Teenage skiers endured last week’s bitter cold temperatures and wind gusts — and so did the coaches and volunteers — to complete three days of downhill racing at Snow King Mountain at the annual Sean Nurse Memorial.
The final day of the four-day race was canceled on Thursday when temperatures hit a dangerous 20 below or colder.
“And since Snow King doesn’t get sun, it would have stayed cold most of the day,” said Kristin Waddle, Alpine program director for the Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard Club. “We don’t need kids getting frostbite on their toes and ruining their season.”
This was the first year since 2019 that the annual race was run at its regular time in December because of either lack of snow or COVID precautions.
Ski club racer Oliver Sanders slices down the final part of the slalom run during the Sean Nurse Memorial at Snow King.
KATHRYN ZIESIG / NEWS&GUIDE
Sixteen-and-under skiers were the stars of the mountain at the races that ran Dec. 18-21.
The ski club’s Lucy Wirth took first place in the girls U16 giant slalom on Tuesday, completing runs of 43.13 and 46.15 for a total time of 1:29.28.
Jaden D’Amours took first for the boys in the U16 giant slalom with runs of 43.40 and 45.68 for a total time of 1:29.08.
“Which is awesome, because this is the first time they’ve both won at this age group,” Waddle said. “Lucy hasn’t been in that top spot yet, which is really great to see on her home hill.”
Wirth topped two Park City (Utah) Ski and Snowboard Club members, Kira Thomas and Dyllan Guay, who finished second and third, respectively.
Taylor Moe finished fifth for the Jackson Hole club with a two-run time of 1:31.34.
Joseph McNamara takes his first run during the slalom races. McNamara finished eighth with a combined time of 1:23.18.
KATHRYN ZIESIG / NEWS&GUIDE
“It’s a big deal [for that age group] to get in the top five,” Waddle said.
Guay took the girls U16 slalom title on Wednesday with runs of 46.72 and 42.57 for a total time of 1:29.29. Moe came in third with runs of 48.68 and 41.95 for a total time of 1:30.63, while Wirth was 11th with a total time of 1:34.01. Dylan Witherite of Jackson took 14th in 1:35.87.
Tucker Smith of the Sun Valley (Idaho) Ski Education Foundation took first in the U16 boys slalom on Wednesday with runs of 41.43 and 38.79 for a total time of 1:20.22. Jackson Hole’s Joseph McNamara came in eighth with runs of 44.78 and 38.40 for a total time of 1:23.18.
D’Amours finished in 10th in the slalom with runs of 45:35 and 38:41 for a total time of 1:23.76.
Sports Editor Mark Baker grew up in a newspaper family in TrackTown, USA. He's reported for papers in Oregon, Washington, California and Alabama, but now makes his home at "The End of the Trail."
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