If a communication gap exists between the younger and older generations (or snowboarders and the rest of the population for that matter), the talent and athleticism on display during last weekend's Sun Valley rail jam and halfpipe translated the chasm.
Those kids can throw down.
"I have never seen our team ride like that," Sun Valley snowboarding director Andy Gilbert said.
He added, "I think there is something to sleeping in your own bed and being comfortable, but it really was a breakout weekend. All the kids have been getting progressively better throughout the season and they showed it here."
In all its snow-and-sun-capped glory, Bald Mountain made for a picturesque final stop for the USASA Intermountain Snowboard Series. The competitions on March 3-4 were the last until the USASA Nationals at Tahoe March 31-April 7.
Rail jam on a brand-new course on Warm Springs led off the weekend Saturday and 87 competitors in 18 classes took part.
One of the slopestyle standouts was 11-year-old Ryan Roemer of the Sun Valley Snowboard Team (SVST). He garnered 23 points to win Menehune Boys. Throwing a 270 off the C-box, Roemer's score was the second highest on the day.
"There are 15- and 16-year-old boys who can't do that," Gilbert said.
Runner-up Chase Josey posted the third-highest point tally (22.6) in the entire rail jam competition. Zac Fear of Park City, Utah (Youth Men) topped the charts with a 23.9.
Ali Appleton (Breaker Girls) pulled down her first win of the season. Her score of 17.4 was the most for any girls in the competition.
Scott Fairfax rode to third place in the 15-strong Junior Men's (16-17) division, and received accolades from Gilbert for two of the most impressive runs on Saturday.
"Scott had two very technical runs. He goes into every rail switchfoot (backwards) which is so tough. Scott is probably our most technical rider as far as rails go," Gilbert said.
Locals Heather Black, Jeremy Black, Tai Barrymore and Cody Haskell posted class wins.
Conditions could not have been any more ideal for Sunday's halfpipe, which was the "best of the series," according to Gilbert.
Coach James Young concurred, "It has the right amount of vertical, it's got good intervals, it's firm and it keeps its shape," Young said.
Young said the key to a good run was for riders to maintain momentum through the pipe and to flow from one trick or transition to the next. Judges Miller Richter, Dave Kelso and Randy Marino were also looking for amplitude, degree of difficulty in grabs and spins and how "clean" a run was.
"You want a zip, zip, zip, zap with a whammy," Marino (somewhat) explained.
At least the kids grasped the concept and treated the 100 or so spectators to the coolest gravity-defying tricks this side of NASA.
Sun Valley 14-year-old champ Kenny Ballou (Youth Men) evoked audible gasps on his second run. He pulled off switchback and backside 7s with plenty of air. Ballou's 26.9 was the best of the day by four points.
"I needed to get those 7s to make nationals, so I am pretty happy with how the weekend has gone," Ballou said.
With a 22.8, Scott Pike was judged to have the second-best performance on the day and for the second time, Pike and Heather Black won the Beverly Hay Dechevrieux overall championship.
"Both Graham Watanabe and Claire Cetera have their names engraved on the perpetual trophy so they are in great company," Gilbert said about Pike and Black.
C-Team coach Chatham Baker said one of the best parts of the weekend for him was watching the C-home kids come out and compete.
"You have kids like Andy Mallea, who finishes fourth in pipe and fifth in rail against kids who have been traveling all season. This event is just a great building block for the program and I think the kids have had some fun," Baker said.
Posting class wins in a field of 90 were Jeremy Black, Josie Bunce, Heather Black, Scott Pike, Trace Page, Nick Shutz, Tai Barrymore, Rachael Zalen and Chase Josey, who stood out as much for his neon pink and blue one-piece as his flashy air.
Gilbert also took note of several riders who stood out and stepped up on the podium, including Hayden Burdge, Mal Prior and Quinn Baser.
"Quinn threw down. He had a 720 and did a hand plant at the end. Judges love it when young kids do old tricks," he said.
Race sponsors included the Sun Valley Snowboard Team, the Visual Wize Project, The Board Bin, Smith Sport Optics and the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber of Commerce.
Gilbert also extended his thanks to his coaching crew and Sun Valley Co. for all their help and hard work. Results:
Rail Jam
Female
Breaker Girls (12-13): 1—Ali Appleton 17.4. 2—Josie Bunce 13.7. 4—Hailey Rheinschild 11.3. 5—Noelani Garing 7.9.
Junior Women (16-17): 1—Heather Black 15.7.
Male
Grommet Boys (8-9): 2—Bryce Gillespie 11.5. 3—Roger Figge 8.3.
Menehune Boys (10-11): 1—Ryan Roemer 23.0. 2—Chase Josey 22.6. 5—Andy Mallea 13.8.
Breaker Boys (12-13): 6—Josh Morell 14.8. 7—Hayden Burdge 14.7. 10—Reed Burdge 11.9. 11—Jesse Forgeron 9.0. 12—Parker Morris 8.6. 13—Sam Strong 8.5.
Youth Men (14-15): 4—Kenny Ballou 19.1. 8—Mal Prior 15.0. 9—Colton Jones 14.8. 10—Ross Bird 13.7. 12—Gavin Admire 12.2. 13—Rusty Williams 11.8. 15—Britton Stevenson 11.1. 16—Zachary Bjorkman 11.0. 18—Wyatt Bunce 10.5. 19—Bill Rheinschild 10.5. 20—Cameron Murphy 9.1. 21—Nick Howard 8.8.
Junior Men (16-17): 3—Scott Fairfax 21.2. 5—Scott Pike 19.6. 9—Quinn Baser 15.0. 12—Patrick Hurley 14.8. 14—Peter Driscoll 11.7.
Men's Jams (18-22): 5—Nick Shutz 12.0.
Open Class Men: 1—Jeremy Black 19.5. 2—Austen Butler 15.6.
Skier Boys: 1—Tai Barrymore 12.9.
Open Skier Men: 1—Cody Haskell 17.1. 2—Phillip Ruppert 16.1. 3—Wiley 15.3.
Halfpipe
Female
Menehune Girls: 2—Taylor Figge 7.8.
Breaker Girls: 1—Josie Bunce 11.4. 2—Ali Appleton 9.8. 4—Hailey Rheinschild 7.7. 5—Noelani Garing 6.4. 6—Kathryn Caminetti 6.0. 7—Kelly Collins 5.0.
Junior Women: 1—Heather Black 13.5.
Open Skier Women: 1—Rachael Zalen 11.8. 2—Shanny Cohen 9.8. 3—Chloe Gordon 7.9.
Male
Grommet Boys: 2—Bryce Gillespie 9.0. 3—Roger Figge 6.2. 3—Jake Whitlock 4.3.
Menehune Boys: 1—Chase Josey 19.5. 2—Ryan Roemer 16.4. 4—Andy Mallea 13.0. 8—Calder Zarkos 8.1. 9—Cole Caminetti 7.8.
Breaker Boys: 3—Hayden Burdge 15.0. 4—Reed Burdge 13.5. 5—Sam Strong 12.0. 9—Josh Morell 10.0. 11—Parker Morris 8.6. 12—Cody Swenke 8.2. 13—Jesse Forgeron 7.5. 14—Nathan Kniffen 6.5. 16—Michael Nero 6.1.
Youth Men: 1—Kenny Ballou 26.9. 3—Mal Prior 18.7. 5—Wyatt Bunce 15.3. 6—Colton Jones 14.0. 7—Ross Bird 13.5. 14—Zachary Bjorkman 10.0. 15—Gavin Admire 9.5. 16—Rusty Williams 9.5. 17—Bill Rheinschild 8.5. 19—Britton Stevenson 7.0. 20—Nick Howard 6.0.
Junior Men: 1—Scott Pike 22.8. 3—Quinn Baser 21.2. 6—Scott Fairfax 14.5. 8—Patrick Hurley 11.2. 9—Peter Driscoll 9.2.
Men's Jams: 1—Nick Shutz 10.0.
Open Class Men: 1—Jeremy Black 21.1. 2—Austen Butler 16.0.
Skier Boys: 1—Tai Barrymore 9.5.
Open Skier Men: 1—Trace Page 11.0.
Sun Valley?s Ali Appleton gets her share of air. Photo by Willy Cook
