February 7, 2006 – The Streets of Uptown were brimming with thousands of spectators anticipating the short intense bursts of speedster sprinters as they dashed over the artificially snow covered Minneapolis boulevards.
The morning qualifiers were held on a less than 1K course characterized by a series of quick ascents, descents and curves and one significantly longer climb. The rock hard snow surface, short course and ripping descents combined to result in fast times and minimal time spreads amongst those qualifying for the eight coveted final spots.

The finals were contested under the city lights on an entirely new course differing from the traditional “L” shaped one. This year’s course was a straight out and back, which included a small portion of the lake. It was significantly more challenging, tactical, and technical in part due to the road furniture – trees, light posts and the like, creating additional elements of excitement for the 1,000s of course lined spectators.
With the SuperTour Sprint Title on the line, Rossignol had nearly a full deck in the FinalA Heat with Natasha Naryshkina, Karin Caminesch and Muriele Huberli. Erin Hood rounded out the top four. Rossi’s Naryshkina apparently felt no pressure and remained tenaciously finish-line focused easily skiing away from the other final-four. Naryshkina’s comfortable cushion afforded her the opportunity to glance over her shoulder and watch her teammate Caminesch, last year’s overall SuperTour Sprint Champion, fly over the line in second, Hood take third and Huberli fourth.

When the final suspenseful calculations were made, it was again Rossingol’s Caminesch taking thetitle over her teammate Naryshkina.
The men’s heats were extremely tight, only becoming clear in the last 100M. In the Final A Heat, the men stayed in a cohesive pack throughout the length of the course and charging over the last 200M David Chamberlain pulled away to victory. Brayton Osgood and Rossignol’s Alex Churikov dueled for the line with Osgood sneaking in for second and Churikov taking third.