienna for New Year Eve, to see who is going to win the last event in the '90s. See you at the Swatch Vienna Soul City 1999.

— Nils, MountainZone.com European Correspondent