Sun Valley's Miles Fink-Debray, 21, continued his FIS (International Ski Federation) winning streak last weekend by taking the USSA Wild West Classic/Western Elite giant slaloms on Elk run at Jackson Hole's Snow King Resort.
In a field of 120 men, four-time Baldy Hill Climb king Fink-Debray captured Thursday's GS by .20 seconds and Friday's GS by .13 seconds.
He was second of 116 starters in Saturday's slalom. Fink-Debray also won the Eric Hays Memorial GS Dec. 22 at Park City, Utah and was a three-race winner at January's Laura Flood Memorial in Sun Valley.
Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation racers Teagen Palmer, Tanner Farrow and Bergen Palmer also came up big at the Wild West races.
Teagen Palmer was fourth of 110 starters (63 finishers) in Saturday's women's slalom on Cougar. On Sunday, the 15-year-old Palmer battled to the podium—taking third (2nd American) .97 seconds off the top time of 23-year-old Denver University All-American Claire Abbe of Burnsville, Minn.
In Friday's GS, Tanner Farrow clocked the seventh-best second run and placed 13th, 2.00 seconds off Fink-Debray's time. In Saturday's slalom, Bergen Palmer was eighth.
In other news, the Intermountain Division announced the 20 recipients of grants totaling $10,000, to be used for championship events. Recipients from the SVSEF were Connor Farrow, Tanner Farrow, Teagen Palmer, Bergen Palmer, Nicole Roos and KJ Savaria.
Wild West Classic placings:
SVSEF men: Bergen Palmer DNF-GS, 18-GS/8-SL, 17-SL; Tanner Farrow 20-GS, 13-GS/DQ-SL, 34-SL; Harlan Collins 47-GS, 30-GS/DQ-SL, 32-SL; Connor Farrow 88-GS, 72-GS/DNF-SL twice; Miles Sweek 63-GS, DNF-GS/DNF-SL, 38-SL. Also racing was Tyler Chandler 37-GS, 21-GS/13-SL, DNF-SL.
SVSEF women: Teagen Palmer 14-GS, 14-GS/4-SL, 3-SL; Nicole Roos 15-GS, 21-GS/DNF-SL twice; Amanda Stelling 28-GS, 39-GS/29-SL, 68-SL; Nina Hirner 36-GS, 46-GS/26-SL, 24-SL.
Deist GS at Kelly Canyon
Forty-two SVSEF young alpine racers enjoyed Kelly Canyon's Pinto Buffalo ski run Saturday and Sunday for the USSA Intermountain Division North Series Wesley Deist giant slaloms. Racing at Kelly Canyon were 156 kids ages 7-12 from Idaho and Wyoming.
Sun Valley girls placed 1-2-3 Saturday and Sunday with double winner Samantha Busby, second-place Haley Cutler and third placers Josie Allison and Megan Murphy. Top GS placings for the Diest were:
J4 girls: 1—Samantha Busby. 2—Haley Cutler. 3—Josie Allison and Megan Murphy. 8—Madison Milgard. 9—Julia Vorsteveld. 11—Alexandra Black. 14—Margot Gtiffith. 16—Olivia Wentzell. 21—Poppy Vorse-Whittier. 23—Loni Unser.
J4 boys: 2—Yuri McClure. 3—Austin Savaria and Duncan Fuller. 4—Will Snyder. 5—Jay Fitzgerald. 6—Griffin Curtis. 7—Kyle Maxwell. 8—Taylor Cooper and Emmett Say. 12—Will Long. 13—Wyatt Smith. 18—Michael Levy. 20—Trenor Gould. 21—Jack Rizzo. 24—Gavin Shipley. 25—John Blackburn. 27—Cade Street. 28—Carson Jones-Wilkins. 30—River Vorse-Whittier. 31—Clay Cutler. 34—William Lind. 37—King Hopkins. 40—Travis Wilkinson. 41—Jason Snyder.
J5 girls: 1—Molly Milgard.
J5 boys: 2—Kobe Tamura. 4—Jake Blackburn. 24—Logan Jones-Wilkins.
J6 girls: 4—Sage Curtis. 5—Laine Allison. 9—K Blackburn.
J6 boys: 1—Bennett Snyder. 3—Charlie Snyder and Josh Blackburn.
More news from the slopes and trails
Arritola posts best World Cup result
Ketchum's Olympic-bound cross-country ski racer Morgan Arritola, 23, recorded the best World Cup individual result Friday with a 23rd place, the second American, in a women's 10-kilometer freestyle race at Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Olympic Development Team racer Nicole DeYong was 52nd.
Another SVSEF ODT Olympian, 22-year-old Simi Hamilton, competed in his first-ever World Cup Saturday in the Canmore classic sprints and was 28th, the third American. Ketchum's Mike Sinnott was 62nd and, in the women's event, DeYong finished 47th in the sprints.
Farrington wins Winter Dew pipe
Bellevue's Kaitlyn Farrington, 20, claimed the first Winter Dew Tour victory of her career during the women's snowboard superpipe final of Saturday's Toyota Championship at Mount Snow Resort in Vermont. The win, coupled with a second-place finish last month, gave the 5-4, 115-pounder from Sun Valley the boost she needed to win the season championship of the Dew Cup. "I'm so stoked," said Farrington. "It's the icing on the cake in what's been a pretty awesome season."
After a strong run that included a backside 540, an inverted 720 with a grab, a stalefish as well as a backside 720, Farrington was awarded a 90.75 to win the superpipe final. In Saturday's men's superpipe final, Sun Valley's Scotty Pike finished fifth and ended up eighth in the standings. Sun Valley's Banks Gilberti was ninth in the freeski superpipe final.
Slush Cup is Saturday at Rotarun
The next Rotarun kids' ski race is the annual Slush Cup on Saturday, Feb. 13, for kids 12-and-under. Registration is from 8:30-10 a.m. with racing at 11 a.m. To register call Sarah at 788-1173 or email her at sarahb@rotarun. Check the Feb. 17 Local Life section for more photos of the young racers in the recent Arkoosh Cup at Rotarun.
Dyer wins in Powder video
Hailey's Lynsey Dyer is a winner again, taking the "Best Female" honor recently at Aspen, Colo. in the 2010 Powder Video Awards (PVA) & Reader Poll presented by Verizon Wireless and Samsung.
Wood River High School graduate and freeskier/big mountain skier Dyer, 26, snagged the top award for her performance in "Magic Moments" by Stormshow Studios.
As co-founder for SheJumps, a non-profit group working to increase the participation of women in outdoor activities, Dyer threw props to all the women shredding. "Cheers to all you girls that rip," she said at Aspen, Powderawards.com reported.
Snowshoe Challenge results
Here are results of the first annual Sun Valley Snowshoe Challenge, a 5-kilometer or 3.3-mile race held Feb. 3 at Sun Valley Nordic Center:
1—Andy Jones-Wilkins 35:05. 2—Tom Borschel of Idaho Falls 37:15. 3—Matt Morell 37:47. 4—Ted 38:12. 5—John Fox 39:12. 6—Kathy Morell 40:32. 7—Roger Mankus 46:16. 8—Nancy Buxton 49:03. 9—Mal Prior 53:24. 10—Sharon Hammer 53:50. 11—Michele Rice 54:44. 12—Sandy Letzing 57:28. 13—Kate Rosso and Kate Driscoll 1.01:02. 15—Sid Rivers 1.03:03. 16—Eric Adams 1.03:04. 17—Diane Shay 1.15:38. 18—Kelly Ek 1.19:45. 19—Cindy Moore and Terrence Davitt 1.56:00.
