Words and Photos by: Diane Harrington
Snowbird/Alta was well represented at Kirkwood, CA in the second stop of the North Face Masters on Friday, March 30th.
Qualifying 4th on the Lookout Vista was Snowbird’s Snowboarding Queen Shannon Yates. The Alta Snowboarding Team Girls Captain Laura Dewey qualified just behind Shannon in 5th. Camila Brown also secured her spot to ride in the finals on Sunday. Kaitlin Elliot just missed the cut-off placing in 10th. Kaitlin is snowboarding better than she has all year after coming back from knee surgery. She will be one to watch in the final stop of the Masters at Snowbird. Of the women’s field of competitors, 25% of the athletes were Snowbird athletes. You go girls!
The women’s progression in big mountain competetive snowboarding has been astounding. Most of the women in this competition stuck their landings and rode powerfully despite the grabby conditions.
Matt Carter from Snowbird, UT qualified 5th with one of the fastest runs of the day and three stompy airs. Mikey Marohn riding out of Alta qualified 4th and Jonathan Penfield Whistler/ Snowbird will also move on to the finals on Sunday. Jeremy Tidwell also had a strong run, but it just wasn’t enough to make the finals in such a competitive field. Ryan Hudson put his whole heart into his run and went for it, but tumbled in the sticky snow.
Saturday March 31 was a snow day as there is 1+ feet of snow predicted at Kirkwood. The finals are scheduled for Sunday April 1st, on the lookers right side of the Cirque- No joke. Check it out online at www.TheNorthFaceMasters.com.