Youth Ski League kicks off at 49 Degrees North

• Heart of the Cup — As we enter the heart of the World Cup season, athletes are scattered all over Europe for the various disciplines. This week saw events at three classic venues. SARS alumni Will Brandenburg finished his first World Cup race in 10 tries, and scored points in the process, placing 18th at the classic Schladming night slalom. Brandenburg is one of the fastest in the World when he finishes.

David Chodounsky finished 19th. Olympic medalist Andrew Weibrecht was 5th in the Super G at Kitzbuehel, followed by Steve Nyman in 13th. Weibrecht also placed 18th in the Alpine Combined. Young gun Jared Goldberg placed 19th in the Alpine Combined and was the only US racer in the Downhill points on the fabled Streif, placing 25th.

The ladies were at St Moritz where Lindsay Vonn posted yet another win in Super G. Each win is a new record now. Julia Mancuso was 16th and Stacey Cook 19th. Northwest alumni Laurenne Ross was the top US finisher in the Downhill with a 12th place. Vonn was well back in 23rd.

• Youth Ski League Kicks-off — The first races for the under 14 year-old crowd were hosted by 49 Degrees North last weekend. The conditions were challenging for the organizers and course setters, but in the end safe and competitive events were pulled off on schedule. More than 140 athletes tested their Giant Slalom skills. Due to marginal snow conditions, the girls and boys shared the same track, leaving some challenging ruts for the late competitors.

A number of local racers finished in the top ten as follows: U10 Girls – Avery Edmundson won both runs and the gold medal on Saturday. Twin sister Erika took the bronze. The girls opted to just race one day. Gracyn House was fourth for U12 Girls on Saturday, and pushed up to the bronze medal on Sunday. Addilyn House won the U14 silver on Saturday and bronze on Sunday. Morgan Wohlaib was the U14 bronze medalist Saturday. Myriah Stenvers was 10th on Saturday and 6th on Sunday.

All the local boys crashed on Saturday. In fairness, the course steadily degraded as more and more athletes passed. On Sunday, Klein Fragoso was the ninth U10 Boy. Older brother Slate finished fifth for U12 Boys. Other local competitors were Laura Boge, Ally Corbridge, Nathan Demko and Addison Macnamara. All of these athletes will compete at Schweitzer in two weeks.

• USASA — Friday night the USASA held their second Rail Jam at Mt. Spokane. Local rider Hailey CeCe did some great tricks and placed first in the girls 14 and over group. Andre Kemink won first place for the 14 and over division. Riders from as far as White Pass attended the competition.

Saturday the sun came out and shone on the USASA banked Slalom competition, so they ran two competitions in one day due to conditions. The banked slalom is new to the series within the last two years, but has been a legendary competition at Mt. Baker since the 80s. With a few tree removals, the course was ready to go.

Lily Gammon placed second twice in the 10-14 girls category riding those banks smoothly to the finish. In the 9 and under category snowboarder Kildy Pogue placed third twice. The skier division 10-14 was led by Corbin Rial with two first places followed by Dante Kemink with two second places. Teresa Kemink placed first and then second in the over 14 group.

• Junior Race Series — The series continued in the fog last Friday, but it didn’t deter the racers, many of whom posted their best results ever. As we wind down to this week’s final, every second counts. The fastest boy was Slate Fragoso (21.77), edging out Nathan Demko (22.32). They were followed by Wesley Simko (22.72), Conner Matlosz (22.77) and Teigen Edmundson (23.20). Morgan Wohlaib repeated as fastest girl with a time of 22.23, followed by Emily Lynch (25.42), Grace Grady (26.48) and Erika Edmundson(27.05).The early most improved standings are Brice Bradburn, Wesley Simko and Slate Fragoso for the boys and Maggie McClure, followed closely by Marley McCrum and Jezza Hutto for the girls. This Friday is not only the final night of racing, but it is also the night of the World famous Ice Cream Feast and awards ceremony. Eat until you burst, kids!

• Smokin’ Aces Slopestyle — Schweitzer was the first stop for the Smokin Aces Ante Up Slopestyle Tour with a field of over 80 competitors. Snowboarder Kix Kamp placed first in the Open class men. Nathan Brown was second closely followed by Payton Cox in fourth in the 14-17 snowboard division. Aiden Hazan won first and Christian Niemela second for 13 and under.

The skiers Open class 5th place was won by Mac Macgarry. One of the largest fields was skier 14-17 with Andre Kemink placing first and Nathan Faggard 7th. Sims Macdonald took third place for 13 and under skiers. Hailey Cecie placed first with Corinne Ariss second in the Women’s Upper Division. The next stop on the tour will be Whitefish, Montana.

• Potpourri — Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by e-mail at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.

The Inside Edge runs every Thursday during ski and snowboard season in the Daily Bee Sports.