SNOQUALMIE PASS – Two of the grandkids of longtime Naselle residents, Marilyn and Larry Sherk and Berniece and Larry Helton, are turning into championship-level slalom skiers.

The two skiers are 12-year-old Allysia Helton and 10-year-old Jordan Helton, two of the children of Naselle High School graduates Darrin and Kristin (Sherk) Helton of Snoqualmie Pass.

Both of the younger Heltons are members of the Team Alpental Snoqualmie (TAS) ski team which recently finished first in the Buddy Werner Championships held at Alpental. Allysia Helton placed fifth overall in the Pacific Northwest Ski Association (Washington, Oregon and Idaho) competition after finishing sixth in giant slalom and tenth in the slalom. Jordan Helton placed in the top fifty in his age class. The duo helped the TAS team bring home the team championship trophy in the competition which attracted 32 teams with more than 300 young skiers from the tri-state area.

Allysia’s fifth place overall finish left her just two places short of qualifying for the J4 Festival Team which competed in the Junior Olympics at Sun Valley, Idaho. The winners of the slalom, the giant slalom and the top overall skiers (3 girls and 3 boys) advanced to that competition.

Olympic gold medalist of 1984, Debbie Armstrong, herself a TAS “graduate,” was a special guest during the three days of competition at Alpental.

TAS is supported in part by the Alpental-Snoqualmie Ski Foundation, a nonprofit, educational ski racing organization. The foundation is funded only by tuition, fund-raisers and donations. Fundraising is the responsibility of every racer and every parent involved with the team.