Over 200 freestyle and freeskiing entries from Utah, Idaho, Montana and California descended on Sun Valley Resort for the third annual Sun Valley Freestyle Spectacular competition Thursday through Sunday, hosted by the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation.
SVSEF Freestyle/Freeski/Snowboard program director Andy Ware said, “It was an outstanding weekend of competitions, with some of the highest level of freestyle and freeskiing I’ve seen at a divisional event.
“The weather was postcard perfect, and the freestyle vibe from decades past was flowing. It was classic Sun Valley.”
Halfpipe, slopestyle on Dollar
Halfpipe on Dollar Mountain’s Olympic-sized pipe kicked off the four-day event Thursday for the 40 skiers who went all out and pushed their limits. SVSEF skiers numbered 28 and dominated the results.
SVSEF athletes placed six men in the top 10 in the first event, including 10-year-old Harper Mallett, who placed ninth overall out of the M5 class. Jacob Beebe and Eli Roberts finished on the podium claiming second and third overall. Eli Roberts took the overall title in the second event with Jedson Waters second and Alvaro Jiraldo third.
Devon Brown placed third overall among the girls.
In Friday’s slopestyle competition SVSEF athletes continued to shine.
Sun Valley’s park/pipe crew built an outstanding venue that allowed athletes to compete with 100% confidence, said Ware. “The jumps and rail features allowed for creativity and progression from all the athletes,” he added.
Jacob Beebe swept both men’s events. Other podiums went to Justin Kennedy and Alvaro Jiraldo. Local class winners were Attie Murray, Noa Hecht, Jedson Waters, Joey Markthaler, Anton Holter and Tucker Smith.
Moguls on Roundhouse Slope
Saturday’s mogul event featured a large group of 103 skiers carving down the mogul course on Baldy’s Roundhouse Slope. Ware said, “The weather was warm but the skiing was hot. We pulled off 200 runs in five hours. It was an extremely efficient and well-run event.”
SVSEF skier Morgan Shaver tied for second overall. Zac Maricich-Siele narrowly missed the podium finishing fourth overall. Girls’ podiums went to Alysha Herich, Addison Rafford and Frances Cherp. Earning boys’ age class podiums were Wyatt Wilson, Cutter Grathwohl, Alex LaFleur, Luke Rizzo, Toby Rafford and Alex Austin.
Sunday’s dual mogul event capped off the weekend with 87 competitors. Skiers first competed in single moguls event to rank them for the duals. Zac Maricich-Siele won four matches and made it to the final round of men’s duals finishing second overall in a close decision 13-12. Morgan Shaver advanced to the “Round of 8” in duals before bowing out.
Ware added, “I cannot say enough how grateful I am to the Sun Valley Co. for their commitment and support of our freestyle and freeskiing program. In a season when snow is such a precious resource they were willing to make these incredible venues for our sport and our athletes. They really stepped up this year.”
“It was a community effort. My thanks to the Sun Valley Co, SVSEF, our coaching staff, parent volunteers, and to all of the athletes for bringing their best effort each day this weekend.”
Slopestyle and halfpipe competitions were Thursday and Friday on Dollar Mountain. Mogul racing occurred Saturday (singles) and Sunday (duals) on Roundhouse Slope. Abbreviation in these results for the SVSEF and local independent racers are slopestyle (SS), halfpipe (HP) and moguls (M):
F1: Morgan Shaver 1-M (3rd overall), 2-M; and Alysha Herich 3-M.
M1: Hayes Gilman 1-HP; 1-SS (6th overall); Bradley Bybee 4-SS; and Wyatt Wilson 2-M.
F2: Renee Shapiro 7-M; and Parker Nance 10-M.
M2: Trey Potter 1-HP, 5-SS; Zac Maricich-Siele 3-M (4th overall); Brody Buchwalter 5-M (7th overall); Noa Hecht 2-HP, 1-SS (5th overall); Jamie Rollerson 5-HP; and Jack Rizzo 11-M.
F3: Devon Brown 1-HP (3rd overall), 3-SS (5th overall), 9-M; Hanna Blackwell 2-HP (5th overall), 2-SS (4th overall); and Aloe Orison 7-M.
M3: Jacob Beebe 1-HP (2nd overall), 1-SS (1st overall twice); Eli Roberts 1-HP (1st overall), 3-SS (5th overall); Alex Lafleur 1-M; Alvaro Jiraldo 2-HP (4th overall), 2-SS (3rd overall); Will Griffith 3-HP, 4-SS; Ian Thomas 3-HP (5th overall); Tobias Verheijen 6-HP, 7-M; Wilder Curtis 7-HP, 5-SS, 11-M; Frederick Grathwohl 10-HP; Blake Harmon 12-M; and Enrique Dolores 13-M.
F4: Addison Rafford 2-M; Katie Markthaler 6-M; Eliza Marks 8-M; Rainey Wilson 9-M; and Giselle Harmon 10-M.
M4: Jedson Waters 1-HP (3rd overall), 1-SS; Anders Nelson 3-HP, 4-SS; Christopher Pederson 4-HP, 3-SS; Axel Diehl 5-HP, 16-M; Jamie More 5-SS; Luke Rizzo 3-M; Hunter Diehl 5-M; Benjamin Anderson 13-M; Logan Wojcik 15-M; Henry Cherp 17-M; and Mikel Sanchez-duPont 19-M.
F5: Amanda Brown 1-HP, 1-SS; and Frances Cherp 3-M.
M5: Harper Mallett 1-HP (9th overall), 2-SS; George Murray 1-HP, 1-SS, 8-M; Sam Ware 3-HP, 3-SS, 12-M; Joey Markthaler 4-HP, 1-SS, 5-M; Braden Buchanan 5-HP, 11-SS; Lachlan McFarland 6-HP, 8-SS; Adam Kind 8-HP, 9-SS, 7-M; Toby Rafford 4-SS, 2-M; Ridge Dirksmeier 6-SS; Dylan Mills 7-SS; Erik Babcock 8-SS; Luke Higgins 7-SS; Wilson Baker 10-SS, 9-M; Alex Austin 3-M; Danny Garringer 10-M; and Jack Morton 18-M.
F6: Samantha Smith 1-HP (4th overall), 1-SS; and Astrid Murray 2-HP, 2-SS.
M6: Caden Clifford 1-HP. 1-SS; Anton Holter 1-SS; and Ari Roberts 2-SS.
Complete results can be found at svsef.org/Freestyle/Results.