Telluride skiers and snowboarders can now get their jib on after hours. The southwestern ski resort is the newest addition to Colorado’s night riding club. Telluride opened its new lighted adventure park Saturday, with terrain park features ranging from jumps and rails to a new superpipe. The park at the former “Competition Hill” site is open to skiers and snowboarders daily, as well as from 4-7 p.m. every Thursday through Sunday throughout the winter.
Race Hill Lift (Chair 2) will serve as the dedicated chairlift for night riding at a cost of $25 per night. (Season passes are also available.) During daytime hours, the park can be accessed via the Village Express (Chair 4).
Roark moves up.
Mogul skier Michelle Roark of Denver used a third-place finish in World Cup competition at Deer Valley, Utah, last weekend to launch her run at a return to the Winter Olympics.
“The podium is definitely something I needed. I needed it really bad. I’m happy I held it together and stuck it out,” Roark said. “My goal in staying in this was taking my skiing to the next level, and for me I would love to qualify for the Olympics and have good results. But I’m happy to elevate my skiing.”
Up to four women will be named to the team Jan. 26 at a news conference at Deer Valley. With the final World Cup moguls qualifier taking place in Lake Placid on Thursday, only Hannah Kearney of Vermont and Heather McPhie of Park City, Utah, have secured their spots. Roark and fellow Olympic veteran Shannon Bahrke of Tahoe City, Calif., have third-place results in qualifying competition.
In only his second appearance in a World Cup competition, Jeremy Cota of Steamboat Springs led the way for the U.S. men at Deer Valley, finishing seventh in the race won by Guilbaut Colas of France.
Fisher places second.
Breckenridge snowboarder Steve Fisher held on for his best result of the season Saturday, finishing second behind Danny Davis in superpipe competition at the Winter Dew Tour in Snowbasin, Utah. Fisher held the first-place position throughout the majority of the final until Davis landed a huge front double-cork 1080 on the last run of the day to claim his second consecutive Dew Tour victory.
Jack Mitrani of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., was third, just ahead of Colorado rider Dylan Bidez of Minturn. JJ Thomas of Breckenridge finished sixth, placing him third behind Davis and Fisher in the overall season point standings.
Elena Hight of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., won the women’s snowboard superpipe final for the first time in her Winter Dew Tour career.
Bobby Brown of Breckenridge used a third-place finish in freeski slopestyle competition at Snowbasin on Sunday to move into third place overall in the Winter Dew Tour standings. Salt Lake City resident Tom Wallisch won the freeski event and leads the overall standings after two events.
Peter Olenick of Aspen rounded out the podium in men’s superpipe skiing competition, placing third behind Kiwi Jossi Wells and Simon Dumont of Bethel, Maine.
Eric Willett of Breckenridge was the top local finisher in the snowboard slopestyle, placing fourth in the contest won by Chas Guldemond of Reno, Nev.
Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
