Podium boys
Atticus Sanders, Buck Milligan, Nate Pruzan
|
|
Secrets of the Flamingo Cup
by Terry Allen
March 16, 2015
The Sublette County Ski and Snowboard Association hosted their 2015 Flamingo Cup ski race on Saturday, March 14th.
On a rocky outcropping at the top of the Fremont run at White Pine Ski Resort, a Pink Flamingo adorns a shrine to Bruce Carlson. A group of children romp in the snow at the foot of the monument. There are fresh flowers, stuffed animals and other mementos laid there that reflect the impressions he made on the community.
Miriam Carlson, Bruce’s mother smiles when she hears of the children playing around the shrine. "Our son was a ski instructor up here for years, and he loved all those kids," she said. "Two girls made that shrine for him, and they always place fresh flowers there."
The start area of the race course is decorated with dozens of pink flamingos. A surprising number of skiers are dressed in pink tutus, feathers, Mohawks, and one boy in a complete bumblebee costume. It is a timed race, but obviously, a fun race.
125 athletes competed in this the 3rd annual Flamingo Cup. Atticus Sanders, dressed like a bumblebee, never-the-less took 1st place in his class of 22 very talented racers. "I’m 9 years old and I’ve been skiing 6 years," said Atticus. "My dad’s a coach and he’s been teaching me for a while. I think that’s why I won."
Jack from Jackson said he’d be happy to do an interview in "The lodge thingy." Inbetween bites of burger and fries, Jack explained why he liked skiing. "Well, the race was pretty fun," he said. "But, my favorite part is free-skiing under the lift. There are all kinds of rocks and logs I can jump off of and I get some awesome hang-time."
Audrey is helping her friend Tisha who has sprained a leg in a fall. "I was skiing against my mother and it was my second run and I just slid and fell," Tisha said. "It was very intense." Their daily training program seems more designed for pro’s than 10 year olds. "Our favorite part of skiing, is racing," said Audrey. "We train a lot. We stretch a lot every morning and afternoon. It just comes natural, by now, but it helps us get faster and not pull anything." "We leave school early every day and we ski until late. It’s very hard, but it’s worth it."
Maeve Paulson of Pinedale obviously worked hard at her skiing. She won her event, and also laid down a faster time than any other high school skier…including the boys.
Waiting for the award ceremony to begin, Coach Pat Owen of TVST (Teton Village Ski Team) was walking around with an inflatable pink flamingo cup holder wrapped around his soda. "This is our favorite race of the season, by far," said Pat. "This is a mom and pop hill, full of good energy; and since it’s the last race of the year, we really like to relax and have some fun."
Relaxing on a bench watching kids go to the podium to claim their medals, Miriam Carlson explained how The Flamingo Cup got its name. "My son, Bruce had around 200 pink flamingos in his yard in California and he thought it would be fun to decorate the start and finish and all along the course… just for fun!"
Results posted at www.sublettecountysnowsports.org.
|
