Follow the laughter, find the Hawaiian Nationals
Snowstorm can’t keep 54 hearty skiers away
How bad was visibility during Saturday’s eight-inch
snowfall on Baldy? You could see several feet in front of you, maybe, as
you crept down the hill and tried to find your way.
But they still forged ahead and held the Voile/ Backwoods
Mountain Sports Hawaiian Nationals and Mountain Hardware Tandem Telemark
Challenge on Hemingway.
You needed fog lights.
Best costume male winner Jim Parris,
"The Chicken Man," wades through eight inches of blinding new
snow during Saturday’s Hemingway race. In the terrible visibility
"The Chicken Man," inadvertently ran over 12-year-old Chris
Olearain, who was okay. Express photo by Willy Cook
Express photographer Willy Cook went inching along the
Greyhawk cat track, trying to guess where the racers were—Cozy or
Hemingway? Like a hunter, he stopped and listened for movement. Nothing.
Then…..
Laughter.
There they were, Baldy’s iconoclasts.
Fifty-four costumed racers, standing at attention for the
Led Zeppelin version of the national anthem. Then it was off to the races
in the worst weather of all Hawaiian National events in the 20-year Sun
Valley Telemark Series.
The spirit was terrific for the finale of the five-race
series sponsored by Verizon Wireless and Sun Valley Brewing.
Deeder Petersen and Chris Page returned in Pooh and Tigger
outfits, Siberian variety. Wearing wetsuits, Kai Robrahn and Nate Mikesh
had a boogie board with a strut on the bottom, attached to a single ski.
Race organizer Jano Wiedemann wore liederhosen. Similarly
bare-kneed on the wintery day was Ivan Kubeldis, "aka"
Braveheart in his wind-whipped plaids. Jimmy Hart earned the
Spirit/Unbounded Enthusiasm honor.
Jessica "Gitty Up" Soine was the female best
costume winner and Jim "The Chicken Man" Parris emerged the men’s
costume champ, in the process running over "Best Crash" winner
Chris Olearain, 12, son of the Verizon rep from Boise.
Todd Falk, hands down, got the "Pile" award.
"DFL" went to Mike Torres, 70.84, and with it came the
highly-coveted Crazy Creek Chair award.
Edith Iler and Jessica Dunn were "Sound of
Music" extras, yodel-eh-he-who; "Invisible Men" were Steve
Butler, Rob King and Bob Okada; and the fastest time was posted by William
Vlases, 35.95.
Saturday’s results follow:
· Men’s Open: 1—William Vlases 35.95. 2—Deeder
Petersen 36.04. 3—Lance Levy 36.35. 4—Joel Mallett 36.40.
· Citizen Men: 1—Matt Filoon 39.74. 2—Tyler
Davis-Jeffers 41.02. 3—Markus Belanger 42.64. 4—Matt Baxandall 43.28.
· Women’s Open: 1—Amy Olson 39.53. 2—Maureen
Vlases 40.99. 3—Jessica Wolcott 43.96. 4—Gretchen Mallett 46.97.
· Citizen Women: 1—Tona Leiseth 42.84. 2—Hannah
Ragsdale 43.25. 3—Kelly Odell 43.73. 4—Heather McGregor 43.85.
· Snowboard, men: 1—Sean O’Neill 54.32. Women:
1—Amy Buck 58.65.
· Boogie board division: 1—Kai Robrahn
2:16.42. 2—Nate Mikesh 2:21.97.
· Tandem teams: 1—Team Ivan and Dan
1:17.63. 2—Team Vintage 1:37.53. 3—Team Siamese Suicide 2:14.05. 4—Team
Bovine 2:15.08. 5—Team Wayne 3:28.51. 6—Team Kelly and Jim 4:01.10. 7—Team
New Boots good show.
· Team mono-ski: 1—Cam Cooper III 54.40.
Jano Wiedemann assured participants that the "Kaizan"
approach to race management will be used for 2002. He also offered a few
thanks, including:
Race helpers Deeder Petersen, Tona Leiseth, Edith Iler,
Jessica Dunn, Heather, Chris Page, Chris Gardner, Anne Marie Devereaux,
Brian Dirksmeier, Todd Falk, Mark Sills and Maria Beattie;
SV Race Department including Mike, Candice, George and
Donny; the SV Ski Patrol for the escort to the race start; all prize
sponsors; and Gay from Barsotti’s for hosting the party.
