There were moments last weekend on Mount Hood when simply getting down the mountain was challenging enough, between the sharp sting of the sleet, the soaked-to-the-bone chill, the complete lack of visibility, and the sticky, tricky snow underfoot.

So congratulations to the many young racers aged six to 14 who braved the elements on Saturday and Sunday to compete in the 2014 Meadows Challenge slalom and giant slalom races.

This was lens-freezing, camera-ruining weather so I don’t have any photos to show just how nasty the conditions were at times. But ask any parent who volunteered to be a gate-keeper or course-slipper how they felt by the end of the day, and they will tell you.

The nasty weather didn’t seem to affect the kids much, though, as they raced down Stadium for two days, pausing to wring out their gloves and warm up in a 100-percent humidity lodge.

Here’s a picture of the top two U10 finishers in Saturday’s slalom race, Colin Hanna and Levi Brown of the Mt. Hood Race Team, on the indoor podium in the awards ceremony Sunday. They don’t look too miserable, do they?

Full results for the Meadows Challenge are at live-timing.com.

Last modified: March 5, 2014