CROSSMAN AND DEVERELL
FINISH FIRST AT THE 9TH
ANNUAL U.S. EXTREME FREESKIING TELEMARK CHAMPIONSHIPS
|
Jeremy Wegner blasts into the air
during Sunday's final. Photo: Eben Mond
|
by Molly Murfee
Note:
This is the Day 2 report, Day 1 can be found on TeleNews
pg. 45
|
MT. CRESTED BUTTE, CO Jaw-dropping,
heart-stopping air, copious amounts of inversions and lines with
the aggressiveness of hungry tigers gave the 9th Annual U.S.
Extreme Freeskiing Telemark Championships an over the top persona
as athlete after athlete showed the world that even with half
the binding, you can still do twice the tricks. The expansive
venue from Dead End Chutes, Body Bag, Staircase and Slot Rocks
gave tele devotees their pick of throaty chutes, abundant cliffs,
and tight trees to negotiate their bended knee turn.
With the field cut from 75 to 50 competitors
from yesterday's Headwall run, the final day of the competition
forced athletes to give the judges and the crowd all they had
to impress their way to the top. |
|
Coming from as far away as Canada and Finland,
and with heavy contingencies from New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado,
these tele skiers fully embraced their gift of perfect powder
conditions and a day full of blue. The top ten male competitors
pushed the envelope of endurance by having to perform two runs
for the day and showing a standard of 50 feet of air and a mandatory
flip to even stay in the running.
Yet once again, it was Dylan Crossman of Alta,
Utah that free-heeled his way to win the Championship for the
men, racking up his third consecutive victory in this competition.
In a day that held a prolific amount of air, flips, and aggressive
knee dropping, what gives Crossman his unswerving domination
of first place is his consistency, judges report. While other
competitors may demonstrate a high amount of aggressiveness or
technique, Crossman's scores push the upper echelon in every
category. "He doesn't bobble or even put a hand down,"
says judge John Clatworthy, "He's in a tele turn even if
he's billy goating." "He stomped his landing cleaner
than
anybody," continues judge Angie Hornbrook, "no part
of his body touched the snow after his jump." Crossman's
back flip off of the Burger of Body Bag nailed his position with
a total of 116.8 points for the event. |
|
|
Dylan Crossman (center) holds his
champ's trophy, already in his pocket are a check for $1,200
and Club Med vacation voucher. On the left is Scott Barady who
collected $950 for his second place win, third place finisher
Will Cardamone on the right also holding a fat check. |
|
But Crossman had some stiff competition
in a day that ended in runs that simulated a barrage of fireworks.
Scott Barady of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico showed awed judges and
a raging crowd the bottoms of his skis with a front flip off
of one of the loftiest summits of Dead End Chutes that gave his
run 40.8 points, the highest score of the day. Barady finished
the competition with 107.6 points and a solid second place. Tele
extreme veteran Barady has participated in the event since its
advent. He shows the camaraderie of the sport that is so common
amongst telemark skiers. "I have alot of respect for him,"
he said in response of riding in second place behind Crossman,
"I'm not here to win, it's all about having a good time."
Not afraid of flying, Will Cardamone of
Aspen, Colorado put himself in the running for biggest air of
the day and with big tree consequences in Body Bag. His aggressiveness
in his line choice pushed him from the fifth place seed starting
the day to finish in third with 106.9 points overall.
But with all this air, it was Gabe Robbins,
of Gunnison, Colorado who walked with the Sick Bird Award. Flipping
his body down 70 feet of vertical cliff in Dead End Chutes, Robbins
made even the birds jealous with his ability to fly. It was the
biggest air of the day and he had the crowd on its feet
cheering this local favorite. Robbins has the skills to qualify
as well, however. He finished fifth overall with 101.6 points.
|
Crested Butte's telemarking divas certainly
strutted their stuff, sweeping first, second and third for the
women. Crowds and judges had the privilege of seeing the top
five women run twice to prove their competence and assure their
positioning.
The ever competition-competent CBMR athlete
Janae Deverell held on strong to her first place seed at the
beginning of the day finishing with a first place podium seat
with 86.8 points.
Skiing a line untouched in Body Bag since
the days of Seth Morrison, Deverell says, "It's fun to ski
something different rather than something you know you can do.
It's fun to do something that's challenging." |
|
|
Women's division champ Janae Deverell
(center) is flanked by Erika Hosier (left) who took 2nd and third
place finisher Joan Stevens, all Crested Butte locals. The top-finishing
women took home identical prizes to the men. |
|
|
First time competitor, mom and 41 year old
Erika Hosier, also of Crested Butte, skied away with second for
the women with 84 points overall. Showing the heart of the sport
she says, "Tele skiing fuels the soul and frees the mind"
and that the home turf advantage can really make a difference.
"I will only ski lines I normally ski and where I am comfortable,"
she states. Joan Stevens, another Crested Butte contender, taught
us that it's not only men who sport cahones. Her first run for
the day featured a spacious leap from Dead End Chutes. "The
traverse looked scary and the landing looked soft
so I just went for it," she laughs. |
|
At the ripe age of 14, Jozy Gessner from
Dillon, Colorado has already developed a craving for the sweet
taste of victory. A 2004 and 2005 Next Snow Search "Best
Girl Skier," Gessner proved herself once again as a free-heeler
placing first for the junior women with 47 points overall. Mackenzie
Mailly of Crested Butte finished hot on her ski tips with 46.2
points and second place. Another Crested Butte local, Francesca
Pavillard-Cain swept into third with 40.6 points overall.
Nick Ludolph of Steamboat Springs, Colorado
rose to the top of the junior men's podium with 43.4 points.
Rayce Singer of Denver, Colorado proved he was worthy of a second
place finish of 41.8 points with Beau Johnson Nelson, Canada
giving the junior field an international feel and a third place
victory of 38.2 points.
Tele skiers certainly seem to be of a different
breed, here more for the brother and sisterhood rather than the
competition. For Crossman he attributes his athletic drive to
his parents who gave him the freedom to choose. He chose to tele
ski. He embraces "Seeing everybody get together. A bunch
of people who have something in common." Barady echoes his
sentiment, "I just love skiing and representing telemarking.
It's a great sport." Yet even amongst athletes who act more
like family than
adversaries, today proved that telemark skiing is capable of
pushing the freeskiing bar over the top.
FINALS RESULTS
JUNIOR WOMEN
1. Jozy Gessner, Dillon, CO
2. Mackenzie Mailly, Crested Butte, CO
3. Francesca Pavillard-Cain, Crested Butte, CO
JUNIOR MEN
1. Nick Ludolph, Steamboat, CO
2. Rayce Singer, Denver, CO
3. Beau Johnson, Nelson, Canada
4. Zach Lueders, Glenwood, CO
5. Bran Burger, Steamboat, CO
WOMEN
1. Janae Deverell, Crested Butte, CO
2. Erika Hosier, Crested Butte, CO
3. Joan Stevens, Crested Butte, CO
4. Marcia Ready, Taos, NM
5. Erin Young, Denver, CO
6. Tina Kempin, Crested Butte, CO
7. Taiga Young, Morro Bay, CA
8. Brie Pike-Sprenger, West Dover, VT
9. Hannah Hosch, Boulder, CO
10. Angie Mauldin, Almont, CO
10. Rather Hosch, Boulder, CO
MEN
1. Dylan Crossman, Alta, UT
2. Scott Barady, Arroyo Hondo, NM
3. Will Cardomone, Aspen, CO
4. E.J. Poplawski, Alta, UT
5. Gabe Robbins, Gunnison, CO
6. J.T. Robinson, Ogden, UT
7. Jeremy Wegner, Crested Butte, CO
8. Chris Erickson, Driggs, ID
9. Tor Stetson-Lee, Durango, CO
10. Matt Kuharic, Seattle, WA
EVENT SPONSORS:
Crested Butte Mountain Resort, GORE-TEX® outerwear, Guaranteed
To Keep You
Dry Coca Cola, Club Med, Total All Inclusive Vacations, Black
Diamond,
Scarpa, Telemarkequipment.com, Atomic Skis, Tough Guy Productions
(TGP),
Patagonia, Indigo, Marmot, Karhu, Isis and CB Mountain Schools. |