Jackon Hole

Well a rodeo in Jackson, ain't what it used to be! I came to the Cowboy State hoping to win the coveted belt buckle in the legendary Dick's Ditch Banked Slalom. When they said "turn it up to eleven!" we said "Hell yeah!!"

Dick's Ditch is a natural gully/canyon that runs deep down the middle of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. It was named after a local ski patrolman that had been buried alive by an avalanche for about 45 minutes there. Since that day it has existed in infamy.

We arrived in Jackson on a snowy night, in the end of February. The entire west coast had been pounded with snow and we were grateful to be where we were. When we woke up the next morning there were blue skies and tons of fresh snow. It was an epic day to be in Jackson Hole, but there was a race to be won. We warmed up on the Granny Shoots and then went to Paintbrush and Toilet Bowl just off of Thunder. Once we had gotten our legs underneath us, we headed for the dreaded Dick's Ditch.

The course started out in between a stand of pine trees, and once you shot into the Ditch, there was no turning back. Tight turns over tree roots and rocks, then into the doubles, if you lose your rhythm there you may never get it back... double, double, cat-track-gap, jump over the tree back into the Ditch, up, down, fly off the Terrieh hit, down and up one more time to sail off the finish line. Exhilarating right?

Day one went well, I qualified third and all top three ladies were within two seconds of each other. We all knew the next day was going to be battle roy-al... and we didn't disappoint. Each of us took several seconds off of our time and shuffled up the winning order a bit. A Jackson local Kate Reed, ended up winning the coveted belt buckle and the number one spot and I ended up 2nd and $350 richer in the Womens Pro, just a half second behind Kate, and Diane Phelps rounded out the 3rd spot.

Sadly I didn't win the coveted belt buckle this season, but Dick's Ditch turned out to be a run for the money!!

This season has been a whirlwind, but winters in Utah are never a disappointment. In an area that averages over 500 inches each season, we always manage to get powder when it seems that there is none to be had. After a season on the road it is nice to be home and ride the mountains that I love.

This competition season started out with a bang right here at Snowbird, with The North Face Masters of Snowboarding. Some heavy hitters showed up and brought their big guns to the table. Travis Rice, Chris Coulter, Rob Kingwill, Pat Moore, Shannon Yates and Susan Mol were among a few and they were all truly inspirational to watch and ride with.

[Sarah Baca, Ratty Sheidow and Meg Pugh at Snowbird
Photo Courtesy of MSI and Snowboard Magazine]

The next stop of the tour went on to Crested Butte Colorado, where the mountain looks like a shark's fin and it's teeth were lurking under fresh snow. The venue was gnarly, but the riders were up for a challenge. We all strapped in on Friday the 13th of February at the top of the Headwall and hoped for the best run. However my luck ran out before that unlucky day. As I set myself up for the first of four drops, my board was bitten by one of the sharks teeth and I went flipping off the first cliff and cascading off the second. I was not the first to fall, nor was I the last but we were all lucky to have escaped the shark unscathed.