Sunday, March 11, 2001 -- Davis, WV
USASA Appalachian Series - BoarderX (iPO Event Id#: 2373)
Story and photos by Mike Monroe

[Details] [Coverage] [Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2]

Head-to-head boarder cross at Timberline

The spring weather was peaking its nose into Canaan Valley this past weekend. Timberline was the site of the Appalachian Boarder Cross Series II. The lower part of Dew Drop, which is now the Terrain Park, was the course that was going to test the competitors' skill. The lineup was a big one, but yet it is still a newer event and not a lot of people are aware of the races.

Tucker Garten was the designer of the terrain park and was also the director of this race. "I am really happy with the turnout that we had today, for our first year it couldn't be better" said Tucker. For the people that aren't sure what boardercross is, it is a race where anywhere from 1 to 5 snowboarders race down through a given area and hit several jumps and curves with a little bit of a slalom feel. Tucker also said "It's kind of like a slalom race on steroids for boarders." A process of elimination, with the the top from each heat in each class advancing, was used until the winners were determined.

Time for some razzle-dazzle in skier-cross

With the winter season winding down, the riders were pumped to be participating in this kind of event. Adding to the excitement were the many bystanders cheering everyone on and taking in the race. A couple of the spectators were mothers of the racers and you could see the cringing as their son or daughter was carving their way down through the course.

Place	Name
Men - Youth (14-15)
1st	Dennis Kuhn
Men - Youth (16-17)
1st	Michael Valach
Women - Youth (16-17)
1st	Holly Kuhn
Men - Junior (18-22)
1st	Stephen Shepherd
2nd	Kip Ambro
Men - Senior (23-29)
1st	Bruce Persinger
2nd	Ray Pesho
Women - Senior (23-29)
1st	Amy Vandersall
2nd	Terri Priest

In the Youth Class (14-15 years old) Dennis Kuhn was the first male to finish and to walk away with the gold from the race. He is getting ready to head out West very shortly with his family to do some racing out there.

In the Youth (16-17 years old) Dennis' older sister Holly Kuhn was the first in her class to fly down the course and walk away with the women's gold for her age class. The male in that age class, Michael Valach was the first male in his group to cross the line.

This race seems very popular with the younger crowd, but the race is open to all ages and even skiers! The skier-cross was held at the same time, and they were strutting their stuff to show the snowboarders what you are supposed to do in the Terrain Park.

The next boardercross is going to be held this next weekend as part of 11th Annual Snowy Luau. A whole weekend of events at Timberline that you won't want to miss!