Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Reporting live from the podium at Killington’s 2022 Slash and Berm 8

Speed requires concentration. By Brooke Geery

Killington Resorted hosted the 8th annual Slash and Berm banked slalom last weekend. The event was organized by Darkside and Burton Snowboards, and a portion of each entry went to benefit Chill, a Burlington-based organization that uses snowboarding to empower youth. Over $5000 was raised for the cause.

It took a total of three days to complete over 500 runs down three different courses, which were each expertly executed by Taylor Zink and the Woodward Killington park crew. Mother Nature did the event a major solid, by delivering over two feet of fresh snow in the lead up and then providing two perfect sunny days, and one warm one, for the competition. The fresh snow helped the crew shape the Stash on Bear Mountain into a challenging and creative course that took riders through sweeping banked turns, into a tight snake run and finally through the woods. Though it was tempting to stray off course and snag fresh powder turns, the gates kept most riders on track.

Classic bank action! by Brooke Geery

On Friday, the invite-only team event welcomed local shop crews from around New England to test their skills on the longest and most elaborate set up of the weekend. The guys from Backwoods in Auburn, Maine came out on top, with Darkside Killington and Darkside Ludlow rounding out the podium. For Saturday, a few gates were moved, and the public race took a different route through the trees. Over 120 competitors took two runs each in the Men’s and Women’s open and legends divisions. The day ended with a “Just for Fun” run, allowing 20 more riders a chance to run the course and see how they did. Then on Sunday, the action wrapped up with the grom event through the Lil Stash on Ramshead. The kids’ course was about one-third as long as the adult version, but the 27 riders under age 13 put in 100 percent effort.

Getting through the “slow section” by Brooke Geery

It takes a lot of people to pull off such an event, and Darkside Snowboards general manager Tucker Zink responded with a heap of gratitude on Instagram.

“One of the best courses to date combined with some beautiful weather made this a race to remember. Thanks to everyone who came out to race, volunteer and spectate!” he said.

Results (Full list: Saturday | Sunday)

Open Men

1 Derek DiCastro 1:10.40
2 Scotty Lago 1:11.51
3 Ryan Flynn 1:12.60

Open Women

1 Noelle Edwards 1:24.17
2 Kelsey Zaengle 1:28.14
3 Rachel Zarycki 1:29.06

Legends Men (40+)

1 Ryan Mrachek 1:17.75
2 Jerry Tucker 1:18.97
3 Tim Parker 1:22.45

Legends Women (40+)

1 Brooke Geery 1:29.40
2 Jennifer Wysocki 1:43.58
3 Jamie Sudol 1:51.48

Groms (13 and under)

1 Wade Barnes 0:28.36
2 Elizabeth Thompson 0:29.08
3 Iris Tucker 0:29.79