A great moment of integrity on the mountain

• Vonn Rules the Roost — It seems Lindsay Vonn makes history every week. This week, with a Downhill win at Cortina, Italy (one of the Edge’s favorite places) she took sole ownership of the total Downhill wins record from Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Proell with number 37. She won the Super G the following day, also grabbing the Overall Women’s World Cup points lead. She is now only seven wins away from reaching Stenmark’s long standing total wins record. Stacey Cook had a big week as well, finishing 15th in the Downhill and 8th in Super G. Lauren Ross likewise was steadily in the points with 19th and 14th respectively. 

On the Men’s side, Andrew “Warhorse” Weibrecht continued his stellar year with 13th in the famed Kitzbuehl Downhill and 2nd in the Super G. The downhill was stopped after 33 athletes due to several injuries. In total, the venue yielded four season-ending injuries, including Norway’s Swindle, the current overall points leader.

• USSA Youth Ski League — 49 Degrees North hosted two Giant Slalom races for the 13 and under crowd on a new venue this weekend. More than 190 athletes from seven teams attended. Both SARS and Independence sent a number of young racers. Top local finishers (top 15) were: U14 Girls – Graycn House had a great start to the weekend with a Bronze medal on Saturday, however did not finish on Sunday, Myriah Stenvers placed 5th and 7th, and Quincy Evans was 8th on Saturday; U12 Girls – Avery Edmundson finished 4th and 7th on the weekend, Grace Grady was 7th and 9th, and Erika Edmundson was 11th and 13th; U-14 Boys – Baden Brenner was 15th on Saturday, U12 Boys – Slate Fragoso skied to the Gold on Saturday, but lost a ski mid course Sunday; U10 Boys – Klein Fragoso was 9th on Saturday, but amped it up to the Gold Medal on Sunday. Teammate Crosby Schmidt was consistent with finishes of 11th and 12th. Other competitors were Kyetil Lund-Anderson, Riley Murphy and Wesley Simko.

• Junior Race Series — The series was canceled last Friday due to unsafe snow conditions. The final night of competition and the “Eat ‘til you’re sick” ice cream party will be this Saturday night. Family members are invited to the party.

• Smoking Aces Slopestyle — Saturday saw slopestyle competition at Schweitzer Mountain, with 60 athletes competing. In the Skiers Divisions, Andre Kemink was first and Mac McGarry 3rd for the Open Class. Dante Kemink was 11th for the 13 and under age group. On the snowboard side of the house, Lily Gamon won the Bronze in the Women’s division. Calvin Crossley took Silver for the 14-17 year-olds, followed by Payton Cox in 5th and Christian Niemela in 9th. In the 13 and under, Aidan Hazan was 5th, Shane Sherril was 6th and Kildy Pogue was 7th.

• USASA Skiercross — Mount Spokane hosted a skiercross on Sunday on fast snow. Dante Kemink was 1st, followed by Corbin Rial in 3rd for 13-15 year-olds.

• Integrity — And now the most important segment of this edition. A favorite quote of mine is, “Sports don’t build character, they reveal it.” This week a young SARS athlete, not from Bonner County, walked the walk. Nick DeMarco was announced as the winner of Saturday’s Giant Slalom, but he knew he’d missed the fifth gate, even though the judges didn’t catch it. He tried to reject the medal but it was forced upon him.

So, he walked to the stand, pushed Slate Fragoso up onto the top spot, hung the medal around Slate’s neck, and took the Silver into his hand to later pass to the rightful owner. Gives you goose bumps. I taught my children that the only thing that can’t be taken from you is your integrity, and the only thing you can’t replace when you lose it is your integrity. Nick’s integrity is in a safe place.

• Potpourri — The adult Starlight Series is coming up. Have you put your team together yet? Call 255-3081 for information. Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by e-mail at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.

The Inside Edge runs every Thursday druing ski and snowboard season in the Daily Bee sports.