Baldy Hill Climb hits the trail Saturday
Nearly 200 participants are expected for the 32nd Baldy Hill Climb. It includes hiking, mountain biking and children's races Saturday, Sept. 25, most of the races starting from the base of Warm Springs ski run.
Organized by the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, the event is part of the Sun Valley Harvest Festival.
Starting at 10 a.m. (hiking recreational class) and 11 a.m. (racing class), the 1.86-mile, 3,140-vertical foot ascent begins from the 5,880-foot Warm Springs base to Baldy's 9,020-foot summit. There are $100 cash prizes for course records in all BHC events this year.
The challenging "Cheeso Baldy Double" named for the late SVSEF coach Craig Kjesbo features an 8:30 a.m. mountain bike race from St. Luke's Hospital up Cold Springs Perimeter Trail to Warm Springs, followed by a hike to the top.
A free Kinderclimb for kids ages 11-and-younger begins at 9:30 a.m. at the base of Warm Springs.
Pre-registration ($25) until 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24 is available at the SVSEF office in Warm Springs, or The Elephant's Perch and Backwoods Mountain Sports in Ketchum, or Sturtevants in Ketchum/Hailey.
Race day fee is $35, although there is no race-day sign-up for the Baldy Double. All participants receive a t-shirt, summit aid station, download lift service (no bikes) and the 12:30 p.m. awards at Apple's Bar & Grill, Warm Springs, Ketchum.
Visit spondoro.com or call Sandra at 726-4129 ext. 101.
Last year, there were 226 climbers (126 hiking, 100 racing) plus 44 bikers. Climb winners were Adrienne Leugers (45:04) and Miles Fink-Debray (36:31) among racers, Jennifer Schwartz (50:12) and David Currier (48:46) among hikers.
Cheeso Double winners were Dave Harrison (1.54:09) and Kim Taylor (2.16:57). Male and female biking winners were Matt Luhn (1.05:53) and Kim Taylor (1.25:15).
Larson captures women's Rim-to-Rim 7.5-mile run
Ketchum's Tiffany Larson (52:15) won the women's division and placed sixth overall in Saturday's Rim-to-Rim 7.5-mile run in the Snake River Canyon of Twin Falls. There were 232 runners, 137 women and 95 men, with Rupert's Branden Teeter (42:47) capturing the overall men's title. Other Wood River Valley runners:
Men's 40-49: 4—Jeff Ealey 56:25 (14th overall). 9—Dave Keir 1.02:12. Women's 30-39: 13—Gadrie Edmunds 1.10:54. 47—Andrea Fisher 1.27:14. 60—Leya Logue 1.36:09. Men's 30-39: 18—Ned Burns 1.09:23. 20—Jason Marenda 1.09:47.
Golf scramble to raise funds for youth hockey
The Sun Valley Youth Hockey benefit golf scramble and dinner is set for a 1:30 p.m. shotgun start Friday, Sept. 24 at Elkhorn Golf Club.
The four-person 18-hole scramble is limited to the first 88 golfers registered and paid. Check in Sept. 24 at 12:30 p.m. There will be hole-in-one, long drive competitions and more.
After the tournament, cocktails and appetizers occur from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Elkhorn Supper Club followed by the 6:30 p.m. dinner and silent auction.
Entry fees are $40 for the dinner and auction only, and $165 per person for golf, cart, dinner, auction and prizes. All proceeds benefit Sun Valley Youth Hockey.
Raffle tickets for $10 each or six for $50 are being sold for a Sun Valley 2010-11 adult season ski pass. Contact Sarah Benson 720-3086 or HYPERLINK mailto:sarah@solut.com sarah@solut.com or tournament director Chris Benson at 720-0172.
Arritola, Hamilton on 2010-11 U.S. Nordic Team
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Olympic Development Team is well represented on the 2010-11 U.S. Nordic Ski Team announced Sept. 14. Two of the seven athletes on the team are from Sun Valley—24-year-old Morgan Arritola of Fairfield on the "A" Team and Simi Hamilton, 23, of Aspen, Colo. on the "B" Team. Others are Kris Freeman, Andy Newell, Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen and Noah Hoffman.
The team trained in Sun Valley through Sept. 19 and will have a final pre-season camp at Lake Placid, N.Y. in October.
"We have a small team with only seven athletes, but everyone has two things in common," said Chris Grover, U.S. Nordic Team head coach. "First, they are proven athletes who have demonstrated that in Europe, racing at the highest levels. Second, they are 100% committed to discovering their absolute potential in the sport. This has been a great camp and we're proud to showcase our 2011 U.S. Cross Country Ski Team in Sun Valley."
Kaitlyn Farrington joins The North Race Athlete Team
Kaitlyn Farrington, 20, of Bellevue, recently named to the 2010-11 U.S. Snowboard Pro Team, has joined The North Face Professional Athlete Team, the California-based outdoor retail company announced Sept. 16. Raised in the Sun Valley area and a Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation alumni, Farrington has competed in snowboarding (slopestyle, halfpipe) for eight years. She won the 2010 Winter Dew Tour overall championship and captured gold medals in the European X Games of 2010.
New members of Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame
The Class of 2010 has been announced of the eight-year-old Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies are Thursday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Alf Engen Ski Museum in Park City, Utah. The four inductees bring the number of members to 46 since 2002.
They are Peter Ecker, Karen Korfanta, Gregory Thompson and Magic Mountain Ski Area (Twin Falls) founder Claude Jones, who died in 1981. A native of Norway who died in 1967 at 69, Ecker promoted ski jumping near Park City. Korfanta, 65, from Pinedale, Wyo., was a 1967-70 U.S. Alpine Ski Team racer who was named chairwoman of the FIS Ladies Alpine Skiing Committee in 2008. Dr. Thompson, 67, was co-founder of the Ski Archives at the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library.
Five locals finish Top of Utah marathon run
Five Wood River Valley runners including a mother-and-daughter tandem who finished together were in the 1,843-runner 26.2-mile mix for the 12th annual Nordic Trak Top of Utah Marathon Saturday, Sept. 18.
The course descended down the scenic Blacksmith Fork Canyon into downtown Logan, Utah. Winners were Sammy Nyamongo, 34, of Marietta, Ga. in 2.24:04 and 14th-place Allie Scott, 23, of Salt Lake City in 2.51:11 to lead the 904 women.
Hailey's Jeremy Greenberg, 29, was the fastest local in 4.07:26, good for 771st overall (504th man) and 43rd in the Men's 25-29 age class. His father Jacob Greenberg, 57, was timed in 4.12:01, in 833rd place overall (534th man) and 25th in 55-59.
The daughter and mother from Hailey were Jessica Gundy, 30, and Susan Gundy, 55. They were timed in 4.23:52, in 1,005th place overall and 375th among the women. Jessica was 92nd in Women's 30-34 and Susan fifth among the 55-59 runners.
Another finisher was Keith Nelson, 54, of Hailey in 5.32:54, in 1,681st place overall (892nd man) and 80th in the Men's 50-54 division.
Middle school runners
The Wood River Middle School cross country team traveled south to compete at the 10-team Magic Mountain Invitational south of Twin Falls last week. The WRMS runners handled the challenge well with Alexis Gonzales coming in first for the third time in as many tries. Nelson Cantrell, Cam Bingham, Connor Hayes, Landon Schley and Austin Shetler also finished in fine form. Annika Landis powered her way to a respectable third-place finish for the girls. Bailey Rierdon and Amanda Passey also placed in the top 10.
