The 2012 Arctic Winter Games are in the books, but members of the Yukon’s snowboard team from the Games are still collecting hardware.
All four of the open divisions in the Yukon Snowboard Championships were won by Team Yukon boarders over the weekend at Mt. Sima.
“Most of the participants in the open divisions could have competed in under-16, but because of their skill level they decided to move themselves up into a more challenging category,” said Snowboard Yukon head coach Mary Binsted.
Lara Bellon has been flying high all season. She won four gold medals – one in each event – at the Arctic Winter Games a few weeks ago.
She added two more golds by winning the freestyle event on Saturday and the snowboardcross event on Sunday in the open female category.
“It’s great. I’ve only been snowboarding for a short time so I didn’t expect to get this good so fast,” said Bellon, who is in just her third year. “There were a lot of good people at the hill too.”
Saturday’s freestyle event was a combination of slopestyle and halfpipe. In the slopestyle she hit a 360 on the medium jump, a method off the big one, and a couple board-slides on the rails.
On the halfpipe “I just did simple spins and stuff,” said Bellon, who also represented the Yukon at the Canada Winter Games last year. “It wasn’t as nice as in the Arctic Games because after the Arctics (the halfpipe) wasn’t really maintained. A lot of people had trouble in the pipe.”
Adam Waddington seemed to have no trouble on the pipe. The 15-year-old won his first Yukon championship, in freestyle, with an array of tricks on the halfpipe.
“I’m pretty happy,” said Waddington. “I was mostly really happy because I learned a lot of new tricks over the weekend.”
On the halfpipe, Waddington nailed a stalefish grab, a method grab, a front-side 360, a switch front-side 360, a front-side 540
method and a handplant to finish.
Having finished second in the slopestyle earlier in the day, his performance on the pipe was what lifted him into first place for freestyle in open male.
“He threw the same combination of tricks as he did at the Arctic Winter Games and also when I was with him at nationals,” said Binsted. “So it’s kind of his stock halfpipe run.
“He managed to do it cleanly without any errors, and it was also at a higher technical degree.”
Waddington won gold in the halfpipe and bronze in slopestyle at the Arctic Games in juvenile male.
Taking first in the slopestyle was Yukon teammate Tim Schirmer, who won silver in slopestyle and halfpipe at the Arctic Games in juvenile male
The snowboardcross saw 19 boarders trying to be the first down the hill.
Bellon kept her strategy simple.
“I did the same thing as in the Arctics: I went for it and it all worked out,” she said.
Winning the open male division was Arctic Games athlete Alidas Jamnicky, ahead of Yukon teammates Waddington in second and Dawson’s Francis Bouffard in third.
“Alidas got a pretty good start and got ahead right away,” said Waddington. “So me and Francis were just trying to catch up to him, but he’s super fast.”
Though young enough for the juvenile division because of limited space on the team Jamnicky competed as a junior at the Arctic Games, winning a bronze in snowboardcross for his best finish.
Like Jamnicky, Bouffard was a juvenile-age competitor in the junior division at the Arctic Winter Games. He placed fifth in the slopestyle and the halfpipe for his best finishes.
“This year, since there’s a full-time course in place, thanks to the Arctic Games, we were able to have boardercross and skiercross as well,” said Binsted. “One of the most exciting parts was the turnout we had.
“We didn’t have any injuries at all, which was fantastic. The course was just so well built it flowed from one feature into the next. When people crossed the finish line, they’d just be laughing and cheering and having the times of their lives.”
Another boarder to win divisions both days was 10-year-old Ethan Davy in the 12-and-under group.
“You’ll be hearing about him later,” said Binsted. “He’s one of our up-and-comers.”
It’s been a busy few weeks for Waddington. After the Arctic Games, Waddington became the first Yukoner ever to compete at the Freestyle Snowboarding Nationals just over a week ago at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.
“It was the first time Snowboard Yukon was at national championships,” said Binsted. “So to come out in the top half is pretty pleasing.”
At the nationals Waddington placed 31st out of over 70 boarders in slopestyle and 21st in halfpipe
“It was a lot of fun,” said Waddington. “The jumps were really big and it just made it a lot more fun.
“I felt pretty good, but I think I could have done better. There’s always next year.”
The snowboard season isn’t over yet. Jamnicky will be joining fellow Yukoner Alexander Chisholme at the Canadian Snowboardcorss Championships at Nakiska Mountain Resort outside of Canmore, Alberta, next week.
Results
Snowboardcross
U-12 male
1st Curtis Perrier
2nd Pelly Vincent-Braun
3rd Ethan Davy
4th Saul Gale
5th Kaelen Troke
U-16 male
1st Brhy Romat
2nd Nic McDougall
Open female
1st Lara Bellon
2nd Katrina Couch
3rd Stephanie Orr
Open male
1st Alidas Jamnicky
2nd Adam Waddington
3rd Francis Bouffard
Masters male (20-and-over)
1st Johnny Lindsay
2nd Kevin Howay-Keyes
3rd Dan Boyle
4th Jordan Jordan
5th Geof Harries
6th Matthew Johnson
Freestyle (slopestyle/halfpipe)
U-12 male
1st Ethan Davy
U-16 male
1st Nic McDougall
2nd Sam Schirmer
Open female
1st Lara Bellon
2nd Cassandra Stuart
Open male
1st Adam Waddington
2nd Tim Schirmer
3rd Francis Bouffard
Masters male (20-and-over)
1st Dan Boyle
2nd Kalsey McKinney
3rd Austin Davignon
4th Tyler Austin
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com
