Mount Bachelor Ski Education Foundation alpine racer Tommy Ford, 16, of Bend, Ore. was the big winner at last week's Chevrolet Alpine Junior 2 Olympics on Baldy.
Ford placed second in Wednesday's downhill then swept the next three races with mounting confidence. He won Thursday's wind-blown super giant slalom by 1.02 seconds, captured Friday's giant slalom by nearly a second and outlasted East Coast slalom aces Saturday by .95 seconds.
The second-year J2 (15-16) earned a berth in the 2006 U.S. Alpine Championships scheduled for March 25-30 at Sugarloaf, Me.
Women's winners at Sun Valley last week were Jennifer Vanwagner, 16, of Rowmark Ski Academy in downhill; Christa Ghent, 15, of Vail in SG; Kate Williams, 16, of Park City GS; and Julia Ford, 16, of New Hampshire's Holderness School SL.
In the J2 Regions Cup, the technical proficiency of the East was the winning difference in the final standings. The East outlasted the West 229-218, with Rocky/Central a distance third (98). In speed events the West had a 55-35 DH advantage and 42-30 in SG, but the East was 53-40 ahead in SL and a wide 63-35 in GS.
Here are the placings of the Sun Valley racers in the 120-racer field:
Tristan Brown 16-DH, 14-SG, 33-GS, 16-SL.
Soren Ireland 31-DH, DNF-SG, 38-GS, DNF-SL.
Ryon Campbell 52-DH, 36-SG, 36-GS, 35-SL.
Calley Brown 30-DH, 21-SG, 18-GS, 15-SL.
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) hosted the 2006 Chevrolet Alpine Junior 2 Olympics. The weeklong event on Baldy was an International Ski Federation (FIS) National Junior Championship.
