Freeskiing World Tour
It was no Canadian miss for Sun Valley skiers competing in the Suburu Freeskiing World Tour at Revelstoke, British Columbia last weekend.
In the tour's second stop, competitors tackled Revelstoke Mountain Resort's famed Mac Face. The finals venue for the Canadian Freeskiing Championships was a 1,000-vertical-foot alpine face comprised of huge Alaska-style ramps, technical European-style routes, and massive cliff drops slapped to a 35- to 50-degree slope.
Sun Valley's Griffin Post, now skiing out of Jackson Hole, finished fifth overall and was the second American in a field of 27 finalists. Sun Valley's Axel Peterson was 10th overall and fifth for the USA. Arne Backstrom of Squaw Valley won the event.
Jess McMillan of Jackson Hole claimed the women's crown. Lexie duPont of Sun Valley finished sixth overall. The tour's next stop is Telluride, Colo., Feb. 4-6.
FIS Snowboarding
Valley native Graham Watanabe of the U.S. Snowboarding Team finished ninth in a World Cup snowboard cross at Veysonnaz, Switzerland, on Jan. 15. Watanabe was the second American overall. Nick Baumgartner of Michigan finished third overall. Next up for Watanabe and the rest of the Americans vying for the final two slots on the men's Olympic team is a World Cup race at Stoneham, Quebec, on Jan. 21. It will be the last qualifier before the four-man snowboard cross team is named.
Mountain Dew Tour
Sun Valley and U.S. Snowboarding's Kaitlyn Farrington picked up her first professional podium by placing second in the Mountain Dew Tour's women's halfpipe at Snowbasin, Utah, Saturday.
"By all reports she should have won," SVSEF's Andy Gilbert said. "People were booing when the judges announced her second score." U.S. A team rider Elena Hight won the event.
Farrington will compete in the final Olympic qualifier this Saturday in Park City, Utah.
World Cup moguls
Yet another Sun Valley athlete, Shane Cordeau, is in the hunt for a slot on the Olympic mogul team. The 23-year-old Cordeau finished 13th in his first appearance in a World Cup event, competing at Deer Valley, Utah. Cordeau was the top American in ninth after the opening round and had the fastest time of the day in the finals. The Olympic team will be announced after a World Cup event in Lake Placid, New York, Jan. 22-24, in which Cordeau will compete.
Cross country
Sun Valley Olympic Development Team members Mikey Sinnott and Nicole DeYong took part in the Methow Valley Super Tour in Washington. On a warm and sloppy weekend, DeYong was third in the 10k classic and seventh in the freestyle sprint. Sinnott finished sixth in freestyle and tenth in classic.
