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It all played out exactly as A Rob would’ve wanted.
The Smash Life Banked Slalom was held at Alpental on Sunday and it was dumping all day. Dumped all day Saturday too. That was supposed to be the day for qualifiers, but the storm did away with that plan. Instead everyone just ripped pow. The snow never let up and before long they even shut down sections of Interstate 90. Bad for anyone that was trying to make it up. Good for all the racers who were already on hand. A Rob was smiling on them all.
Sunday saw more snow. But, not too much to shut things down. The race was on. For this year’s event, Summit Terrain Park Director Joe Pope took the course just outside of Alpental’s boundaries. It was a backcountry banked slalom. And Pope picked the perfect little natural halfpipe to run everyone down. It was just sketchy enough to be exciting, almost too fast in a few spots and super surfy. Definitely A Rob-approved.
The field was about 60 competitors deep. Everyone got two runs. After that, everyone got pow runs. More than two. It stormed all day. Felt knee deep in spots. We rode until our legs gave out. After our last run we thanked Aaron… for everything: Friendship. Inspiration. Adventure. Positivity. Snowboarding. And powder.
The lifts stopped and everyone filed in for awards. There were a lot of winners, but the winner was Blair Habenicht. He was the fastest dude out. Took first by a second.
It was still dumping when I left. I thought about staying to ride the next day. I should’ve. A Rob would’ve.
Next year.
The Smash Life Banked slalom is a benefit for the Plant A Seed Project. All the entry fees from this year’s event will be donated to the organization to help kids follow their passions. Find out more about the Plant A Seed Project.
Men’s Open
1. Blair Habenicht
2. Dillon Candelaria
3. Kyle Miller
Women’s Open
1. Mariah Dugan
2. Janessa Bork
3. Audra Bintz
Gentleman’s (30–39)
1. Jay Neal
2. Ryan Kelly
3. Marcel Dolak
Men’s (18–29)
1. Destry Serna
2. Gregory Phillips
3. Jay Hergert
Grumpy Old Men (40+)
1. Kimo Cole
2. Maxx Von Marbod
3. Steve Nagode
Youth Boys (13–17)
1. Matteo Soltane
2. Keala Cole
3. Austin Buza
