Winging it at Snow King

Molly second from left, 2nd Place!

Since my last blog, I have had my first J3 qualifier race for Western Region Champs. The race was held in one of my favorite ski towns, Jackson Hole Wyoming. The rustic town is full of great restaurants and is home to one of the best racing resorts, Snow King.

The race consisted of GS on Saturday and slalom on Sunday. It snowed Friday night and Saturday morning so there was a lot of course prep to be done. The snow was very moist and dense so hard to push of the track. My first run placed me in second. The course was relatively mellow with a short run, no steep pitch, and slow snow. My harsh edge pressure and my fail to tuck on the flats were my two costliest mistakes.

Due to the snow, they were not able to re-set for second run, so the course had a few grooves going into second run. I skied the top portion very well but as I was skiing onto the false flats, I tried to grab my tuck at the exact moment I hit the biggest rut of the course. I was bounced out of the course and missed the next gate without having time to react. Do to my speed and the piles of slipped off snow on the hill, I was not able to come to a complete stop till a few gates later so was too far out to hike.

The wet snow froze on Saturday night so Sunday’s snow was superb. On the first run, due to my hips being back, I fell after the hairpin on the first pitch (the same mistake I made both days last year). Without any major hiking to do, I quickly got up and destroyed the rest of the course. My bottom section was so good, I finished the run in third! My second run, I slid out after the hairpin on the first pitch but got back in the course and had set down another amazing bottom section. The racer in first made the same exact mistake on the same gate so I still managed to win the second run by a solid second. With both runs combined, I finished second.

I am now back in Park City and training for the GS race at home next weekend.

.)) Molly Leavens