A Rodeo in Jackson Ain't What it Used To Be

Dick's Ditch Classic was this past weekend here in Jackson Hole which is the on mountain equivilent to professional bronc riding! The weekend was complete with crazy weather and big, fast banked turns. The JH Park and Pipe crew did a phenominal job building and maintaining the Ditch. Karen Fisher of P&P said that they tried to replicate the original course from the first year that they held the event.

(The "XX" rider's club. Chica's Only, Sarah Baca and Karen Fisher. Photo by: Cecilia Kunstader)

The first day of competition started out with heavy snowfall and low visibility. Elizabeth Koutrelakos and myself decided to take the Tram to the top to warm up.

We began by jumping into Corbett's Coulier first thing with our friend Chris Onufer. The entrance to the Coulier was straight forward and the snow once you were in was blower! The three of us ate powder for breakfast and headed strait down to Lonnie's in the Expert Chutes. What an amazing start to a race right?!

(Pow slash by Sarah Baca, Photo: Daniel Fiddler)

The course itself was fairly fast and really fun! For the Women's Pro division the top three qualifiers were Cecilia Kunstader, Karen Fisher and myself in that order. The three of us have been friends for a few seasons now and so it was great to share the top qualifying spots with such amazing girls.

The second day of competition turned out to be blue bird and warm, which changed the course slightly but made it faster and ridiculously fun. Being as my warm up the day before had worked so well, I decided to start out the day the same by jumping into Corbett's again. This time it was my brother and fellow tram operator Frank that shared the warm up lap with me. It was Frank's first time in the Coulier and he nailed it!

Once I got down to the top of Dick's I took a few practice laps. Later I ran a fairly smooth race shaving 25 seconds off my qualifying time. I was able to maintain control throughout, with one bobble in the middle setting me in 3rd place for the final. Cecilia walked away with the coveted belt buckle and young gun Amber Nelson from Idaho Falls took 2nd.

Congrats to everyone who participated and made this event possible! Until next year, that buckin bronc they call Ditch's Ditch will remain untaimed!

Y'all have a good night, ya hear!

( Sarah Baca, Cecilia Kunstader, Amber Nelson on the podium. Photo: Frank Baca)

http://jacksonhole.com/cmsfiles/file/2012DicksDitchResults.pdf