Friday — February 20, 2004

Stale fish, roast beef and chicken salad?

Sun Valley’s halfpipe serves big air

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"Now the mountain is catering to everybody."

— DARBY HEANEY, A snowboarder

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By MEGAN THOMAS
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley, renowned for its endless groomed runs, perpetual sunshine and classic ski experiences, delved into the world of new school this year. The long awaited halfpipe below Race Arena on the Warm Springs side of the resort opened the mountain to stale fish, roast beef and chicken salad.

Snowboarders from the Intermountain West will gather this weekend at the Sun Valley halfpipe on Lower Warm Springs for its first competition: the USASA Rail Jam and Halfpipe Weekend on Sunday, Feb. 22, to display their maneuvers judged on amplitude and style. Express photo by Willy Cook

Don’t worry, nothing has changed on the gourmet lodge menus. Instead, skiers and snowboarders are pulling the gastronomic-named maneuvers in the new U-shaped terrain. The 40-foot wide, 400-foot long pipe dares adrenaline junkies into a new world of 12-foot walls and big air challenges.

On any given day, all ages, genders and snowriders can be found boosting in the pipe. Termed the "Dude Tube," "Stunt Ditch" or "U-Jump" by local users, the pipe is undoubtedly popular on Bald Mountain.

The popularity encourages a mix of skiers and snowboarders to drop in, be it visiting recreational skiers or team riders. As snowboarder Darby Heaney commented, "Now the mountain is catering to everybody." The less experienced, timid users choose to simply ride the walls, speed checking along the way. Others are progressively attempting inverted tricks such as the classic McTwist, Alleyoop and Cab 900 with a melon grab.

The U-shaped terrain, of Sun Valley’s 40-foot wide, 400-foot long halfpipe dares adrenaline junkies into a new world of 12-foot walls and big air challenges. Express photo by Willy Cook

For most, it has been a season of progression, gaining confidence and comfort in the new terrain. Sun Valley snowboard coach Chatham Baker said that for his group of young riders the pipe is "completely progressive. Most of the kids had never seen or dropped in a halfpipe. It’s cool to see where they are at this point in the season."

With the progression to bigger air, the pipe has become a source of entertainment for onlookers as evidenced by the abundance of cheers and heckles. Onlookers proliferate alongside the pipe, from the Warm Springs Lodge patio and the Warm Springs and Greyhawk chairlifts. The crowds bring renewed energy to the base of Warm Springs. Watching has become an integral draw to the pipe.

This weekend there will be much to watch as the pipe hosts its first competition: the USASA Rail Jam and Halfpipe Weekend on Sunday, Feb. 22. Snowboarders from the Intermountain West will gather to display their maneuvers judged on amplitude and style.

The competition should raise the bar for big air in the valley and bring a new serving of maneuvers to the terrain table.

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.