Saturday, February 16, 2002 -- Champion, PA
WPSC King & Queen of the Mountain Triathlon (iPO Event Id#: 4733)
Story and photos by Don Parks

[Details] [Coverage] [Overall Results] [Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Pic Set 3] [Pic Set 4] [2001 Coverage]

Paul Schade launches onto the course

To be crowned the King or Queen at 7 Springs, you have to be able to do it all. You do get a choice, but the King & Queen Mountain Triathlon champions had to clock the best combined times from three out of four slalom disciplines: Ski, Snowboard, Snow Blades, and Telemark.

The conditions were perfect and a tremendous pile of awards was waiting. It was time to see who was worthy of 7 Springs royalty. Everyone had two chances to get their best time in each discipline, and many racers would need them. It seems a lot of folks picked up a snow blades, or some other apparatus for getting down the mountain, that they either had never strapped on, or hadn't for quite a while.

One person that seemed quite skilled no mater what they strapped on their feet was 23-year-old Meagan Connelly. The hard working Connelly, a nursing graduate from the University of Vermont where she earned a skiing scholarship, spends her time off the slopes with the Critical and Intensive care unit at Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Simply get down the mountain as fast as you can

On the slopes she combined for a ski/board/snowblade time of 67.18. Not only did this earn her Queen of the Mountain honors, it also was the fastest combined time overall. This had some folks referring to her, and rightly so, as King of the Mountain.

The King of the Mountain title (or is that Queen of the Mountain) was earned by Matt Schade with a ski/board/snowblade time of 69.97. When asking the the 7 Springs Safety Ranger about finishing second to a girl, he quickly replied "I like being beat by a woman." Well, that should make things interesting for the 2002 royal family.

The King and Queen earned new snowboards for their victories and more awards went to winners in several age brackets. There were also awards given out for the top team where the combined time for all four disciplines determined the outcome.

After the winners grabbed up the top prizes, there was still all kinds of hardware to be given out via a random raffle. Enough that everyone who entered the event took home a prize. Then there was a special raffle for another new snowboard.

Looking good in telemark style

As luck would have it, Jeff Blair took home the snowboard after not even placing in his age group for the competition. All these goods at an entry fee of just $5.00! As far as events and prizes go, this had to be the blowout bargain of the season.

Another great day on the slopes (and in the lodge) was possible thanks to the Western PA Ski Council (WPSC) and the hard work put in by Jason Jones and Jeff Holcomb. A big shout-out also goes to the generous event sponsors: Budweiser, Dick's Sporting Goods - Monroeville, Center Ski & Sport - Monroeville, Cycle Sport of Indiana, and Kosmo Skiboard Express - Donegel. The season isn't over and you can bet iPlayOutside will be back for more fun at 7 Springs and with the WPSC and crew. We sure hope we see you there!