Killington snowboarding event raised $5,000 to empower youth
By Brooke Geery
Killington Resorted hosted the 8th annual Slash and Berm banked slalom last weekend. The event was organized by Darkside and Burton Snowboards, and a portion of each entry went to benefit Chill, a Burlington-based organization that uses snowboarding to empower youth. Over $5,000 was raised for the cause.
Cold air and bright blue skies made for great views and excellent visibility in the Stash on Friday.
It took a total of three days to complete over 500 runs down three different courses, each expertly executed by Taylor Zink and the Woodward Killington park crew.
Mother Nature did the event a major solid, by delivering over two feet of fresh snow in the lead up and then providing two perfect sunny days and one warm one for the competition. The fresh snow helped the crew shape the Stash on Bear Mountain into a challenging and creative course that took riders through sweeping banked turns, into a tight snake run and finally through the woods. Though it was tempting to stray off course and snag fresh powder turns, the gates kept most riders on track.
A local rider aired the first gap of the course. This first turn and subsequent double set the tone for the race, and spectators at the top cheered as it was negotiated successfully.
On Friday, the invite-only team event welcomed local shop crews from around New England to test their skills on the longest and most elaborate set up of the weekend. The guys from Backwoods in Auburn, Maine came out on top, with Darkside Killington and Darkside Ludlow rounding out the podium.
For Saturday, a few gates were moved, and the public race took a different route through the trees. Over 120 competitors took two runs each in the Men’s and Women’s Open and Legends divisions. The day ended with a “just for fun” run, allowing 20 more riders a chance to run the course and see how they did.
On Sunday, the action wrapped up with the Grom event through the Lil Stash on Ramshead. The kids’ course was about one-third as long as the adult version, but the 27 riders under age 13 put in 100% effort.
After coming out of the woods, competitors were launched into the “house feature” which they could choose to jump over or ride around. Catching air was the faster option.
It takes a lot of people to pull off such an event, and Darkside Snowboards general manager Tucker Zink responded with a heap of gratitude, “Great to have Slash and Berm back after a year hiatus, always our favorite event of the season. This was our biggest turn out ever, hoping to get more teams and groms involved for next season! Huge thanks to Park Crew, Killington Events and Burton Snowboards for making it all happen.”
Results
Open Men
1 Derek DiCastro 1:10.40
2 Scotty Lago 1:11.51
3 Ryan Flynn 1:12.60
Open Women
1 Noelle Edwards 1:24.17
2 Kelsey Zaengle 1:28.14
3 Rachel Zarycki 1:29.06
Legends Men (40+)
1 Ryan Mrachek 1:17.75
2 Jerry Tucker 1:18.97
3 Tim Parker 1:22.45
Legends Women (40+)
1 Brooke Geery 1:29.40
2 Jennifer Wysocki 1:43.58
3 Jamie Sudol 1:51.48
Groms (13 and under)
1 Wade Barnes 0:28.36
2 Elizabeth Thompson 0:29.08
3 Iris Tucker 0:29.79
