USCSA Far West Regional Qualifier Held in Mammoth
On another stormy competition weekend at Mammoth Mountain, Southern California Collegiate athletes took to the slopes in the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association’s Far West Regional Qualifying event
The Far West Regional Qualifier is the final step for collegiate athletes hoping to attend the USCSA National Championships. The 2010 Championships are to be held at Sunday River, Maine, the first week of March. The USCSA’s Far West Region consists of two conferences, the SCCSC and its northern counterpart, the Northern California Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Conference, or NCCSC. Don’t let the names fool you, these two conferences also include Nevada and Arizona competitors, however no schools from these two states have been represented in recent years.
The regional event started Friday, February 19th with the first half-pipe competition of the 2010 season in the Super Pipe in Mammoth’s Unbound Main Park. The event started under the mid morning sun and was full of straight airs, grabs, corks, and sometimes crashes!
As the sun rose Saturday morning it was clear that the Regional event would be welcomed with the same weather that the SCCSC has battled with all season. The alpine skiers competed in Slalom on Andy’s Double Gold (previously Far West) was filled with wind and snow flurries as the skiers from the Far West Region took to the course. The two run event lasted nearly 3 hours, with course setting and inspection time, in the biting cold. Once completed, the women’s teams from Sierra Nevada College, Stanford, and UC Davis earned the right to represent the Far West at the USCSA National Championships, and will be joined by men’s teams from Sierra Nevada College, Stanford, and Loyola Marymount University.
As the Slalom race was nearing conclusion, the Slopestyle was just gearing up. Snowboarders and Freestyle skiers from the two conferences aired it out in the wind and snow to ensure they would qualify for the National Championships. The 2010 Snowboard and Freestyle Skiing events at USCSA are invitational, and those in the Far West who compete in the Regional Qualifier will receive invitations. Despite the conditions, 75 athletes charged South Park to measure their skills in the and prepare for nationals. Sierra Nevada College’s Arielle Shipe and Tucker Norred were crowned Snowboard Women’s and Men’s best, while UCSB Yulia Dubinina and Cal’s Alex Schmalz earned top honors for women’s and men’s skiing.
Sunday proved typical for collegiate competition this season, with the wind, fresh soft snow on the course, and poor visibility due to continuing flurries making the risk too great for competitions. The Giant Slalom races were cancelled and athlete safety was preserved, although the cancellation came at the start of the race. Athletes had inspected what looked to be an exceptional GS course, fast and fun, yet visibility and soft snow proved overwhelming. While the teams from Sierra Nevada College, Stanford, UC Davis, and Loyola Marymount University were satisfied with the automatic berths, organizers and racers alike would rather have raced if the conditions were better.
