The Sun Valley Freestyle Team hosted one of the largest regional youth freestyle events of the 2005-06 winter season last weekend on Baldy's idyllic Roundhouse Slope.
Anticipating 70 to 80 skiers, freestyle program director John Zuck was flooded with visiting teams. Over 100 racers from Northern, Intermountain, Pacific Northwest and Eastern squads congregated in the plentiful Idaho weekend sun.
"It went awesome. Everybody loved it. Everybody wants to come to Sun Valley," Zuck said, pleased that, with the help of many volunteer parents and the Sun Valley Ski Patrol, his organization was able to seamlessly host the scores of skiers.
The weekend started Friday morning with a halfpipe competition that saw Ross Falcone, the home team's freeskiing standout, take home gold medals in two halfpipe events.
"He was going really big and throwing down smooth tricks," Zuck said of the Falcone performance.
Kurtis Fieguth wasn't far behind Falcone in third place while Sun Valley Freestyle Team alum Reed Boeger (back home in Ketchum from Park City, Utah) finished fourth.
Fieguth's main area of expertise remains on the mogul course. After a recent win in Bogus Basin, Fieguth took a small misstep this past weekend, with his best single finish an overall seventh place on Sunday. In duals, Fieguth fared better, taking second place alongside his younger sister, Katie Fieguth.
The Fieguths, both silver medal winners in dual moguls this weekend, will be the only two SV Freestyle Team members traveling to NorAm Championships this coming weekend at Montana Snowbowl in Missoula.
It was an especially good weekend for Sun Valley's younger skiers.
Austin Moses took second place in his M3 division (ages 13-14) and 17th place overall in Saturday's single mogul event. Zana Davey, in only her first year as a traveling competitor, finished first in her F4 category (11-12) and an impressive 11th place overall on Saturday.
"She's really starting to get it. She loves skiing and is definitely stepping it up," said Zuck about Davey.
Sisters Aunika and Kali Phillips, also known as Team Phillips, both took home medals on Saturday, winning second and third, respectively, in their F4 and F3 age divisions.
Other young Sun Valley skiers who fared well included Nathan Moses with a bronze, Hannah Haupt also with a third-place finish and Wyatt Wilson with a silver.
It was a reunion for some past racers on Roundhouse this weekend.
Boeger was joined by Justin Peterson, now a student skier for the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Sophia Schwartz, who is skiing for New Hampshire's Waterville Valley was back in town, joined by a handful of teammates from her Eastern Division team. It was no surprise when Schwartz took second place in both individual mogul events, losing out to Intermountain Division arch-rival Olivia Akerly.
Next weekend, while the Fieguths look to make a family dynasty at NorAms, the remainder of the team trains at home for upcoming races in Park City and Grand Targhee.
Full results from Roundhouse:
Dual Moguls: Girls: 2—Fieguth. Boys: 2—Fieguth.
Single moguls: Girls: F2: 4—Fieguth. 9—McKeanna Collins. 12—Lauren Phillips. 13—Chloe Gordon. F3: 3—Kali Phillips. 4—Sierra Brand. 6—Alexandra Haupt. 5—Anita Vorsteveld. F4: 1—Davey. 2—Aunika Phillips. 3—Hannah Haupt.
Boys: M1: 3—Fieguth. 5—Falcone. 6—Boeger. M2: 7—Trace Page. 10—Sam Colesworthy. 15—Alexander Conn. M3: 2—Austin Moses. 2—North Parker. 6—Austin Bourret. 8—Parker Page. 9—Cameron Conn. 11—William Eagan. 14—Chris Clark. M4: 2—Nathan Moses. 3—Trevor Brand. 5—Adam Vorsteveld. 6—Drew Deffe. 8—Joey Richardson. 8—Colton Larkin. 11—Chance Larkin. M5: 2—Wyatt Wilson. 3—Luke Robertson. 4—Zac Maricich Siele.
Ross Falcone of Sun Valley gets some hang time off a Roundhouse Slope jump last weekend. Photo by Willy Cook
