Flathead ski racers and freeriders compete across the region
FVSEF’s U10 and U12 boys at the Youth Ski League race at Bridger Bowl. From left, Riley Ralston Love, Louis Groom, Stephan Hadidi, Nolan Shaw, and Arthur McIntosh. (Toby McIntosh photo)
The Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation had racers and freeride athletes of all ages traveling around the region to compete this past weekend.
On the race side, 22 kids competed in three Northern Division Youth Ski League races for ages 6-11 at Bridger Bowl in Bozeman. Three members of the U16 race team also travelled to Sun Valley, Idaho for three Intermountain/Northern Division qualifying races for the Western Regional Championships at the end of March.
At the YSL races at Bridger Bowl, FVSEF had many top-10 age class results, especially in the U12 boys: Arthur McIntosh (4th and 7th in GS), Nolan Shaw (6th and 10th in GS, 4th in SL), Stephan Hadidi (7th and 8th in GS), Louis Groom (8th in GS). The U10 boys also had Riley Ralston Love finish strong (8th and 5th in GS) and Miles McIntosh with a 10th in GS.
On the girl’s side Ella Elliott did well in the U14 age class (4th and 8th in GS, 9th in SL). Kessa Drendel had a pair of 9th place finishes for the U12 girls (GS and SL), and Ainsley Crawford, in her first races ever, had an 8th in GS and 7th in SL for the U10 girls. ‘Full results are listed below.
In Sun Valley, the Northern Division U16 racers had an opportunity to compete against the much larger field of Intermountain Division racers and had some positive results. Greta Lund was 25th in the field for GS and 3rd for Norther Division girls on the first day of competition. Lola Zinser was 39th and 42nd for the GS’s, which was 5th both days for the Northern girls, and had an excellent Slalom race with 15th place overall and 4th for the Northern girls. Parker Retz finished a respectable 30th and 32nd for the boys, which was 5th and 7th place for Northern boys.
On the freeride side, 13 members of FVSEF’s Flathead Freeride Club (FFC) traveled to Fernie, B.C., to compete in a regional International Free Skiing Association (IFSA) event. Along with most resorts this season, Fernie had a rough start with high temperatures and high elevation rain. However, they received over 20cm of new snow the first day of qualifiers, which were held on Sunnyside Up. Snow over the following two days allowed the finals to move over to the Big Bang venue. Fernie hosted 170 athletes with ages ranging from 10-18; FFC athletes competed in the U19 and U15 age classes.
Ashby Dominick took home the win in the U19 Women’s category and teammate Metta Campbell snagged 5th place in the U15 age class.
Chris Noone and Liam Byrd both took home 6th place finishes in the U19 and U15 men, respectively.
With a few crashes in qualifiers resulting in no finals for some of our athletes, the skiing was strong and would have brought them into finals otherwise. A big shout out to all our athletes that skied super strong and upped their skills in the new terrain. The vibes were high, and the ketchup chips didn't disappoint.