YOUR AD HERE »

Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club snowboard program records more top results

Joel Reichenberger
Steamboat's Taylor Gold, center, won first place in a U.S. Open half-pipe qualifier last weekend.
Courtesy Photo

— The podiums just keep coming for a Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club snowboarding program that already is in the midst of one of the best seasons of its existence.

The program picked up a number of big finishes last weekend at a U.S. Open qualifier at Seven Springs, Penn., fighting through an intense week of snow and tough conditions to earn podium finishes and qualifying spots for the U.S. Open event set to take place next month in Vail.

The top five women and top 10 men in each event qualified.



Nik Baden punched his ticket in two events. He was best in slope-style, where he finished second.

“On his last run, the course was really slow, and it was a really competitive field, but he made really smart decisions,” coach Ashley Berger said. “He killed it with a back rodeo to cab 9 to back double 10. It was pretty rad.”



Baden also was 10th in the half-pipe. There, he was joined in earning a trip to the U.S. Open by fellow Steamboat riders Paul Brichta, sixth; Alex Kondo, ninth; and Taylor Gold, who won the event with a dominating score of 94.4.

Gold continued his hot streak Tuesday by qualifying for the finals in the Euro Open snowboarding half-pipe event in Laax, Switzerland. He finished fourth in his semifinal heat. The top seven advanced.

Kirby Kelly, meanwhile, placed second for the women in half-pipe in Pennsylvania, also earning a spot in Vail.

“She had a rad run,” Berger said. “It’s a pretty big deal for our riders. We had some great results.“

To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253 or email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.