For the week of February 5 - 11, 2003

So, why can’t we
have a halfpipe here?

Guest opinion by COREY WARREN

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There’s something about dropping down a rickety 7-foot-tall ramp on to a half-snow, half-cement runway towards a steep, slippery handrail, and jumping on to it, expecting to slide down the thing completely sideways and land at the bottom. Maybe it’s the risk involved and the reality that you could possibly lose any chance you had at having children. Maybe it’s the shear joy and pride that comes from landing at the bottom of the rail in once piece, and watching it right away on your friend’s digital camera.

Whatever it is about sliding a rail, either on skis or a snowboard, it sure has gotten hold of the kids and teenagers of today.

On Friday, Jan. 31, a couple friends set out to conquer the 511 Building handrail, in downtown Ketchum. About an hour of preparation involved putting some snow on the stairs to cover up most of the cement, building an adequate jump to get us on to the rail, and the set up of a rickety, home built wooden ramp.

Bobby Flanigan, a local snowboarder on the Sun Valley Snowboard Team, was the first to attempt to slide the rail. After his first attempt, around 25 tourists came scurrying out of their hotel rooms at the Clarion Hotel nearby, and from their dining tables in Rosita’s Restaurant in the 511 Building to watch the feat. After four attempts from Bobby, some other snowboarders tried it, along with Reed Boeger (the first skier to try the rail), and myself. Loud cheering and clapping exploded out of the mouths of the spectators at every attempt.

But suddenly, the glory and excitement was halted abruptly at the arrival of Ketchum Police officer Dave Cassner. It was clear that we weren’t supposed to be at the building, risking our safety on city property, and Dave made it clear that although it was his duty, he didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news. After some conversation about the lack of a terrain park on Bald Mountain, and that we had no choice but to ski and ride in town, Dave suggested that we set up a meeting with the city council, and propose permission to slide the handrails in Ketchum.

The crew packed up at the departure of the police officer and began to clean the stairs, take down our perfect jump, and take apart the faithful, rickety, wooden ramp.

The moral of the story is that with happenings such as the X Games (ESPN 2), the U.S. Freeskiing Open in Vail, and not to mention Olympic snowboarding halfpipe, there is a generation of extreme athletes working hard and training hard to some day compete in these events and carry on the glory of athletes such as Danny Kass, Ross Powers, Shaun White, Tanner Hall, Jon Olsson, and others. With the rapid progression of freeskiing and snowboarding, every limit is being tested and pushed by kids all around the world.

Ketchum alone has probably five to 10 potential future professional athletes in these sports between the ages of 11 and 17, and there is no venue to support their training. Sun Valley’s absence of a terrain park or halfpipe is forcing kids onto the streets of downtown Ketchum to desperately sneak in a couple of rail slides or tow-in hits.

The fact is that Sun Valley needs to step up and build a terrain park and or halfpipe and catch up to every other ski resort in North America. Already, numbers of kids who are seriously involved in these sports have chosen to move to Steamboat, Colo., or areas with the appropriate venues, to train hard and work towards their goals of becoming known in their sport.

The addition of these venues would greatly increase economic income for Sun Valley, not to mention the reputation of the best resort in North America. We already have the best runs and vertical, all we need are the up-to-date features to support our athletes who in turn will proudly represent Sun Valley as their stomping ground.

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Corey Warren is a 16-year-old resident of Ketchum.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.