Colorado Freeride Championships Hit Snowmass

A skier who wasn't even competing ultimately captured the essence of the freeride competition.

During the men's snowboarding qualifying round on Friday afternoon, a single skier traversed to the top of a run in Snowmass' Hanging Valley Wall. Unbeknownst to him, a couple hundred people were posted at the bottom watching his every move.

As he picked and ratcheted his way through an over-skied chute next to a cliff band referred to as Two Trees, the "boos" from the crowd increased with every minute he delayed the competition.

Still oblivious to his audience, he paused below the large rocks, dug out his camera and snapped a picture of the line he had just painfully slaughtered. Sure, it was ugly and less extreme than anything else taking place on that wall Friday, but to Gaper Dan, this was his moment in the land of Hard Core. And he wanted to bask in that.

Never mind that he proceeded to lose a ski on his descent, or that it slid 50 yards downslope to a waiting ski patroller and an annoyed pack of snowball-chucking spectators. Or that his terrain tackling was mere comic relief for everyone else watching. (He finally became aware of the audience after sheepishly exiting through the banner-covered corral at the bottom.)

This guy was pushing his limits, trying new things and making memories along the way — just like 120 competitors who took to the Hanging Valley Wall and Burnside Cliffs at Snowmass over the weekend for the Stihl Colorado Freeride Championships.


Spectator Sport

Mother Nature blessed the two-day competition by flirting with spring. Warm temperatures and bluebird skies brought out shirtless boys, ’70s skiwear and an abundance of goggle tans.

Twin-tips lined the ski racks at Gwyn's High Alpine Restaurant during Saturday's viewing, while Bud Lights were sucked down and the smell of marijuana and grilled hamburgers wafted through the air.

At 10,465 feet, skiers and snowboarders gathered to watch some of the country's best big-mountain riders take on terrain called Carrot Chute, Triple Jump and Stiletto. On the cliffs peppered with evergreens, athletes bounced from snow-topped rocks to powder-filled pockets, greeted with cheers from the crowd across the valley.                                                                                

At the beginning of the decade, John Brennan, Snowmass' snow safety director, was seeking ways to promote the steeps at his mountain.

"We're typically known for being a blue-cruiser mountain," he said. "But we have more double diamond terrain than any resort in North America."

Around the same time, he began thinning trees over on the Burnside Cliffs (with a Stihl chainsaw). It became an obvious area to host an event, and the freeride competition was born.

"People are skiing more technical lines and making it look easier," he said. "Those superstars naturally stand out, and what they're doing keeps getting higher and bigger."


Aspen Ripper Factory

Along the freeride circuit, which most recently stopped in Crested Butte, Aspen is developing quite the reputation. With a rotating, but consistent, group of five men in the top 20 for skiers, it’s being dubbed the Aspen Ripper Factory.

This weekend's podium positions proved that, with local Kiffor Berg taking first, Mark Welgos placing third, Frank Shine in fourth and Adam Mosynski in sixth.

It's a three-peat for Berg, who has taken first the last two years in competition; he took home a $1,900 cash prize for his first-place finish. There was some controversy surrounding his victory, and some of the other riders think it should have been given to someone else. Scores are cumulative over the two-day event, so one awesome line does not guarantee a win if the other run was a bust.

Nonetheless, Berg dropped three 30-40-foot cliffs, in succession, with fluidity and style. As a hometown favorite (his name was mentioned more often by the judges than the word "epic," which says a lot for a ski competition), it wasn't a surprise he was crowned the winner.

Berg says he didn't see the other riders' lines, but was obviously happy with his finish. "It's a judged competition, and that's subjective," he said.

Kate Cardamone of Aspen took first in the women's ski portion; Riley Gessele took first in men's snowboarding and Shannon Yates placed first in the women's.

Proving Grounds

On the other end of the spectrum, events like the freeride series give those with fewer medals a chance to test out their skills and take a crack at something they love.

Take 19-year-old Nadia Samer, a Whistler, B.C.,-based skier who placed third in the women's competition. As a Skier X racer, she just began to get into freeride comps, and it's already paying off.

"I don't know where else I would get this rush from," she says. "If you saw my stack of speeding tickets, you would understand."

Samer is on a West Coast road trip, making the rounds at regional competitions. She's been pulled over four times since she left Canada, which highlights her need for speed.

On Friday, her skis broke and she had to use a pair of demo skis from one of the shops.

"If I was a dude, I could have gotten new skis from my sponsor," she says.

But such is life in a male-dominated sport. There were 14 females total in both the skiing and snowboarding competitions, and 40 men in the skiing finals alone. The women's cash prizes are significantly less than the men's, as well, with $1,000 for first in the women's skiing compared to the $1,900 the first-place male took home.

"There is a solid crew of (female) rippers here," said Samer. "A lot of them seem like first-timers, though, compared to some of the other comps I've been in."

Snowmass Steeps

If anything, the competition is a reminder that the Snowmass Ski Area is more than a family learning ground, said Brennan.

"There are some gigantic cliffs and super-hairy areas," he said. "This is a way to show that in a compact venue."

And even if dropping big lines is not at the top of some people's to-do lists, besides being entertained by watching other people try, it really comes down to personal achievement.

Whether that be hucking a 60-footer, or proudly showing off that photo of the chute you skied.

christine@aspendailynews.com