Toby Scarpella had a strong lead after one run in his first chance to ski for a high school state championship for Durango High School. His lead only grew by the time he completed his second run, but he had a long wait in the hot seat with roughly 100 more skiers still yet to complete their second run.
When the field of 104 boys had completed the final giant slalom run of the opening day of the Colorado High School Activities Association State Skiing Championships at Beaver Creek, Scarpella remained at the top of the results sheet with a combined two-run time of 2 minutes, 10.97 seconds. The DHS freshman stormed down the slope in 1:06.47 in his first run to hold a lead of 0.43 seconds ahead of Vail Mountain sophomore Cole Pattison. Scarpella’s second run could not be equaled, as he finished in 1:04.50 to grow his lead to more than a second ahead of Pattison, who finished second in 2:12.07.
“It felt pretty cool, but it was intimidating,” Scarpella said of his long wait to find out if his time would hold up for a win. “I was not wanting anyone to beat me. It was a pretty cool experience. I was pretty confident, but I didn’t have an ego. I stayed humble and made sure I still did good on the second run.”
Third place went to Aspen junior Charlie Olsen, who Scarpella edged by nearly three seconds.
“The course was really good,” Scarpella said. “Conditions were really good, and the snow was amazing out there. I realized I could ski on that good hard snow which I haven’t done much of this year.”
Scarpella’s win wasn’t completely unexpected. He’s been a force in junior skiing for a long time. Last season, he finished second in giant slalom at the Rocky Central Under-16 Junior Championships at Winter Park and added a top-10 result in super-G at those regional championships.
Scarpella and his younger brother, Finn, have split time between Vail and Durango for several years so they could train at Ski & Snowboard Club Vail. This year, his family moved back to Durango full time with Scarpella set to enter high school.
“It doesn’t feel as big as some of those races, but it’s pretty cool to be out here with my high school,” Scarpella said.
Scarpella, son of Alison and Brian Scarpella, is also a Durango DEVO mountain bike athlete and competes in cross-country mountain biking in the summer.
“I can’t say it wasn’t unexpected because he’s been skiing pretty well and won last week,” said DHS head coach Leah LeSage. “The most surprising thing was the margin that he won by. That’s significant. Ski races are won by hundredths, not two seconds. That’s a lifetime.”
It was only in 2017 that Durango High brought back skiing as a varsity school sport after more than a 30-year hiatus. Scarpella is the Demons’ first state champion since the program was reinstated. In 2019, DHS hosted the state championships at Purgatory Resort, Chapman Hill and the Durango Nordic Center. With high school skiing back in the spotlight in Durango after an incredible state championship event, the Demons had 29 skiers come out for the alpine team.
“We’ve had a ton of momentum after running state last year,” LeSage said. “We’ve got a big group of freshmen and Toby is one of those. We have had a lot of excitement, success for a small team. It’s really exciting to see the community, kids and school are behind it and looking forward to where we can go next.”
Also for the Demons Thursday was a 12th-place finish from junior Harry LeSage, as he finished in 2:17.20. He improved by nearly two seconds from his first to second run. Barron Bronson, a freshman, placed 42nd in 2:25.50. Senior Leland Heinicke placed 48th in 2:27.87. Sophomore Levi Tichi was 57th in 2:30.91, and junior Aiden Simpson was 59th in 2:31.40. Miles Bronson, a senior, rounded out the team in 76th in 2:35.05.
There were 104 boys on the start list, and 95 completed two runs.
“That’s a really solid result for Harry,” coach LeSage said. “He is coming off a broken hand and hasn’t been training much, so that was really exciting. He skied really well first run, had a couple bobbles second run but still ended up top 15 out of the fastest 100 kids in the state.”
The girls giant slalom was won by Aspen freshman Samantha Edelman in 2:14.56. She beat Battle Mountain senior Berit Frischolz, who finished in 2:14.97. Evergreen senior Jenna Blatchford was third in 2:16.40.
Durango had three girls compete. Junior Zoe Keisel placed 73rd in 2:36.13. Freshman Ava McClellan was 91st in 2:41.61. Senior Skylar Thorpe did not finish in the 100-girl field.
The Durango High School boys skiing team has nine state championships in school history, tied for second-most along with Aspen. Summit has won 18 state titles. But Durango’s last state title for boys skiing came in 1976. The Durango girls skiing team has one state title, and that also came in 1976.
The alpine state championships will conclude Friday afternoon, as qualified athletes will compete in slalom. LeSage said she hoped the girls team would find better results Friday, and she expects Harry LeSage and Scarpella to contend in the top 10 and said Scarpella could win again.
“My slalom isn’t as good as my GS, but I’m pretty excited for it,” Scarpella said.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
