Cordeau promoted to U.S. Freestyle "C" team
Sun Valley native Shane Cordeau, 22, of Ketchum is now a member of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team.
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation alumnus was named to the "C" Team after a series of Nor-Am Cup moguls races in Colorado and Canada.
Cordeau finished first twice in back-to-back Nor-Am moguls races Feb. 11-12 at Arapahoe Basin, Colo. SVSEF products Nic Hanscom (13th/35th) and Kurtis Fieguth (37th/37th) also competed in Colorado bumps.
Boosting his credentials, Cordeau placed second and seventh when the Nor-Am Cup visited Mont Gabriel, Canada for moguls Jan. 17-18. Hanscom's best placing there was 15th, and Fieguth's 36th.
Cordeau, son of Joey and Barb Cordeau, will compete with the national team in the U.S. Freestyle Ski Championships March 27-29 at Squaw Valley, Ca.
Podiums for Fink-Debray at Snow King
Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation alpine racer Miles Fink-Debray had a good week in a strong 138-skier men's field during the USSA Western Region Elite Wild West Classic staged Feb. 19-22 at Snow King Resort in Wyoming.
Fink-Debray podiumed twice, the first time with a second place less than a second behind U.S. Ski Team racer Dane Spencer of Boise in Thursday's giant slalom, and the second time with a third place in Sunday's slalom on Cougar run.
Sun Valley's Sean Higgins, 24, started out well in giant slalom on Elk run. He placed third behind Spencer and Fink-Debray Thursday, and fifth in Friday's giant slalom. Former SVSEF racer Michael Radford was 10th in Sunday's slalom.
Local J2 (ages 15-16) SVSEF racers Bergen Palmer and Tanner Farrow had a good look at the tough field and performed well. The pair podiumed among J2 racers in Sunday's slalom, Farrow (24th overall of 76 two-run finishers) in second place and Palmer (27th) in third place.
Palmer and Farrow also finished all three of the other men's races. Palmer placed 55th overall and Farrow 59th in Thursday's GS, then Palmer and Farrow went 44-45 in Friday's GS and placed fourth and fifth among J2s. Farrow finished 31st and Palmer 32nd in another slalom.
Sun Valley's Bailey Ireland finished all four women's races, with a 45th and 75th in giant slalom among 119 racers, and 48th and 47th slalom.
Arritola the second Yank at Nordic Worlds
Ketchum's Morgan Arritola, 22, is skiing well in her first FIS Nordic World Championships at Liberec, Czech Republic.
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Olympic Development racer has been the second-best American woman in her first two events—Thursday's 10-kilometer classic race (40th place) and Saturday's 15k pursuit event (32nd).
Two-time Olympian Kikkan Randall, 26, of Alaska made history Tuesday by taking the silver medal in the women's 1.3k sprint final. It was the highest medal finish for a U.S. cross country skier in history at the world championships.
Jacobellis wins 17th race, Watanabe fifth in Canadian SBX
Lindsey Jacobellis, 23, of Stratton Mountain, Vt. continued to reign supreme over the world of women's snowboardcross (SBX) Thursday as she marked her 17th career World Cup win at Stoneham, Canada. She holds the honor of having the most World Cup SBX wins after trumping Canada's Jasey Jay Anderson's with 16 last weekend. Jacobellis, seeking her second SBX season title in three years, has 4890 World Cup points for the second in the overall standings behind 11th-year pro Doris Guenther, 30, of Austria. Guenther has 5610, 4890 parallel and 720 SBX.
Fellow U.S. Snowboarding athlete Jonathan Cheever, 23, of Saugus, Mass. also had a landmark day, taking his first World Cup podium in second place among the SBX men.
Adding to a successful day for the U.S. was Seth Wescott of Sugarloaf, Me. who took third. Graham Watanabe, 26, of Sun Valley finished fifth as there were six U.S. men in the top 10. Watanabe is now the fourth American, 23rd overall, in the World Cup overall standings behind leader Markus Schairer, 21, of Austria, who has 4160. Wescott is fifth, 3050.
The riders now head to Sunday River where they will compete in the Visa Snowboardcross World Cup, which will also feature the Paul Mitchell Team SBX Feb. 28. The World Cup moves to Europe for March 12-15 races at La Molina, Spain and March 19-22 in Italy.
North Parker takes junior division in extreme skiing, Post is third
Hailey's North Parker repeated as champion of the Subaru U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Championships Feb. 19 at Crested Butte, Colo. He scored 67.38 points over two runs to beat John Collinson of Snowbird, Utah in a field of 30 junior boys.
On Saturday's final day of the Crested Butte championships in the Hourglass/Bermuda Triangle, Sun Valley's Griffin Post totaled 104 points to finish in third place of the 32 men's finalists. Post won $2,000. Sun Valley's Bryce Newcomb was 30th. Next stop on the Freeskiing World Tour is March 5-8 at Snowbird, Utah.
Backcountry race at Brundage on Saturday, March 7
The Central Idaho Recreation Coalition (also known as CIRC) will host the first annual Backcountry Brewhaha on Saturday, March 7 at Brundage Mountain near McCall.
The Brewhaha is a backcountry ski mountaineering race with European origins. On a course of nearly eight miles with 3,200 feet of elevation gain, backcountry skiers will use alpine touring, telemark, or split-board equipment to gain altitude using "skins" that stick to the bottom of their skis allowing them to move uphill without sliding back down.
Proceeds benefit the Central Idaho Recreation Coalition, a group dedicated to promoting non-motorized outdoor recreational activities. A party will follow the race with awards, raffles and refreshments sponsored McCall's new Salmon River Brewery. Visit centralidahorec.org for more information.
Ski club offers Galena "Snow Shoe"
The Sun Valley Ski Club will sponsor a fun outdoors activity called the Galena "Snow Shoe" on Thursday, March 5, meeting at 10:30 a.m. at the Galena Lodge parking lot 23 miles north of Ketchum. There will be a short and long route to the yurt where lunch will be served at 12 noon. Menu is soup, sandwich, wine, soft drinks and dessert. Call the ski club at 622-3003 to reserve a spot.
Polebangers grab gold at Masters regionals in Park City
Sun Valley Masters alpine ski racers brought home gold medals from the 143-skier USSA Intermountain Division Western Regionals Feb. 5-8 at Park City, Utah. It was a good tune-up for Intermountain Jans Cup races Feb. 20-22 and March 6-8 in Utah, with Masters Nationals March 22-29 in Maine.
Western Regionals consisted of super combined, super giant slalom, giant slalom and slalom. In Men's Class 13 (85-89), John Droege was golden in SC, SG and GS. In Women's Class 11 (75-79), Virginia Reed swept the gold in all four races. And so did Nancy Auseklis in Women's Class 9 (65-69). Heather Black captured three golds in 40-44.
Bob Dreyer won the Class 8 (60-64) super G and Cliff Cunha picked up a pair of golds, GS and SL, in Class 7 (55-59). Former Sun Valley racer Carol Levine won GS gold in Women's Class 8 (60-64).
Silver medals went to Glenn McConkey, Heidi Flood, Rosemary Moschel, Anna Droege and Bob Sarchett. Steve Slivinski added a bronze. Posting other top placings in their classes were Drury Cooper, Meri Stratton, Kim Cathleen Verde and Carol Whelan.
Simplot Games track
Athletes from the Wood River area competed in the prestigious Simplot Games track and field meet Feb. 19-21 in Pocatello.
Senior Delaney Fox was the only Hailey athlete to get into the finals in the winning 4x200-meter All Idaho Relay (1:47.4). Fox also ran the 60m hurdles (10.07).
Rob Paris competed in the 60m sprint (8.09 seconds), long jump (20 feet) and triple jump (41 feet). Chase Caulkins ran the 3200m (10:25). James Paris ran the 1600m (4:55). Dale Mclaughlin pole vaulted but did not clear the opening height of 13 feet. Dale also ran the 200m (26.01).
