Over 100 racers ranging in age from 18-85 competed in the 17th annual Formula Sports Skoch Cup on Baldy this past weekend. It was Sun Valley’s stop on the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) Intermountain Masters circuit.
The event presented by the Sun Valley Ski Club took place at the host site of the 2015 USSA Masters Nationals series—a prestigious event last held here in 2010. And the ski racing conditions were excellent, organizers said.
After three days of racing and four events, the Skoch Cup for excellence in super giant slalom, giant slalom and slalom was awarded to Carl Rixon Jr., 31, and Mackenzie Bachmeier, 18, for being the fastest male and female racers.
Rixon is a coach for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation FIS/U-21/U-18 alpine team and Bachmeier is a member of the SVSEF Alpine FIS squad.
Robin Sarchett, 39, and John Campbell, 51, were second and third in the Skoch Cup standings behind Rixon. Dana Alexandrescu, 38, from Utah and Lisa Ann Densmore, 52, from Montana placed second and third for women.
Friday’s super giant slalom, called the Timmons Memorial in memory of Gene Timmons, consisted of two races. The courses started at the top of the Greyhawk lift and running down Warm Springs, with the second race counting toward the Cup scoring.
Timmons Memorial winners were Rixon and fellow SVSEF coach Erika Hogan, 30, a Univ. of Utah and Univ. of Colorado racer who won the 2004 NCAA Championship giant slalom silver medal.
Rixon, 25-year-old Miles Fink-Debray, and Kipling Weisel, 18, finished 1-2-3 in both races. In the first heat it was Rixon (45.94), Fink-Debray (46.53) and Weisel (46.72). Second-heat times for those three were 46.28, 46.44 and 46.79.
Last year’s Skoch Cup overall women’s winner Hogan, SVSEF racer Jordan Fitzgerald and Bachmeier also placed 1-2-3 in both races.
In the first heat their times were 48.32, 49.44 and 50.37. Hogan’s winning time was larger in the second super giant slalom, 47.96 to 49.24 and 50.46 for Fitzgerald and Bachmeier.
Rixon (1:34.40), Fink-Debray (1:35.78) and Weisel (1:35.84) podiumed for the men in Saturday’s 86-racer giant slalom on Lower Warm Springs.
Hogan crashed in spectacular fashion on the second run, luckily avoiding injury after her left ski pre-released. She was second after the first run, .78 seconds behind eventual winner Bachmeier (1:41.82). Jasmine Campbell (1:42.52) was second and Amanda Stelling third (1:44.11).
Bachmeier easily captured Sunday’s 43-gate slalom on Cozy by 3.46 seconds over 19-year-old Amanda Stelling. The men’s race won by Rixon was much closer and very exciting.
Kipling Weisel put down a scorching 34.50-second first run to lead by 1.50 seconds over KJ Savaria. Rixon was a distant fifth, 1.83 seconds behind after one heat. The outcome came down to the second run on a course set by Tyler Chandler.
Rixon was 2.13 seconds faster than 50-year-old Timothy Hill of Bend, Ore. in winning the second run as none of the four racers ahead of Rixon in the first run managed to finish. Three of them crashed three gates from the finish.
Hill ended up third in the Super Seed men’s slalom and Bill Skinner, 58, from Park City was sixth.
Local racers Virginia Reed, Al Auseklis, Anna Droege, Heather Black, Steve Slivinski, Randi Dubois and Cliff Cunha all won their age class at least twice.
All four Skoch Cup races counted toward the 2014 Baldy Cup awarded to the top skier at Sun Valley over the course of the winter. Next on the SVSC calendar is the Leif’s Combined Race Feb. 8 followed by a club GS on Feb. 16.
Visit sunvalleyski.com for details about the Baldy Cup Series of SVSC races in 2014. Skoch Cup results included:
Super G, Race No. 1
Men: 1—Carl Rixon Jr. 45.94. 2—Miles Fink-Debray 46.53. 3—Kipling Weisel 46.72. 4—KJ Savaria 47.16. 5—Robin Sarchett 48.16. 6—Tyler Chandler 49.97.
Other class winners in the 64-racer men’s field were Al Auseklis, Fran Noel, Steve Slivinski, Bob Dreyer, George Dorris, Don Sears, John Campbell, Luke Mellor, Robin Sarchett and Miles Fink-Debray.
Women: 1—Erika Hogan 48.32. 2—Jordan Fitzgerald 49.44. 3—Mackenzie Bachmeier 50.37. 4—Jena Greaser 51.31. 5—Lisa Ann Densmore 51.51. 6—Dana Alexandrescu 52.54.
Other class winners in the 17-racer women’s group were Virginia Reed, Trudi Schneider, Anna Droege, Randi Dubois, Heidi Flood, Dawn Goode, Lisa Ann Densmore, Heather Black, Alexandrescu and Fitzgerald.
Super G, Race No. 2
Men: 1—Carl Rixon Jr. 46.28. 2—Miles Fink-Debray 46.44. 3—Kipling Weisel 46.79. 4—KJ Savaria 46.84. 5—Robin Sarchett 48.83. 6—Tyler Chandler 49.18.
Other class winners in the 61-racer men’s field were Harry Baxter, Herb Nolan, Steve Slivinski, Rauli Karjalainen, Cliff Cunha, Don Sears, Alan Rickers, Kevin Vaughan, Robin Sarchett and Miles Fink-Debray.
Women: 1—Erika Hogan 47.96. 2—Jordan Fitzgerald 49.24. 3—Mackenzie Bachmeier 50.46. 4—Dana Alexandrescu 50.63. 5—Jena Greaser 51.42. 6—Lisa Ann Densmore 51.92.
Other class winners in the 16-racer women’s group were Virginia Reed, Trudi Schneider, Anna Droege, Randi Dubois, Heidi Flood, Dawn Goode, Lisa Ann Densmore, Heather Black, Alexandrescu and Fitzgerald.
Giant slalom, top 2-run finishers
Men: 1—Carl Rixon Jr. 1:34.40. 2—Miles Fink-Debray 1:35.78. 3—Kipling Weisel 1:35.84. 4—Robin Sarchett 1:38.19. 5—KJ Savaria 1:38.47. 6—Tyler Chandler 1:38.80.
Other class winners in the 67-racer men’s field were Al Auseklis, Fran Noel, Steve Slivinski, Nick Hudson, Cliff Cunha, Don Sears, Kip Merritt, Kevin Vaughan and Shea Shapiro.
Women: 1—Mackenzie Bachmeier 1:41.82. 2—Jasmine Campbell 1:42.52. 3—Amanda Stelling 1:44.11. 4—Dana Alexandrescu 1:46.82. 5—Jena Greaser 1:46.87.
Other class winners in the 19-racer women’s group were Virginia Reed, Trudi Schneider, Anna Droege, Randi Dubois, Heidi Flood, Dawn Goode, Lisa Ann Densmore, Heather Black and Alexandrescu.
Slalom, top 2-run finishers
Men: 1—Carl Rixon Jr. 1:10.82. 2—Robin Sarchett 1:14.84. 3—Timothy Hill 1:15.27. 4—Thunder Jahili 1:20.04. 5—John Campbell 1:21.04. 6—Bill Skinner 1:23.53. DNF—KJ Savaria. DSQ—Tyler Chandler, Miles Fink-Debray, Kipling Weisel.
Other class winners in the 46-racer men’s field were Gaetano DeMattei, Bobby Swan, Nick Hudson, George Dorris, Jeffrey DeLong, Kenneth Bailey, Jesse Foster and Shea Shapiro.
Women: 1—Mackenzie Bachmeier 1:15.10. 2—Amanda Stelling 1:18.46. 3—Lisa Ann Densmore 1:25.84. 4—Dana Alexandrescu 1:27.97. 5—Jena Greaser 1:32.43.
Other class winners in the 15-racer women’s group were Virginia Reed, Anna Droege, Christina Paup, Densmore, Heather Black and Alexandrescu.
Intermountain Masters presi-dent Steve Slivinski joins Skoch Cup women’s winner Mackenzie Bachmeier on Sunday at Warm Springs. Men’s winner Carl Rixon Jr. had to leave to drive to Sandpoint and isn’t pictured.
Courtesy photo
