Jackson Instructors Capture Fog 8's

No help either were the memories of the '88 season's famous "Slab 8's" competition in which hardened snow chunks the size of manhole covers surfaced at every turn. Still, Jackson Hole marketing director Harry Baxter was optimistic for the 89 competition. The weather report called for clearing skies. Besides, 100 photographers, sponsors and competitors from as far away as Aspen, Snowbird and Dana Point California had braved all-night plane rides and icy highways full of migrating elk for a day of doughnuts in Cody Bowl. The show must go on!

The snow was better in Cody Bowl than expected, even though wind and wildly fluctuating air temperatures had layered the snowpack. When the ski patrol heaved a bomb into the middle of the contest slope, the blast punched a tiny round hole - definitely not your customary powder cloud followed by surface sluff when the snow is dusty dry. Realizing the conditions were literally bombproof, Mark"Big Wally" Wolling and his partner made some nifty braids down Four Shadows (on the western side of Cody Peak from the contest bowl), the now-traditional signal to let the official 8's begin. Judging by the quality of their turns from below, it looked like a decent day was in store.

The first competitors in the 8's, Melissa Malm and Carrie Cook of the Jackson Ski Patrol didn't fare so well, however. Carrie's skis broke through a grabby layer and she tumbled out of her bindings. A disappointed groan rose from the crowd. Was this a sign from angry gods that the day would be full of clutch-and-stop turns, mini-zorros and slo-mo egg beaters?

Yes and no. There certainly were some memorable falls as teams powered their way through 20 or 30 perfect turns only to lose leg strength a few yards from the finish line. The more successful finishers employed an exaggerated up-unweighted bounce turn, most with enough of a wide-track stance to survive alternate crust and powder pockets. At least there was enough spray flying in the boot-deep sections to keep the photographers happy.

Jeff Zell and Chris Leveroni grunted loudly at the finish of their turns, synchronizing their primal powder montra into a rhythm of nicely rounded eights. Captain Powder and the other judges awarded first place to the two Jacksonites. Zell's victory makes him a bit of skimeister to the local powder brotherhood. Just a week earlier, he and another partner, Doug Doyle, had won a telemark 8's competition held in nearby Rock Springs Bowl.

Of course, there is a major status difference between winning telemark and alpine powder 8 contests. For winning the tele 8's, Zell scored a pair of climbing skins. In the alpine 8's, he and Leveroni fared a little better, winning a free trip to compete in the World Powder 8's at Mike Wiegele Heli-Skiing in British Columbia. Stay tuned to the November issue to see how the Jackson team fared against the rest of the world. - CS.

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