A last-minute venue change brought more junior ski racing to Durango Mountain Resort last weekend.

The Purgatory Alpine Ski Team and DMR stepped up to host the second race of the three-race USSA Southern Series.

Blustery conditions and chilly weather greeted the skiers from Colorado and New Mexico.

Race officials created a slalom course at the top of the Upper Hades run.

The course was “tight, turny and you had to ski uphill over the camel back,” said 9-year-old Purgatory ski racer Maddie Jo Robbins.

Purgatory’s racers weathered the challenging conditions and skied to top results in the four-race slalom event.

The skiers competed in the USSA junior race categories: J1 – 17 and above; J2 – ages 15-16; J3 – ages 13-14; J4 – ages 11-12; J5 – ages 9-10; J6 – ages 7-8.

Coach Ivan Unkovskoy said the Purgatory team was led by its “young guns.”

“At any given time, any of our team can be podium finishers. Our team members are challenging each other and our competition, and it’s great to see,” Unkovskoy said.

The youngest girls, ages 7-8, swept the podium in all four J6 races.

First-year racer Isabella Washburn led, winning three of the four races and finishing second in the fourth.

Nancy Brown followed closely with finishes of second, second, third and second.

Purgatory teammates and their respective finishes included: Abbey Shephard (3,4,4,4), Elena Gober (4,3,1,3) and Ainsley Haggart (5,5,5,6).

Purgatory’s lone J5 girl, Robbins, skied consistently to seventh, seventh, sixth and sixth places.

Bryce Ward led the way with gold and silver performances. She also had two fourth places.

Teammates Katie F. Milliet (3,1,4,5) and Anne Chase (6,4,5, DNF) were close on her heels.

Purgatory’s boys were not to be left out.

Second-year J6 racer Nicolas Unkovskoy skied aggressively and won four gold medals.

Purgatory’s J6 skiers added a number of top results: Calvin Chase (3,5,6,3), Wiley Cora (DNF, 3, 2,6), Wesley Jackson (6,2,4,5), Harry Lesage (5,4,12,7), Evan Donovan (DNF, 8,5,2), the Ledbetter brothers, Kaleb (DNF, 10, 9) and Jacob (DNF, 12,11,11) in their first races, Ethan Craig (8 in his first race).

The Purgatory J5 boys were led by Jack Eggleston, who continued to dominate the field with four first-place finishes.

The rest of the J5 boys placed high all weekend long: Joe Pope (5,7,6,7), Silverton’s William Morris (4,2,5,6), Gunnar Schwab (7,8,3,5), Henry Haggart (9,9,9,12) and Gavin Wrublik (10,5,2,9).

J4 Clay Eggleston stood on the podium all weekend . He was second, third, second and third.

In Ability Class (J3 and older), the times from morning and afternoon races are combined to determine the winners.

In the girls race on Saturday, Purgatory had four racers in the top 10. Purgatory had two in the top five on Sunday.

Megan Pope led the team with a bronze medal on Saturday and career-best silver medal Sunday.

On Saturday, Katarina Seibert placed fourth, Lauren F. Milliet placed fifth, and sister Brooke F. Milliet placed sixth.

On Sunday, Seibert was fourth again.

In the boys Ability class, Liam Weiss skied to some of his best finishes of the season with two gold medal days.

Weiss is poised to become the first four-time Junior Olympic alpine qualifier in recent team history.

Jobe Sarvash, who missed a gate Saturday and did not finish, recovered with two solid runs Sunday to take a silver medal.

“In their first slalom races of the season, the team posted terrific results,” Purgatory alpine head coach Leah Lesage said.

“Kudos to Mike McCormack, Matt Nimetz, the DMR race crew and all of our parent volunteers for stepping in at the last minute to save the race,” Lesage said.

Purgatory’s older (J2) racers skied at the Millenium Cup Junior FIS (Federation Internationale de Ski) Race in Telluride, a two-day, four-run giant slalom down the challenging Milk Run course.

Scott Schwab, Stephanie Bowles, Sonja Fleming and Curtis Eggleston all posted top-30 finishes to qualify for the next FIS race in Steamboat Springs.

dstrode @durangoherald.com