By Joe Johnson
The Beech Mountain Banked Slalom event for skiers and snowboarders is returning to Beech Mountain Resort on February 23rd; marking the sixth year in a row the competition has been held on the mountain. Recess, a local skateboard and snowboard shop in Boone, NC will be sponsoring and presenting the Banked Slalom event again this year.
“It’s a little bit different than your typical gate-racing event. You have berms instead of just the gates, so it adds uniqueness as far as banked slalom goes,” said J.P. Pardy, owner of Recess along with his wife Ashley, “Beech Mountain Banked Slalom is going to be both ski and snowboard, timed separately, with different age groups. This is the only individually timed, ‘best-time-wins’ banked slalom in the area. The next closest one would be in West Virginia.”
Anybody is welcome to register as a participant in the Beech Mountain Banked Slalom, regardless of his or her competitive skill level, “Probably my favorite part about this event is if you can ride a snowboard, you can participate,” explained Pardy, “It’s not as much about the contest side of things; where you have ‘x’ top people in the event who are also competing with each other pretty heavily throughout the season. It’s anybody’s game really. I’ve seen events where the course was so fast that some of the younger, smaller kids were actually getting better times because they weren’t going quite as fast!”
“It’s just a good time,” said Pardy, “It’s a fun day! Everybody hangs out and watches everyone race. There are some good prizes, but at the end of the day, the Banked Slalom is all about the bragging rights. I don’t think anyone cares about the prizes; it’s just about the bragging rights. If you’re on the podium that’s all that matters that day.”
“There is a pre-registration will save everybody time money. It’s a little less expensive to pre-register than it is to register the day-of so I would strongly recommend doing that,” said Pardy, “You can also register the day of the event if that works better for you. Registration is going to be like 9 to 10:30, give or take. The practice run will be at 11, and events start at noon.”
The Beech Mountain Banked Slalom event will be held on February 23rd from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Beech Mountain Resort. For more information about the Beech Mountain Banked Slalom, its schedule, and pre-registration visit https://www.beechmountainresort.com/event/banked-slalom-2019/
Packet Pick-up and Day-of Registration: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. day-of OR you can pre-register online! (Location to be decided)
How much? Online registration $15; Day-of Registration $20
Lift Tickets are $50 dollars for racers which can be purchased at day-of registration or online registration!
Schedule
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Practice Runs (2 practice runs per racer)
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Course closes for maintenance
11:45 a.m. – Riders Meeting at the top of the course
12:00 p.m. – The race begins!
Awards will be presented in the Taproom & Grill immediately following the last racers!
Categories
Grom Snowboard – 13 & under (boys & girls)
Grom Ski – 13 & under (boys & girls)
Youth Snowboard – 14 – 17 years old (boys & girls)
Youth Ski – 14 – 17 years old (boys & girls)
Open
Men’s snowboard – 18 – 34
Women’s snowboard – 18 – 34
Men’s ski – 18 – 34
Women’s ski – 18 – 34
Masters
Men’s snowboard – 35 & up
Women’s snowboard – 35 & up
Men’s ski – 35 & up
Women’s ski – 35 & up
Never ridden a banked slalom course? Come on out and test your ski or snowboard skills. Prizes will be given to the top three in each category.
Click the link below to register today!
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