The Juneau Ski Club are hosting the U12/U14 Alaska State Championships on Saturday and Sunday at Eaglecrest Ski Area.
The championship features close to 100 youth skiers competing in the Giant Slalom and Slalom. The majority of the racers came from Anchorage, about 70, while Juneau fielded about a dozen skiers between the ages of 10-13.
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The Juneau Ski Club’s Ida Meyer posted the third fastest combined times in the girls Grand Slalom. In the boys Grand Slalom, JSC’s Wilder Dillingham and Corder James finished 12th and 13th respectively. The event continues on Sunday with two runs of Slalom.
If snow conditions cooperate, the state championships come to Juneau every four years. However, Eaglecrest didn’t have enough snow the last time it was their turn to host.
“The mountain did a great job of trying to preserve our preferred venue over on Hilary’s, and it became obvious that we weren’t going to have the snow to be able to run that race,” JSC Coach Randy Bates said.
Bates said the Eaglecrest staff started prepping Sourdough run as a backup.
“They’ve been super to work with, we got a crew that’s been making it happen, we got a surface that held up for us and hopefully there’s a lot of smiles out here,” he said.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
Juneau Ski Club’s Dan Degener races in the Giant Slalom of the U12/U14 Alaska State Championships at Eaglecrest Ski Area on Saturday, March 30, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Alyeska Ski Club’s Austin Murphy takes off from the top of Hooter Chairlift during the second run of the Giant Slalom of the U12/U14 Alaska State Championships at Eaglecrest Ski Area on Saturday, March 30, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
