Wednesday — February 25, 2004

Baldy’s first pipe contest draws a crowd

Sun Valley riders lead the way

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By MICHAEL AMES
Express Staff Writer

With its first ever half-pipe event, Sun Valley has officially joined the rest of the mountain world in ushering freestyle competition into the mainstream.

Last weekend’s inaugural events started with a Rail Jam held on Roundhouse slope and culminated with Sunday’s well-attended half-pipe competition on Lower Warm Springs.

Yancy Caldwell, winner of the men’s Rail Jam, takes his turn in the Warm Springs pipe Sunday. Express photo by Willy Cook

"Everything went off without a hitch; the weather cooperated and amazingly enough, everything went according to schedule," boasted a triumphant Andy Gilbert.

As the head of the Ski Education Foundation’s burgeoning snowboard program, Gilbert has been in the trenches fighting for the half pipe since the beginning of the struggle.

"It’s hard to explain how good this feels; we’ve been trying to make this happen for a long time," Gilbert said. "This is a big shot in the arm for snowboarding in Sun Valley," he said.

Gilbert could be proud not only of the event itself, but of his athletes’ performances as well. Sun Valley riders were tops in numerous categories in the huge field of 115 boarders.

Sidney Parkhill of Sun Valley tries the course. Express photo by Willy Cook

In contrast, Jackson Hole’s pipe event in late-January drew only 80 competitors. Parents of boarders who had raced on Warm Springs "were excited to come back to Sun Valley after so many years."

Saturday’s Rail Jam required a huge team effort from both the mountain and the coaches and athletes who built the jump ramps and landings all by hand. Though not as big as terrain parks in Utah, the rails on Roundhouse were perfect for the contest’s atmosphere.

Athletes were given three runs instead of the regular two on the abbreviated course and the high paced feel was "more like a skateboard contest" said Gilbert.

Chase Josey. Express photo by Willy Cook

Sun Valley’s David Kunz took first in the men’s Open Division.

Local female boarders swept the Youth Women Division with Tara Cappel taking first. Yancy Caldwell placed first in his Men’s Jams division, with teammate Ed Sawicz taking second.

In Saturday’s pipe event Sun Valley riders took first in five divisions. David Kunz, Chase Josey, Cristina Walsworth, Austen Butler and Edward Sawicz each finished first in their respective divisions.

 

Local results by day:

RAIL JAM

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Open Men: 1—David Kunz. Grommet boys (8-9): 2—Ryan Roemer. 3—Chase Josey. Menehune boys: 2—Mal Prior. 5—Colton Jones. 9—Nick Howard.

Breaker boys: 3—Scott Fairfax. 5—Henry Parkhill. 6—J.J. Martin. 7—Peter Driscoll.

Youth women: 1—Cristina Walsworth. 2—Tara Cappel. 3—Nhi Pham. 4—Katie Fiaschetti.

Youth men: 5—Mike Kunz. 6—Sidney Parkhill. 7—Jeremy Black. 11—Austen Butler. 15—Patrick Hurley. 17—Scott Pike. 18—Thorin Dickey. 20—Jacob Smith. 24—Cody Edison. 27—Hans Howard. 29—Nick Schutz.

Junior women: 4—Scarlet Caldwell. 7—Sarah Betts.

Junior men: 5—Houston Shaw. 6—Scott Carlsen. 9—Tristin Beckman. 11—Joey Stevenson. 12—Jens Peterson. 19—Shane Haile.

Men: 1—Yancy Caldwell. 2—Ed Sawicz.

 

HALFPIPE

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Open Men: 1—David Kunz. Grommet girls: 1—Kelly Collins. Grommet boys (8-9): 1—Chase Josey. 4—Lucas Jaramillo. 5—Ryan Roemer. Menehune boys: 2—Mal Prior. 7—Colton Jones. 10—Nick Howard.

Breaker boys: 2—Kenny Ballou. 3—Scott Fairfax. 5—Henry Parkhill. 6—J.J. Martin. 7—Cary Reinemann. 14—Austin Cruz. 15—Peter Driscoll.

Youth women: 1—Cristina Walsworth. 2—Nhi Pham. 3—Tara Cappel. 4—Katie Fiaschetti.

Youth men: 1—Austen Butler. 3—Jeremy Black. 6—Sidney Parkhill. 8—Spencer Cordovano. 12—Patrick Hurley. 14—Mike Kunz. 15—Thorin Dickey. 16—Cody Edison. 19—Scott Pike. 24—Nick Schutz. 25—Jacob Smith. 29—Hans Howard.

Junior women: 2—Scarlet Caldwell. 4—Sarah Betts.

Junior men: 2—Jens Peterson. 3—Kjell Ooms. 4—Scott Carlsen. 5—Tristin Beckman. 8—Houston Shaw. 23—Joey Stevenson. 25—Shane Haile.

Men: 1—Ed Sawicz. 4—Yancy Caldwell. 5—Fraser Donald. Senior Women: 2—Desiree Baldwin.

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