The 2016 Jackson Hole Powder 8’s Will Be Held Saturday, February 6, 2016
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is bringing back the Powder 8’s competition after a 15 year hiatus. This year 15 teams from the Rockies will head for the Powder 8 face of Cody Bowl, just beyond the JHMR ski area boundary where they will be judged on their synchronized powder skiing. The event will be held on Saturday, February 6, 2016 during Jackson Hole’s Grand Reunion Weekend – in celebration of JHMR’s 50th anniversary.
There is $10,000 up for grabs – the biggest prize ever. The prizes are $5,000 to the Winners, $3,000 to Runners Up, and $2,000 to Third. There is a $200/team entry fee and all 15 teams that will participate have been invited.
JHMR hosted the Powder 8’s from 1975 to 2001. It was an annual event where the winners were sent to the Powder 8 World Championships held at Mike Wiegele’s Canadian heli ski operation. Unfortunately, JHMR stopped hosting the event in 2001 when the backcountry gates opened to the public.
The Powder 8s have never faded from ski history. This event is going to be reminiscent of Aspen Extreme. The first winners of the Powder 8s was Pepi Steigler and Peter Habeler. Who’s going to win it this year?
The event will be judged by 5 judges who have yet to be named. Here are the rules:
USA Powder 8 Championship Rules
Three components, 15 points each
- Synchronized Skiing, two skiers ski in synch to form the figure of linked 8’s (not opposite synchronized)
- Dynamic Skiing, both skiers use a blend of three ski performances (edging, twisting, bending) to maximize control, speed, shape, and synchronicity.
- Roundness, symmetry, line of descent is a combination of three components.
- Roundness = round shaped turns.
- Symmetry = turns from one side to the other are the same (left turns are the same as right turns).
Line of Descent = path of linked 8’s should be straight down, not necessarily following the fall line.
