Road closures in eastern Idaho kept Jackson Hole racers away from Kelly Canyon Saturday, but the windy weather didn't stop 33 Wood River Valley alpine kids from posting solid results during the Wesley Deist Memorial giant slaloms.
Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation J4 (ages 11-12) boys Kipling Weisel and KJ Savaria traded overall victories in the Intermountain Division North Series technical races held on Pinto Buffalo run.
Weisel was a 5.48-second winner over Savaria Saturday, then Savaria won by 1.74 seconds over Cole Caulkins Sunday. It was the second straight year that the SVSEF had a 1-2-3 sweep at Kelly Canyon.
Weisel, Savaria and Caulkins dominated the J4 boys' podium, while Drew Punnett was a J3 (13-14) runner-up and Eli Conrad and Yuri McClure made the J5 (9-10) podium with second places. Marlow Mizer earned the J4 girls' bronze and had a pair of fourth-place overall finishes.
There were 83 boys and 62 girls in the 145-racer field from Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. The SVSEF and Hailey Ski Team had 22 boys and 11 boys in the North Series races for kids ages 8-14. Jackson Hole racers made it to Sunday's races and increased the field by about 20 in the girls' GS and 20 in the boys' race.
Here are the best giant slalom class finishes by locals at Kelly:
J3 girls: 1—Corrine Smith.
J3 boys: 2—Drew Punnett. 5—Emmet Fortuin.
J4 girls: 3—Marlow Mizer. 6—Jordan Fitzgerald. 7—Hannah Dies. 8—Ellie Punnett. 12—Gina Rickling. 17—Lena Perenchio. 18—Marcia Smith. 19—Whitney Engelmann.
J4 boys: 1—Kipling Weisel and KJ Savaria. 2—Cole Caulkins. 5—Tanner Josey and Reed Matthews. 8—Michael Weaver. 9—Gus Conrad. 13—Logan Shipley. 18—Taylor Adler. 20—Gray David. 23—Ethan Kjesbo. 26—Rocket Stickney. 29—Finn Isaacson. 36—Lane Coulthard.
J5 girls: 6—Olivia Weisel.
J5 boys: 2—Eli Conrad and Yuri McClure. 6—Austin Savaria and Kyle Maxwell. 7—Wyatt Smith. 12—Anders Fortuin.
J6 girls: 1—Abby Norton.
Sweeping the J4 boys podium Saturday were, from left, Kipling Weisel, KJ Savaria and Cole Caulkins.
