Slope Sistair 2005- Hemlock Valley Resort

This momentous occasion all came together over the September long weekend after months of planning and dedication on behalf of Stephanie Nychka and anyone she could gather to lend a hand. The first ever ladies only slope style event was held at Hemlock Valley Resort and a dedicated crowd was on hand to watch it all go down-rain or shine!!Friday was a full day of practice that allowed riders to get a feel for the course and even weed the field down through a little natural selection. Hannah Stephens suffered a concussion and had to withdraw from the weekend’s event after she realized that she was repeating herself all the time and really wasn’t sure what was going on anymore. We were all looking forward to her no footed can cans, but they’ll have to wait for next year. Margie Bashour found that the dirt at Hemlock and her shoulder where like magnets and had to also pull out once they had contacted each other with a little too much force. Marcie Shatula almost joined the ranks of the Margie and Hannah when she nearly aired out of the wall and had to eject and grab hold of the wall full cliff hanger style. Over the course of the weekend, nearly every rider became victim of the wall and for some riders it took them down on more then one occasion, but they all kept getting up and hitting it again. Friday night was the rider meeting that went over any rider concerns and info that would pertain to Saturday’s qualifiers. Only the top 8 would go on to Sunday’s semi-finals. Everyone went to bed early, well except the locals that were so excited that the bar was open for a few days.


Practice started after breakfast on Saturday morning. And were the girls ever stoked to be there. You could feel their excitement in the air. Stretching was a must to get all the cobwebs out of the muscles and warm up. A few runs to figure out lines and it was time for qualifiers to take place. The girls huddled together under the start tent while they waited to get called up one at a time. Alicia Klein was on the mic all weekend with rider bios and info to let us all know what the ladies have been up to. She also kept us all informed on who was helping sponsor this awesome gig.



The course was put together on the existing area formerly known as the 4 cross course at Hemlock. It features 6 different hits from start to finish. They are #1-Pink Car gap #2-Table style booter for trickin #3-You could choose to either ride a ladder bridge to drop or chuck the 20+ foot gap here #4-Pin it off 2 different step down lines over Steph’s flower garden #5-SlopeSister wall ride and #6-Booter gap over the snow groomer. The Judges would be looking at how each rider tackled the course and allotting a score based on pre-set criteria. The rain seemed to be co-operating with us, so it was time to send the first ever ladies slope style event rider down the course. Kara Boelema was the lucky rider from a random draw and she hit the course hard. Kara rides with a lot of aggression and set the bar high from the get go for the rest of the competitors. The very first jump on course was a gap over a pink Toyota Tercel, here you either saw the riders gapping or jibbing the car.


The first run was a fairly safe run by most competitors as they still had a second run in the afternoon and this gave them a chance to see what was getting thrown down and what they’d need to do after lunch.


Even lunch was special at this event as the BC Dairy Foundation Cold Crew fuelled by milk put on an amazing break dancing demo that even involved a few of the ladies. Way to go Janelle for taking home the Milk cow with your dancing prowess. Bellies full it was time to head back up the hill to see what the ladies had in their bag of tricks. Only the top 8 would be moving on to the semi finals on Sunday morning.


The riders would be running in reverse order of run #1, so we had Jennifer Jones on course first this time. As the ladies came down one at a time, we were seeing tricks like no footers, no handers, one handers, tables, and even Gale’s signature No Eyes was thrown into the mix. The air these riders were getting was awesome too, with brakes becoming an item only used for emergency purposes; the airs were getting higher and longer. They also had the option to re-hit a feature if they didn’t get it right the first time, although points would be docked for breaking the flow of the run. Our last rider on the Saturday was Kara and she put this option to good use when she came up short on the big gap and was bucked hard, but held onto the bars. UP she went for a second go at it and once again couldn’t muster the pop needed to boost it. Well after coming up short twice she opted to hit the ladder drop and continue her run down. All riders had thrown down what they had and it was time for showers and supper and then the after party at Molly Hogan’s in the day lodge.


The buffet pasta dinner was worth the trip on its own-awesome meal! At around 8:30 pm the top 8 were announced. Check out day one pictures and results here. Once again most riders called it an early night and headed back to their condos to prep for the finals. A few however did manage to close the bar down!



Practice came early Sunday morning with some ladies hitting the course just after 8 am. It was in practice that Darcy Turenne came up short on the big gap and destroyed her second helmet of the weekend and was forced to withdraw with a mild concussion. The rest of the girls put it to a vote and asked to have Jenn Jones take over Darcy’s spot in the semis in order to run a full field. This is true sportsmanship. The rain began falling just before runs began but it didn’t deter the riders in the slightest. It would seem that over night a bunch of the girls learned how to hit up the big gap and were sending it instead of playing it safe on the ladder bridge. Way to go!!


Two back to back runs in the light rain saw the wall take down some riders and let others grace their way over it. We all headed to the lodge after the second run to let the judges do their thing and to warm up for the finals. During lunch the top 5 was announced and it was told that Kelli had just edged out Gale by something like 0.0125 points-Crazy close runs. After semis the top 5 standings was as follows: 5th-Kelli Sherbinin 4th-Sarin Black 3rd-Kara Boelema 2nd-Stephanie Nychka and 1st- Marcie Shatula. This is how they would be getting called to the gate for the finals too.


We all sat in the chalet waiting for the rain to subside, but that was not happening today-it even kicked it up a few notches to make things interesting. Some judges were heard saying “if this was a guy’s competition, they would have called it on the rain and left the results standing after qualifiers-not these ladies!” Not these ladies is right, with no end to the rain in site they all decided to get er’ done and head up the hill for the finals.

Upon arrival at the course, some drainage was needed at the take offs to most jumps as the water was beginning to pool up nicely. Once the take offs were buffed in, it was time to let these riders have their way with the course. I got the task of holding a big umbrella for each rider in the start area as to keep the rain off them for a few seconds before dropping in on the course.


From the top all I could hear were the cheers and OH’s from the crowd as riders either made it or came up short on various hits along the way. The rain was coming down in sheets, but those that held it all together were rewarded in the end. From the cheers I could tell it was going to be either Sarin or Marcie on top of the podium, but it would come down to the judges score cards for the final say. We all headed back to the warm lodge for awards and draws.

For a first year event the sponsors really came forward with their prizing and support for the Slope Sistair slope style. Stephanie had a draw box going that anyone in the crowd could enter themselves into in hopes of walking away with a prize. She was also running a fundraiser raffle over the weekend to generate funds for the Joel Demoskoff Memorial Scholarship that was being put into place at the Chiropractic school in Minneapolis. The big winner there was Gale Dahlager.


We at Pinkbike donated a DVD collection to rival the biggest collectors selection-30 of the newest titles from the past few years and the family of Sarin Black was super stoked to take that home in our random draw. It was time for the big checks to be made out to their new owners and announce the winners in the first ever SlopeSistair Slope style event. With Alicia on the mic and me with the prizes we began calling the ladies up.


5th place and a new set of Hayes El Caminos=Kelli Sherbinin
4th place, $200 and a clothing package from Fox Racing=Kara Boelema
3rd place, $300 and a clothing package from Helly Hansen=Stephanie Nychka
2nd place, $500 and a complete .243 Racing frame and parts kit=Sarin Black
1st place, $1000 and a new Mountain Cycles SIN frame=Marcie Shatula


It was so great to see the stoke in the ladies faces, I’m sure there may even have been a few tears in the contestants eyes, but witnessing it was great. Once the awards were done, many people had to hit the road home as more then one contestant traveled a fare distance to be there. A local band from Chilliwack, called Veltus provided us with entertainment after the awards were all done.



A big thank you has to go out to all the sponsors: Rip TV, Milk, Hemlock Resort, Mountain Cycle, .243 Racing, Hayes, Helly Hansen, Fox Racing, Monster Energy Drink, and Cyclepath North in Calgary, Adventurous Magazine, Transition Bikes, and Pinkbike.com. Thanks to the volunteer building crew for their hard work on making the course come together. Thanks to Heidi Telstad for volunteering her truck for shuttles over the weekend while she was competing. All the supportive families for being there to cheer their riders on were also great to see. Last but not least, thanks to Stephanie for having the vision and fortitude in seeing this event through. Way to go!


There will be various magazine and video coverage coming out in the next few months, so keep your eyes peeled. The guys at Rip TV are working on a full event video as you read this. Check out the pre-comp video here and check out all the photos from the event here. Visit Slopesistair for even more event information.

Happy Trails,