SPECIAL SECTION/CANADA'S TEAM/SNOWBOARDING	FEBRUARY 2, 1998 VOL. 151 NO. 4
	Radical Dudes Mark Fawcett has gold in his sights. He also represents everything that is brash and beautiful about a newly inducted sport By JEFF GALBRAITH t a December World Cup snowboard event in Whistler, B.C., Mark Fawcett took a power saw to his board. Reckoning that a split-tail design would transfer critical energy more smoothly from edge to edge, Fawcett simply revved up and cut the tail of his custom race board up the middle. The idea of slashing sacred equipment the night before a World Cup would be abhorrent in the tightly monitored world of ski racing, especially in an Olympic season. But snowboarders are cruising into the Games like a bison in an antique-glass shop. At 26, Fawcett is one of Canada's top hopes for gold and represents everything that is brash and beautiful in the newly inducted sport. Recalling the reactions to his lumberjack equipment alterations, he smiles. "When the Austrians first saw the split-tail, they laughed. Then they went to the race organizers and tried to have it banned, but they couldn't because this is the original snowboard design; they all looked like this 10 years ago." He laughs and deadpans, "Then I kicked their asses." Indeed, his dominance in the giant slalom--seven firsts in the past nine events--has put him in contention to hold off the Austrian threat of Dieter Happ and Martin Frienandemetz, longtime kings of the course. Fawcett grew up in Saint John, N.B., and spent his teenage years braving icy spring mornings as a crew racer. Rowing in national-level events led to wind surfing, and soon he was bunched in a neoprene wet suit racing along the winter shores of the Kenebecasis River. He was a skateboarder as well, so snowboarding became a natural progression and eventually his calling. Fawcett has gone on to become a firebrand and leader within the often chaotic professional snowboarding world. What most viewers will not know during the broadcasts of the giant slalom and half-pipe (the freestyle discipline) events is that snowboarding has suffered through a lengthy, heated war with the established skiing World Cup organizer, the F.I.S. In a story rife with greed and acronyms, the International Olympic Committee chose the Swiss-based F.I.S. (Federation Internationale du Ski), founded in 1924, as the governing body for snowboarding. That rankled the Austrian-based I.S.F. (International Snowboard Federation), which has been running snowboarding's World Cup racing circuit since 1993. The decision, many snowboarders felt, ignored their widespread opposition to being governed by a ski organization. Shortly thereafter, Fawcett helped found and is currently president of the Professional Snowboarders Association, the only semblance of an athletes' union in the sport. He has spent thousands of his own dollars and endured countless flight hours to meeting rooms in Chicago and Europe in order to fight what he sees as an aggressive and ill-matched takeover. "Most of the skiers are dissatisfied with the F.I.S.," he says. "You talk to any skier and they'll tell you the F.I.S. killed freestyle skiing," he says. "They took an exciting, colorful sport and made it another boring discipline." Also at the heart of this issue are dollars and matters of sponsorship. Many F.I.S.-sanctioned national teams (including Canada's) will be required to wear a standard uniform bearing various sponsors' logos. Often these companies compete directly with the rider's actual sponsor. Fawcett, for one, draws a good portion of his income from Fila, but Nike has bought the rights to the team's Olympic uniform logos. He feels the arrangement is unfair and ultimately does nothing for snowboarders. He showed up at the Canadian qualifiers for Nagano in his own uniform; the organizers backed down, and he won the race. At his winter home in Lake Tahoe, Calif. (he summers in a large tent at Washington State's wind-surfing Mecca, Hood River), these battles seem to fade away. With a girlfriend named Sky, three dogs, two cats and a CD collection that spans heavy metal to Coltrane, Fawcett seems more worked up over his newest toy, a 700-cc snowmobile, than anything gold. "I had it going like 70 [m.p.h.] today...at half throttle. It rules!" he exclaims. Though Fawcett probably has the best shot at gold, Team Canada will also be fielding strong contenders in the freestyle half-pipe event. The 120-m long, 14.8-m wide and 3.4-m deep half-cylinder is designed to mimic the runs of a skateboarder on a vertical ramp. Each rider drops into the course and runs through maneuvers judged on amplitude, spins, technique and landings. A much anticipated showdown between Norwegian Terje Haakonsen and American Todd Richards will not occur now that Haakonsen (generally regarded as the sport's best) is boycotting the Games. This opens things up significantly for the Canadians, who have a reputation for throwing explosive performances. Trevor Andrew, 19, stands out as a hopeful after he won a pro event in Stockholm last November. Derek Heidt, 22, could also have a strong half-pipe showing. Though the Calgary native has usually steered away from competition to film snowboard videos and travel for magazine features, he is widely regarded as an underrated talent. Back in Tahoe, as a reggae tune floats through Fawcett's home and the dogs snuffle about, he is contemplating the Olympic noneffect. "The soul of this sport will never be affected by any of this," he declares. "Going out and riding powder, making turns with your friends, will always remain untouched." In the back of his mind, a power saw is snarling.
time-webmaster@pathfinder.com