Photos: Lauren Pandolfi
The first-ever Bird Banked Slalom went off last weekend at Snowbird as a sunny kickoff off to the spring season.
Bjorn Leines laying into a turn
After receiving more than their fair share of snow season season (over 500 inches and counting) Snowbird has had a stellar, deep winter. The Bird Banked was a nice segue from pow slashing and storm boarding, to a fun and friendly competition that was all about going fast and hanging with friends.
Lila Yoeman, 13, one of the youngest competitors of the day, took second in the women’s pro category.
The course, which was hand-built over a week of shaping and preparing, consisted of a series of banked turns, with a spicy straight away near the very end. This required riders to stay low and powerful as they arced through multiple gated-turns.
Zeppelin Zeerip coming in hot to third place.
As the first banked slalom in Snowbird’s storied history, the inaugural event brought out a bunch of Little Cottonwood Canyon locals, pros and families alike. Ages ranged from 13 to well over 50, and regardless of age or stature, everyone had a smashing good time.
Sunday’s Finals were heated, and well, if you weren’t first, you weren’t necessary last– everyone that showed up was a winner in one way or another.
Check out the recap video above from Justin Olsen/Snowbird above.

Female Pro:
1: Anna Miller
2: Lila Yoeman
3: Laura Dewey

Female 18-29
1: Alyssa Dolgin
2: Kathleen Monahan
3:Paulina Popovskaia

Female 30-39
1: Becky Stevenson
2: Vivian Bengtson
3: Beth Weissman

Female 40+
1: Farrah Edwards
2: Robin Clegg
3: Denise Paisley

Male Pro:
1: Shane Chappell
2: JP Tomic
3: Zeppelin Zeerip

Male 12-17
1: Zane Clegg
2: Sebastian Hamilton
3: Kajetan Hamilton

Male 18-29

1: Sawyer Clegg
2: Dustin Pellegrino
3: Daniel Telenko

Male 30-39
1: Tyler Anderson
2: Jacob Levine
3: Seth Morris

Male 40+
1: Justin White
2: Jerry Tatum
3: Rich Varga