Alpine skiers strong on home slope
A strong force of Whitefish Mountain Resort alpine skiers participated in United States Ski Association races held at Whitefish Mountain Resort last weekend.
About 35 women and 50 men from Montana and Idaho participated in the weekend’s slalom and giant slalom races. The race course all weekend was extremely icy, making it very challenging for racers to hold their edges and complete their runs. Participants competed in four different age divisions including U14, U16, U18 and U21.
“It was really good to watch our U14s step up a level and compete against the older competitors,” coach John Steitz said. “It was a raising the bar experience for all of them and we are so happy to see them accept that challenge and push themselves to new levels.”
Whitefish had outstanding performances from Dawson Rinehart in Friday’s two slalom races. He stood on top of the U16 podium for both races, leading the strong field by several seconds. Not only did he win his age group but he topped the entire field in one of the races.
“Dawson had a great day on Friday with two decisive wins,” Steitz said. “His training has been very fast, but he had been struggling all season putting two runs together on race day. Friday he let his ability take over and that was a fun show to watch.”
Whitefish also had a strong showing from their 12- and 13-year-olds in the U14 division of the slalom races. In the first slalom race, it was Peyton Charest in second and Devin Beale in third.
Skiing strongly in the second slalom race was Charest in first, Colter Upton in second, and Douglas Mercer in third.
The giant slalom races were held on Saturday and Sunday, where WMR’s Stella Eddy skied to silky fast finishes in both races. She placed first in both races, well ahead of her competition in the U14 women’s group.
“The womens field was particularly strong and Stella had her best performances of the year,” Steitz said.
In Saturday’s giant slalom race, the U14 boys again placed well with a speedy Colter Upton finishing second and Walt Hollensteiner in third.
Sunday’s giant slalom race ended with Upton again in the second spot on the podium and a consistent Charest in third.
“Colter kept building his confidence through the weekend,” Steitz said.
Steitz noted the achievements of Nick Sramek and Logan Smith.
“Nick finished seventh and Logan 16th,” he said. “These two slightly older guys have made huge steps forward at a very rapid pace.”
Finishing on the top every race of the long weekend, was Whitefish’s own coach and U21 racer, Annie Jobe.
Next up for the skiers are the super-G races at Big Sky Feb. 6-8.