For the week of September 3 - 9, 2003

Brown, Higgins
1-2 in slalom

Sun Valley racers in Argentina

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By MICHAEL AMES
Express Staff Writer

Ruben Macaya has been director of the alpine ski program of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation for three years.

This summer Macaya brought 12 Sun Valley racers to his hometown of Bariloche, a mountain town in the middle of spectacular Nahuel Huapi, an Argentine national park.

Sun Valley racers enjoyed a total of three weeks in Argentina. They trained and had four days of racing at Bariloche’s local mountain, Catedral.

And they did very well.

In slalom, Sun Valley racers Zach Brown and Sean Higgins dominated the field with Brown taking first and Higgins second in both slalom events Aug. 8 and Aug. 11.

Brown (1:25.42) held off a strong-finishing Higgins (1:25.51) by a narrow margin in the Aug. 8 gate race. Brown captured the South American Cup men’s slalom by .76 seconds over Higgins Aug. 11.

In the giant slalom, Sun Valley’s best showing was an eighth place for Brown.

All the racers had good trips though, and many drastically reduced their FIS points. The point system, which functions like a handicap, has zero as the best.

Younger racers Ash Higgins, Cam Minor and Hunter Storey had good trips, all reducing their points. Ash Higgins had a particularly good showing, cutting his points nearly in half.

The racers prepared for this summer trip with two mini-camps at Oregon’s Mt. Hood in July. This on top of three weeklong camps at Hood in June had the racers warmed-up for training in Argentina.

Macaya says the trip was successful and fun for all the racers and a good sign for the season to come.

 

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