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Steamboat Springs — Michael Degrandis admitted there weren't many nerves surrounding Saturday's inaugural Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Huck-a-thon.

Degrandis, 16, said he knew he would have to go big if he wanted to win. So with a safe jump already in his pocket, Degrandis decided to do a trick he'd never done at the water ramps at Bald Eagle Lake.

Degrandis hit a kangaroo flip - similar to a double loop 180 - on his last jump to come away as the inaugural champion of the event. Degrandis has done the trick on snow before, but had never done it at the water ramps. He said he knew he could do it when he was consistently hitting it during the morning practice session.

Lucas Evans finished second, and Taylor Miller finished third in the men's division.

"I definitely thought I had a chance, but I went out there to have fun," said Degrandis, who skis for the Winter Sports Club. "It was just kind of like a fun event. I kept a smile on the whole time. It was a good way to start the dry land season. It was a good way to end the water ramping season, too."

On the girls side, Becky Miller did something she had never done to win.

Miller, a freestyle skier with the Winter Sports Club, hit her first double back flip to win the girls division.

"Becky doing a double back flip was absolutely amazing," said Rob Day, a freestyle coach with the Winter Sports Club and co-organizer of Saturday's event. "She kept getting after it and killed it. That's huge for her. It's absolutely huge."

The event was a fundraiser for the Winter Sports Club. More than 20 competitors showed up to the inaugural event. Competitors got four first-round jumps before moving on.

Day said he anticipates doing the event again next year and for the foreseeable future, based on this year's success.

"It went all right," he said. "We had about 20 competitors. We were hoping it would be bigger, but that's not too bad. It was a decent event. Some people came out and hucked themselves."