Saturday, March 22, 2008 -- Mc Henry, MD
Ski Center 3 Jump Jackpot Dual Slalom (iPO Event Id#: 10743)

[Details] [Coverage] [Photos]

A dual-slalom race for the cash

Spring conditions made for comfortable weather but less than ideal snow conditions for the Three Jump Jackpot Dual Slalom. But with a lot of money on the line there was little reason not to give the challenge a try.

With the help of generous sponsors: Washington DC's Ski Center, Deep Creek Lake's Silver Tree Restaurant, Railey Mtn. Lake Vacations, and the residential and commercial services of Railey Realty; a cash purse of $1000.00 would be divided up among the top five finishers.

The highlight of the dual slalom race course, set up on Wisp Resort's black diamond Squirrel Cage slope, were three "jumps". These jumps were really more like three drop offs ranging in size form two to four feet. Add these into the mix with the big cash prizes and you see why the event was titled "Three Jump Jackpot".

A nice line and good form off a "jump"

The format of the race consisted of an initial timed run down the red flagged course. The times from this preliminary run were used for seeding and the creation of a bracket for head-to-head competition. Each pair of racers would do two runs alternating between the blue and red course. The best combined time would then move on to the next round facing the winner of another pairing. Through a process of elimination a winner would emerge.

To keep it a little more interesting a rule was put in place that you could never lose more than two seconds to your competitor on any single run. This way if you crashed or were disqualified for going off course on your first run you could technically make it back up on your second.

And not such good form "over" a jump

As racers were eliminated and winners moved on the battle for first place was eventually narrowed down to a final duel between Keith Poore and Thaddeous Schall. The first run had Schall on the red course and Poore on the Blue. In a close run down the mountain misfortune struck Schall just a few flags from the finish. It was a hard crash but no serious injury and the two second rule would be used.

With such a large advantage going into the second run for Poore, Schall elected to rest his bruises and settle for second place with a pedestrian second run. Poore had no trouble executing a clean second run ahead of Schall to cash in for first place.

Elizabeth Green isn't afraid to battle the boys

Todd Gibson and Eric Recker were paired up to decide third and fourth place money with Gibson bettering Recker in the combined time for their two runs. The final pay out for a finish of fifth place was earned by Zach Fratz.

Rounding out the top ten was essentially a five-way tie for sixth place. This included the lone female competitor and the youngest, too, in twelve year-old Elizabeth Green. The others were Tim Williamson, Jim Gibson, Steve Green, and Josh Spiker.

A final shout-out goes to the fans that cheered on the racers while being kept up with the action by guest deejay Mike Hartlove of Racer's Edge fame. He encourages everyone to come out this summer to race or watch the excitement as the Mid-Atlantic Cup mountain bike downhill and dual slalom series returns to Wisp.