words and photos by John Vandervalk

With temps back in the 50's, it makes one forget about the cold, snowy winter months. The hot sun softened the runs considerably by the afternoon and the jumps had to be salted multiple times. This slowed the skiers momentum and a few of them had a little trouble keeping up their speed. But overall this comp was another success with riders enjoying the sunshine and watching each other amping up their style and tricks.

Another great showing by Joss Christensen as he was throwing big cork 9's with huge amplitude. He was awarded the Navy trophy for best amateur of the year right before finals got underway. This pumped him up even more as he came in for a 2nd place finish.

Only 5 out of the 20 ladies made the finals today. "I love the jam format because it keeps me relaxed and gives me time to get used to the jumps" Kristi Jons said. "This is my first comp in over a year so I just wanted to keep my runs clean. I was spinning better than I thought I would today." It was obvious as she placed 2nd with styled out mute 3's and 5's.

Bobby Brown threw a huge kang off the 3rd hit followed by a double back off the hip in front of the spectators down below. He definitely separated himself from the rest of the pack and took home a well-deserved 1st place finish.

"Today was such a great day!" Bobby said. "The course was so much fun, the hip was definitely the best feature in the course. It was so big and when I saw Alex Dillard hitting it, I really wanted to try it. I decked on the first attempt but went back up and cleared it with a double back. I was so pumped."

"The top three definitely deserved it" said Luke Nutting. "Adam with super solid grabs, Joss with super tech spins both ways, and Bobby with an insane run with 2 double flips. I'm pretty sure Bobby's secret to winning was getting up at 5 am and sitting in the hot tub to get his mind in the game... or maybe he just kills it. I'm not sure which one yet."

Men's Top 10

1) Bobby Brown

2) Joss Christensen

3) Adam Battersby

4) John Strenio

5) Alex Dillard

6) Tim Russell

7) Luke Nutting

8) Ian Williams

9) Tyler Peterson

10) A. J. Burton

Women's Top 5

1) Megan Olenick

2) Kristi Johns

3) Claudia Bouvier

4) Jen Hirsh

5) Dania Assaly