The Dirty Dancer Banked Slalom will be expanded to two days next year after the inaugural event attracted more than 100 entries.
Fernie Alpine Resort was overwhelmed by the response to the snowboard-only competition, which was held at the Dancer Gully in Lizard Bowl last Saturday.
It featured eight categories and sold out well in advance with over 40 people placed on a waitlist.
“We anticipated a sell out but how fast the event sold out was incredible and we still had a large number of people on the waitlist that wanted to get in,” said event manager Jeni Pearson.
Competitors completed two timed runs on the course, which featured bermed turns built into the Dancer Gully.
“It took three full days to build thanks to a huge volunteer crew headed up by Morgan Pulisfer from Commit Snow & Skate,” said Pearson.
“Our cat crew was able to push up some snowbanks but the actual shaping of the berms was done by hand.
“Snowboarders came out and donated their time to hand shovel and rake each berm on the course.”
Geof and Hudson, 11, Hare were among the many volunteers to help shape the course.
They competed as a father and son team on Saturday, with Hudson winning the Grom Boys category with a time of 65.11 seconds.
“My son really wanted to enter and he kind of wanted his dad to go with him,” said Geof, who owns Boardstiff Snow Skate & Surf.
“Fernie has been hoping to have one of these banked slaloms for a long time.
“The guys at Edge of the World and Commit have both been working really hard to get the ski hill to put one on, so I just wanted to support it and come out and have some fun.
“The turnout has been amazing. To have Fernie sell out like that, to see all the volunteers that have come out and the support RCR (Resorts of the Canadian Rockies) has put behind it, it’s fantastic.”
The Banked Slalom will be expanded to two days next year to accommodate more riders.
Pearson said local retailers Boardstiff, Commit and Edge of the World played a huge role in organizing the event.
“From helping with the planning, hitting up their reps to provide us with an amazing amount of prizing, to helping to rally volunteers and a crew to build the course, they were key in making the event so successful this year,” she said.
“Banked Slalom events have always been about bringing riders together and celebrating the community of snowboarding and I think we definitely saw that through this event.
“We are excited about the energy and momentum we built this year and are already looking forward to the second annual Dirty Dancer Banked Slalom next year.”
The top three riders in each category were:
Grom Boys – Hudson Hare (65.11), Sunny Simson (72.43) and Oakley Nelson (78.26)
Grom Girls – Callie Robinson (84.98) and Georgia Nelson (87.53)
Open Women – Kendra Stirrett (55.27), Lauren Severino (60.1) and Jackie Hlavenka (60.35)
Open Men – Sebastian Fischer (51.58), Conor Brown (53.96) and Rupert Stevens (54.65)
Pro Women – Jamie Warner (52.45), Marin Farmer (54.74) and Andrea Fletcher (56.83)
Pro Men 19-39 – Brock Bohner (49.53), Steven Corak (50.61) and Charles Somerville (51.07)
Pro Men 30-39 – Adam Simson (50.23), Adam Jones (51.89) and Steve Taylor (51.98)
Pro Masters Men – Paul Nelson (51.7), Michael Wilson (52.05) and Keith Farkas (52.2)
