Glenn Janss was dressed as Joan Jett, but costumes were always welcome in the household of former Sun Valley owner Bill Janss, she said during Saturday's festive awards dinner in the Limelight Room.
Halloween bloomed in late winter as 160 skiers and partygoers dressed up as members of musical tribute bands over the course of three days last week.
They gathered around the jukebox and along Baldy's ski trails during the 11th annual Janss Pro-Am Classic at Sun Valley Resort. The extremely popular dress-up theme in 2008 was "Bands on The Run."
Ever since Sun Valley Olympic silver medalist Christin Cooper and her husband Mark Tache dreamed up the idea 11 years ago, the Janss Pro-Am celebration of snow sports has been the most important benefit for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation.
The 41-year-old organization supports over 500 student/athletes in its programs. SVSEF executive director Don Wiseman said, "The SVSEF is the soul of the community."
SVSEF fundraising coordinator Kate Berman said, "The racers and supporters had a fabulous time. Enthusiasm was the best ever. It was the nicest group of people and the event itself was very successful."
Top team was Beatles/Rolls Royce of Beverly Hills featuring pro Maggie Acker, Chris Mazzola, Michel Rudigoz, Ed O'Gara and Aaron Blaser.
In second place was The Community School Marching Band with John Braafladt, Jen King, Stacey Straley, Laura Kennedy and pro Peter Kakes. Third place went to Kitzbuehel Quintet/Roosevelt Grille with pro Erika Whittaker, Cameron Leady, Keri Desler, Amy Martin and Warwick Phillips.
Fourth place in the team race went to pro Mark Stiegemeier's Twisted Sister with Richard Riordan, Mary Beth Riordan, Dana Torrey and Trish Torrey.
Other award winners:
Speed Cup kings for the fifth straight year were pro Zac Crist and his speedsters Carl Rixon Jr., John Campbell, Wes Powell and Kipp Nelson of Motley Crue/48 straight;
Fastest female—Erika Hogan of Dixie Chicks. Fastest male—Carl Rixon Jr. of Motley Crue/48 straight.
Birthday Girl—Snowboard champion Sondra Van Ert.
Most Enthusiastic—Alex Kuczinski of ABBA and Rufus Brown, who was Dean Martin of Legends Live On.
Best Crash, female—Mary Beth Riordan of Twisted Sister, honorable mention to Lisa Caputo of Sons of the Pioneers.
Best crash, male—Averell Fisk of Eddy Duchin "Friends of Janss," honorable mention to Rick Hickman of Red Hot Chili Peppers/Sun Valley Co. and Nate Galpin of Oops We're Britney/Koth Sports Physical Therapy.
Drum roll, Best Costumes:
1—Oops We're Britney/Koth Sports Physical Therapy with K Fed (John Koth), Trashy Britney (Rebecca Rusch), Nasty Britney (Karoline Droege), Dr. Phil McGraw (Pete Smith) and pro Drew Peacock (Nate Galpin).
2—Jackson 5/Sue Engelmann of Sotheby's International Realty with pro Viki Fleckenstein, Helen Whiting, Justine Kaiser, Kelly Bird and Sue Engelmann.
3—Legends Live On with Rufus Brown (Dean Martin), Liz Brown (Patsy Cline), Janet Appleton (Janis Joplin), Glenn Thomas (Johnny Cash) and pro Will Hovey (Jimi Hendrix).
Check today's Web site for a full list of Janss Classic teams.
Here are the other Janss Pro-Am teams in a classic year:
Steely Dan with pro Tom Shanklin and Mark Burton, Curt Hansen, Greg Moss and Greg Levin;
Dixie Chicks with pro Abbi Fisher-Gould, Kathryn McNeal, Kim Taylor, Erin Rheinschild and Erika Hogan;
Von Trapp Family Singers with pro Terry Palmer, Alan Pennay, Ben Reilly, Dan Hunt and Adi Erber;
Red Hot Chili Peppers/Sun Valley Company with pro Ashley Brown, Rick Hickman, Rod Jones and Chase Gouley;
Towny's Umpapa Band with pro Hans Standteiner, Towny Gray, Mike Lafferty, Mitra Marie and Stewart Honeyman;
Bob Marley & the Whalers with pro Picabo Street, Kim Hagenbuch, George Holmes, Lauren Street and Tim Flaherty;
ABBA with pro Erik Johnson, Gordon Conner, James Creel, Lisa Firestone and Alex Kuczynski;
Elvis/Engelmann Inc. with pro Heather Flood-Daves, Jack Bunce, Earl Engelmann, John Perenchio and Peter Breck;
Freddy and the Dreamers with pro Mark Tache, Brian Barsotti, Tyler Hesse, Leroy Kingland and Rick Moore;
Prince with pro David Currier, Teresa Brett, Dixie Grant, Phil Erlanger and Peter Kennedy;
Public Enemy/Smith Optics with pro Eric Carlson, Tag Kleiner, Ross Copperman, Carmen Zanzow and Patrick McConnell;
Jack Johnson with pro Hank Minor, Jonathan Neeley, Michael Fox, Mike Goitiandia and Bill Rheinschild;
ZZ Top with pro Todd Kelly, Mark Eshman, Sandor Szombathy, Peter Curran and Whit Atkinson;
Eddy Duchin/"Friends of Janss" with pro Andy Chambers, Jim Ferguson, Brent Hansen, Mark Masur and Averell Fisk;
Sons of the Pioneers with pro Wally Rothgeb, John Zuck, Mark Caputo, Rand Whitney and Lisa Caputo;
The Supremes with pro Nick Maricich, Priscilla Woods, Ward Woods, Holley duPont and Chris duPont;
The Opening Band with pro Kyle Wieche, John Baker, Peggy Baker, Jim Milgard and Jennifer Milgard;
The Village People/Ketchum Chiropractic with pro Bob LaPoint, Tom West, Julie Daniels, Alison Orr and Chris Orr;
Beach Boys with pro Tamara McKinney, Whitney McNees, Bernie Curry, Justin Ross and Doran Key;
Blues Brothers with pro Toni Standteiner, Lenny Spivack, Miles Stanislaw, Fred Backer and Andy Sabel;
Spice Girls with pro Christin Cooper, Cam Cooper, Brant Cooper, Glenn Cooper and Challis Popkey;
Guns & Moguls/48 straight with pro Reggie Crist, Marisa Nelson, Jennifer Pinkerton, Maureen Baker and David Butterfield;
Grateful Dead (in memory of Mila) with pro Sondra Van Ert, John Hummer, Jill West, Lisa Henak and Narda Pitkethly;
And Devo with pro Craig Sabina, Tod McClaskey, Michelle Sabina, Greg Vernoy and Jolie Backer-Vernoy.
Two-time World Cup downhill queen Picabo Street (left) and Karoline Droege do their own ?Operation Smile? thing during the 2008 Janss Pro-Am Ski Classic at Sun Valley. Photo by Willy Cook
