Damien Eade
Junior Moomba Masters takes place on the Yarra river in downtown Melbourne every year. Athletes from across the world compete in slalom, jump, and trick. The Yarra is not a normal private ski paradise. Skiers have to battle currents, rollers, tides, and a large festival crowd. Despite the extra challenges, American athletes dominated Junior Moomba, taking home five gold medals and 11 podium placements across boys and girls. Additionally, the boys made short work of the jump prelims, taking the top five slots going into finals.
Jake Ableson went on a winning spree taking home gold medals for boys trick, jump, and overall. He jumped 184 feet in back-to-back rounds, tricked 12,150 points, and slalomed 3 at 38' off despite the Yarra's unpredictable conditions. Jake's success didn’t end there. He was awarded “Most Outstanding Junior Moomba Skier” for this legendary performance.
Lexie Ableson showed a similar fighting spirit in the women's trick competition. She took the lead by an excess of 2,000 points during prelims and in the finals she beat second place by almost 4,000 points. Lexie’s slalom is nothing to overlook either as she took third place with a competitive 4 at 32' off.
While we’re on the subject of slalom, there’s a duo of brothers who can't be ignored. Damien and Jaeden Eade took the slalom world by storm during their intense battle for the Under 17 world title last year. They must have decided that wasn’t enough drama, because they kept it just as close a battle for the Junior Moomba title. The brothers fought tooth and nail, but Damien pulled away by a buoy and a half in the finals to take the gold. This won’t be the last we see of the Eades, however; they have both qualified to ski in the pro division as well, which will be Damien's first pro appearance.
Other notable performances include BG Bickley’s silver medal in the boys overall competition, in addition to his silver medal in jump. We also saw Camryn Waters and Corbin Pierce take bronze jump medals in their respective divisions. A big congratulations to all athletes who took home medals at what some call the most challenging tournament in the world.
