Four members of the Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team went to Snowbird, Utah to ski in the IFSA Junior National Series. Matt Evans, Josie Byron, Brittany Barefield, and Patrick Curvin took on a stacked field of 55 men and 22 women in the 15-18 age group on Rasta Chutes and Silver Fox. Josie Byron finished in 7th while Brittany Barefield finished close behind in 10th. Matt Evans was in 1st place going into the finals, but came up short on his line and lost a ski.
Photos: Julie Shipman
Brittany Barefield starting her straightline in the finals on Silver Fox. Photo: Julie Shipman
After two days of freeskiing and training with coach Will Dujardin at the Bird, (Snowbird is open wall-to-wall by the way) the team went in to Day 1 on Rasta Chutes ready for action. The girls opened up the day with strong, technical skiing on variable snow. Josie Byron’s creative line didn’t pay off like she thought it would as found herself in 13th. Brittany Barefield skied a popular line amongst the girls and was in 7th after the first day.
Patrick Curvin getting silly on Day 1. Photo: Julie Shipman
Moving through to the guys, Patrick Curvin opened up his run with a 3 off a popular booter. He didn’t clean through his bottom air as well as he wanted and was 3rd-cut after the day (just over 1 point separated Patrick from the cut). The crowd’s eyes turned to the skies as Matt Evans dropped in. Matt did a flat-3 off the top booter immediately into a 3 before sending most of Rasta Chutes for a good 35-foot air to a hard-pack transition like he never left the ground. Matt found himself in 1st place with a 41 after Day 1 with athletes from the Altabird Freeride and Bridger Bowl teams close on his heels.
Matt Evans airing it out on Rasta Chutes. Photo: Julie Shipman
The finals were held on a severely handicapped Silver Fox on MLK day. Frenchies, North Chute, Mini-AK, and even parts of Rock Chute were closed to athletes as the low-tide snowpack made for interesting conditions. In a weird and criticized move, the event organizers closed even more of the venue by Rock Chute to the 15-18 year-old women, but not the men. This made for very repetitive lines amongst the females. Despite this, Josie Byron was able to move up 6 spots to 7th place as she greased the ever-popular straightline after showcasing aggressive turns up top. Brittany Barefield made an incredible save on the very same straightline, but it cost her some control and technique points as she dropped a few spots down to 10th. With 2 top-10 finishes, the girls of the CBMST were glad to get this first competition under their belt as they head into the busy months of February and March.
Josie Byron finding a good air in Rasta Chutes. Photo: Julie Shipman
Last athlete of the day to drop was Matt Evans. Considering the closures on the venue, Matt had issues deciding his line. In true Evans fashion, he chose the riskier/bigger payoff line that was to be his undoing. After an incredibly smooth top section with a 3 and a 25 ft. tranny-find, Matt tried to gap a 40-ft. section of Rock Chute. Matt came up a little short, avoided disaster by clipping a rock, and found himself landing on only 1 ski (see top photo). It might have been the worst-case scenario in terms of points and finishes (Matt earned a 0 for his effort), but Matt learned the lesson about going for it when you’re in first.
This is way competitive freeskiing is about. These kids get it! Photo: Julie Shipman
Congratulations to Andrew Pollard of Altabird Freeride and Elizabeth Elmgren of Squaw Valley for taking first place in the men’s and women’s competition. Overall, the CBMST couldn’t have asked for a better trip. Considering it hadn’t snowed for a week, the snow was great at Snowbird with a lot of terrain to train on and get ready for future competitions and the rest of the winter. Next on the schedule is an IFSA Regional at Winter Park, a JFT event here in Crested Butte, and an IFSA National at Taos (if snow conditions allow). We need snow, so you better start praying for it harder. Seriously.
For more photos of the IFSA event visit Julie Shipman’s Facebook page. You can also browse her work on her website.
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