Riders compete for $2,000 in Hawaiian Classic
Snowboarders racing in the boarder cross event speed over one of the first hills Sunday.
Chris Tucker / Whitefish Pilot
Big Mountain hosted the eighth Annual Nate Chute Hawaiian Classic with a banked slalom race on Saturday and a boarder cross race on Sunday.
This is Montana's biggest snowboarding event, with about 100 riders competing each day, including youths, men, women and pros from Montana, Washington and California.
The event helps to raise money for the Nate Chute Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping teenagers through tough times.
The event is named after Nate Chute, a Whitefish native who worked as a snowboard coach on the mountain and in Stumptown Snowboards before taking his own life 10 years ago.
The weather was fantastic for the banked slalom, and the course was the best it has ever been for the event.
The course included man-made features on Marmot and Whitetail runs. The lower section of Saturday's banked slalom course passed through George's Gorge, a natural gully where riders carved around gates set high on the gorge's walls.
The pro riders competed for a $2,000 purse, and amateurs competed for prizes donated by Stumptown Snowboards.
Conditions were faster on Sunday, as cooler weather changed snow. The day was cloudier, with intermittent rain and snowfall.
No times are kept for the snowboard cross, as the racers compete head-to-head on the course. A semifinal race in the pro men category had to be re-run because all four racers crashed.
Banked slalom results:
Amateur women — 1st, Carmel Johnston, 2nd, Kaili Hagen, 3rd, Amy Wright.
Amateur men, 14-and-under — 1st, Lyle Rhodes, 2nd, Tony Machado, 3rd, Hayden Eaton.
Amateur men, 15-17 — 1st, Sean Robinson, 2nd, Dar Johnston, 3rd, Max Curtis.
Amateur men, 18-and-older — 1st, Craig Kuzma, 2nd, Ben Newsom, 3rd, Earl Reynolds.
Pro women — 1st, Jes Ford, 2nd, Anna Bengtson, 3rd, Jeni Axelsen.
Pro men — 1st, Aaron Robinson, 2nd, Manuel Mendoza, 3rd, Vincent Remmel.
Snowboard cross results:
Pro men — 1st, Steven McCollough, 2nd, Matt Sadler, 3rd, Aaron Robinson, 4th, Shane Moulder, 5th, Guy Zoellner.
Pro women — 1st, Anna Bengston, 2nd, Jes Ford, 3rd, Krista Robb, 4th, Lynn-Wood Fields, 5th, Michele Calabretta.
Amateur men, 18-and-older — 1st, Earl Reynolds, 2nd, Billy Drye, 3rd, Ian Crawford, 4th, Britton Ellington, 5th, Jeremy Carnagey.
Amateur men, 15-17— 1st, Sean Robinson, 2nd, Dar Johnston, 3rd, Max Curtis, 4th, Cody Ling, 5th, Jacob Corpon.
Amateur men, 14-and-under — 1st, Lyle Rhodes, 2nd, Tony Machado, 3rd, Scott Schieber, 4th, Baylon Connolly, 5th, Ryan Heavirland.
Amateur women — 1st, Carmel Johnston, 2nd, Kaili Hagan, 3rd, Bailey Eaton, 4th, Kegan Kenney, 5th, Taylor Crosswhite.