Huntsville • Sarah Burke hadn’t skied at a Winter Dew Tour event for two years.
But she was everywhere Friday.
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Semifinal results
Women’s freeski superpipe qualifiers
1. Devin Logan, Park City, Utah » 88
2. Rosalind Growenewoud, Calgary, Alberta » 86.5
3. Brita Sigourney, Carmel, Calif. » 85
4. Ayana Onozuka, South Uonuma City, Japan » 78.25
5. Anais Caradeux, La Clusaz, France » 75.5
Women’s snowboard slopestyle qualifiers
1. Sarka Pancochova, Uh.Brod, Czech Republic » 87.33
2. Enni Rukajarvi, Kuusamo, Finland, » 86
3. Julianne Brackett, South Lake Tahoe, Calif. » 83.67
4. Joanna Dzierzaski, South Lake Tahoe, Calif. » 76.5
5. Nicki Slechta, Los Angeles » 72.5
Men’s snowboard slopestyle qualifiers
1. Mark Hoyt, Grand Junction, Colo. » 88.17
2. Sage Kotsenburg, Park City, Utah » 86.5
3. Seth Hill, Jacksonville, Ore. » 83
4. Dash Kamp, Sandpoint, Idaho » 82.83
5. Justin Morgan, Ballston Lake, N.Y. » 81.5
6. Jake Aaronson, Needham, Mass. » 79.17
7. Ian Thorley, Marquette, Mich. » 76.83
8. Spencer Link, Corona, Calif. » 75.33
9. Brandon Reis, Peterborough, N.H. » 73.17
Men’s freeski superpipe qualifiers
1. David Wise, Reno, Nev. » 95
2. Thomas Krief, Alpe D’huez, France » 89
3. Gus Kenworthy, Telluride, Colo. » 88
4. Simon Dumont, Bethel, Maine » 87.50
5. Matt Margetts, Penticton, B.C. » 87
6. Benoit Valentin, La Plagne, France » 86.5
7. Mike Riddle, Sherwood Park, Alberta » 85
8. Tucker Perkins, North Hampton, N.H. » 84.5
9. Jossi Wells, Wanaka, N.Z. » 82.25
10. A.J. Kemppainen, Kuusamo, Finland » 76
Men’s snowboard superpipe qualifiers
1. Mason Aguirre, Duluth, Minn. » 79
2. Zachary Black, Breckenridge, Colo. » 75
3. Trevor Jacob, Malibu, Calif. » 73
4. Ben Ferguson, Bend, Ore. » 72
5. Spencer Shaw, Stratton, Vt. » 70.5
6. Ben Watts, Bend, Ore. » 68
7. Kyle Mack, West Bloomfield, Mich. » 65.25
8. Jack Mitrani, Mammoth Lakes, Calif. » 64.25
9. Scotty Pike, Sun Valley, Idaho » 63.5
10. Paul Brichta, Burnsville, Minn. » 62.75
Women’s snowboard superpipe qualifiers
1. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, Colo. » 92.25
2. Xuetong Cai, Harbin, China » 90.5
3. Arielle Gold, Steamboat Springs, Colo. » 75.0
4. Sophie Rodriguez, Grenoble, France » 70.75
5. Sarah Conrad, Halifax, Canada » 70.5
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Twenty-one days after the 29-year-old Canadian freeski pioneer died from injuries suffered in a crash in the superpipe at Park City, there was no separating Burke from the sport she left behind. On the first day of the Toyota Championships at Snowbasin, she existed on athletes’ stickered helmets with messages like "Remember Sarah," and on the minds of the few dozen spectators who gathered at the base of the pipe for the event’s semifinals.
This is the sport that killed Burke — this elegant sport of sliding and gliding and slow-motion turns. When a competitor crashed Friday, two members of a medical response team wearing blue vests with narrow neon stripes started toward her, only to stop when she twisted her skis around and hopped back up, frustrated but smiling.
Friday’s freeski event of the Winter Dew Tour was the first in Utah since Burke’s death. At the Dew Tour stop in Killington, Vt., last month, therapists were on hand to help athletes deal with grief. Then came the X Games.
Another sticker summed up the state of the sport and its stars. "Skiing for Sarah," it read.
"They’re on the other side of the grief scale," said Peter Judge, CEO of the Canadian Freestyle Skiing Association, which oversees the sport in Burke’s native country. "They’re on the celebration-of-life side."
Judge stood at the base of the superpipe, a sticker spelling "Sarah" in pretty red script stuck to the lapel of his left jacket.
After Burke’s accident, he was besieged by interview requests and was the go-to voice for perspective on the star of the Canadian team.
Friday he stood by, mostly unbothered, tapping away on two cellphones. Watching the sport, and not talking sadly of its dangers, Judge said was "cathartic."
It’s a critical time for the sport of women’s freeski, which last year was approved for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. This year also marks the first season the sport is a full-fledged event on the Dew Tour.
"It definitely brings it to a bigger audience," said Rosalind Groenewoud, Burke’s Canadian teammate who finished second in the semifinals Friday and won superpipe at the X Games last month.
Park City resident Devin Logan qualified first at Snowbasin, on her final run passing Groenewoud with an 88-point run.
She leads the five qualifiers from the semifinals into tomorrow’s finals, where they will join season-points leader Maddie Bowman.
Logan, who moved to Utah from Vermont in October, trains on the superpipe at Park City and is the only female athlete on the Dew Tour who also competes in slopestyle, the other freeski event. Logan credited Burke for helping the sport reaching its current status, explaining the support for her among friends and competitors.
"We just want to live on her dreams and her legacies and not let them die with her," said Logan, 18. "That’s why I’m skiing today, because I love the sport, first off, but I want to see girls push the sport more."
Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
