Costain lands in 4th at freeskiing competition

Whitefish freeskier Parkin Costain landed a huge cliff drop at the IFSA big mountain skiing competition Jan. 24 at Snowbird, Utah to take fourth place overall in the U15 category.

The 14-year-old competed over four days on two steep and rocky venues, Rasta Chutes for qualifiers and Silverfox for finals.

Costain's qualifier run was a crowd favorite as he worked his way through the most technical — and snowless — portion of Rasta Chutes, followed by the biggest cliff drop of the day. Control was paramount, as meager snow conditions were so firm that skiers dropping cliffs barely dented the snowpack and falls resulted in long slides.

The top three U15 finishers were from the Tahoe region, where there is a historically low snowpack this season.

Following the competition, Costain traveled to Aspen, Colo. with the Voisin family to show support for Whitefish slopestyle skier Maggie Voisin at her silver medal X Games performance.

Costain will continue to chase the IFSA series this winter, beginning at Whitewater, B.C., followed by Fernie, Lake Louise and Grand Targhee. IFSA series finals are back at Snowbird April 7-13.

Costain is sponsored by Line Skis, Full Tilt, Flylow, Smith Optics, Whitefish CVB and Whitefish Mountain Resort