Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs mogul skier Caterina Mader returned to top form Saturday, placing second in front of the hometown crowd during a Rocky Mountain Division meet at the Steamboat Ski Area.

Mader, who has been sidelined since suffering a concussion two weeks ago in Vail, placed second to Kellie Slater in the open mogul event, which was held on the challenging Voo Doo course.

"The courses were really brutal," said Erik Skinner, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club freestyle program director. "The ruts were deep, and the moguls were very challenging."

Steamboat's Maryann Skraba was fifth, Jenny Rose Lee was seventh, and Alyssa Roche finished 15th. Sierra Weir was 21st, and Pip O'Donnell finished 22nd.

Mader also swept a pair of aerial events Friday with a well-executed triple twister spread. Lee was second in the first event and third in the second. Weir was fifth in both events.

As expected, Telluride's Joe Discoe led the men's field. The top Steamboat finisher was Chris Gebhardt in fifth. Abe Maynard was 10th, and Kyle Ewing was 11th.

Sam Tarrant finished 16th. Luke Kamieniecki was the top M-3 skier in 24th. Daniel MacArthur was 26th, Luke Belz was 28th, and Bo Randolph was 29th.

Steamboat also placed well in Sunday's dual mogul event. Skraba and Gebhardt both placed fourth. Kamieniecki was eighth.

Coach Nate Bird said it was a great weekend for the Steamboat athletes -- especially Gebhardt, who has not been skiing as well as he wanted this season.

"Chris (Gebhardt) is one of our top skiers," Bird said. "He had a great weekend, and I think it will help him get his confidence back."

Jesse Forth of Winter Park won both of the men's aerial events Friday. Steamboat's Kamieniecki was fifth in the first event with teammates Randolph in sixth, MacArthur in seventh, and Dalton Brett Lee in eighth.

MacArthur was third in the second event, and Randolph was sixth. Lee was 13th, and Ryan Dyer placed 14th. Chapman Geer was 15th, Scott Roche was 16th and Patrick Magee was 17th.

--To reach John F. Russell call 871-4209 or e-mail jrussell@steamboatpilot.com