The Fifth Annual Dirksen Derby turns out to be a success
Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor played host to the Fifth Annual Dirksen Derby over the weekend, December 17-18, as over 300 snowboarders showed up at the event site to compete for top honours in the various divisions of the competition. The course looked better and more intimidating than ever, but that only seemed to fill the riders with even more excitement.
All the athletes in attendance at Mt. Bachelor may have converged to the event site seeking different goals, but at the bottom of these goals laid one common motivation, which was to help the event-organiser Josh Dirksen with his cause.
The annual snowboard rally race had been started by Dirksen five years ago in order to raise funds for his friend Tyler Eklund, who had become paralyzed from neck down while competing in United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) in 2007. He was merely 14-years-old at that time. There promising snowboarder had a promising future ahead of him, but it all shattered into pieces in a blink of an eye.
Dirksen Derby donates all proceeds of the event - which includes money earned from the sale of tickets, water bottles and a silent auction – to Eklund, who is living a handicapped life following the 2007 accident. This year, almost USD $18,000 were raised from the competition, which happened to be three-times the amount that had been raised in previous years.
Over the years, the Annual Dirksen Derby had become much more than a snowboarding contest and offered variety of entertainment for the attendees, ranging from a kick-off party to screening of a film. This year, the event organised a screening of Aaron Robinson’s Manifest at the Seventh Mountain Resort on Friday.
Fifth Annual Dirksen Derby started off with the snowboard rally races on Saturday. A huge field of talented snowboarders took each other on in Men’s Qualifiers in order to advance through into the main event on Sunday after getting the best combined score on the two courses designed by Dirksen and prepared by the numerous volunteers. Even the likes of Terje Haakonsen, who enjoys the status of living legend, had to earn his place in the top-ten riders.
Saturday also featured the split-board division practicing their runs before their race on Sunday. Dirksen, Ryland Bell, Forrest Shearer and Adam Haynes carried Eklund to the top of the mountain. He came down the mountain on a sit-ski, with someone else driving of course.
The snowboarders who had finished among top-three in the previous editions of Dirksen Derby had earned the Elite status and had a separate division for them. They did not have to go through any qualifications and were scheduled to compete for glory on Sunday.
On the final day of the competition, i.e. Sunday, a number of races took place, which included Men’s Elite division, Men’s division, Women’s division, Grom’s division, Older and Wiser division, Split-board division and Sit Ski division.
Curtis Ciszek walked away with top honours from Men’s Elite contest, while defending champion Austin Smith was forced to settle for runner-up place this year. Scott E. Wittlake finished third to round out the podium.
In Men’s division, Knut Eliassen emerged triumphant, while Blair Habenicht and Dustin Anderson finished in second and third place respectively. The legendary snowboarder, Haakonsen, was unable to find his place on the podium after finishing in fourth place.
Maria Debari took top honours in Women’s division, whereas Macy Price finished second. The third position was shared by Desiree Melancon and Kelly Underwood.
The young talent of snowboarding showed off their skills in Grom’s division. As the contest concluded, Van Allen stood victorious, while Rayan Bailey and Peter Christensen finished in second and third place respectively.
The retired snowboarders came back into action at the Fifth Annual Dirksen Derby with an entire division, Older & Wiser, dedicated to them. Gerry Lopez prevailed in the contest, while Reuben Valdivia and Terry Luzier rounded round the second and third place.
Ryland Bell proved his mettle in the Split-board division to walk away with the win, while Adam Haynes and Ralph Backstrom rounded out the second and third positions respectively.
In the Sit Ski division, Ravi Drugan took the top position, while Austin Sanders and Melissa Sween took third place.
The competitions had turned out to be pretty intense, with all riders pushing themselves to the limit to make a solid impact. It seemed like Dirksen’s noble intentions behind the event was spreading far and wide, attracting more riders to the contest and making it even more memorable than the previous years.
Dirksen was extremely happy with the success of this year’s Derby, not because of the amount of funds that had been raised for Eklund, but mainly because of the look of joy on his friend’s face.
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