The Freeride World Qualifier series rolled into town this last weekend and the action was hot while the snow was cold and chalky through the two events. Through the 2-star and 4-star FWQ Crested Butte, local athletes amongst the likes of Ryan Hoynacki, Rob Vandervoort, Kele Thorsen, Will and Ed Dujardin, Mark Mikos, Mary Boddington, and Brittany Barefield were able to find the podium among stiff competition and a stiffer snowpack.
Photo: Sydney Ricketts led the Women’s Ski Podium at the 4-star with local Kele Thorsen in 2nd, Tasha Heilweil in 3rd, local Brittany Barefield in 4th, and Kylie Sivell in 5th.
The action kicked off with the 2-star on Hawk’s Nest on Friday. The snow held up very well through inspection as many people made moves off the first set of cliffs and took it left into a little bit of Old Pro to hit some more before shredding down to the Slipper section into the finish. Will Dujardin actually had a rerun after a random skier skied onto the course and getting in his way at the top of his line. His rerun was good enough for 5th place, the young gun Max Kaupas was in 4th, Ed Dujardin had a couple spins into 3rd, Ryan Hoynacki took 2nd, and Ryan Faye lit it up into 1st place. The Mackenzie brothers had notable performances with Gary Mackenzie doing a switch 1 into the venue and busting a backflip to hit 6th place and Max skied into 8th. In the snowboarding Rob Vandervoort threw down a solid line to take 3rd and on the ladies side it was an IFSA alumna battle with Tasha Heilweil taking the victory followed by her Altabird teammate, Sydney Ricketts in 2nd, with former CBMST athletes Emma Patterson and Brittany Barefield in 3rd and 4th, respectively.
Ryan Faye leading the 4-star Men’s Ski podium, Griffin Dunne (not pictured) took 2nd, Mark Mikos in 3rd, Ryan Hoynacki in 4th, Will Dujardin in 5th, Teton Brown (not pictured) in 6th, and Max Kaupas in 7th.
The next day, the pre-qualified athletes took to the famed Headwall for Day 1 of the 4-star FWQ event. Some people would call the conditions hardpack but the athletes knew better as they ripped lines through Angle Gully, off of Box Rock, and off the Handrail to impress the Judges. After the action settled down, Ryan Hoynacki led what was essentially 5-way tie separated by .2 points at the top of the ski men with Griffin Dunne, Teton Brown, Casey Rivas, and Ryan Faye hot on his heels. Mark Mikos was in 6th with Will Dujardin close behind in 8th with WSCU athlete Tucker Volbrecht and the coach Ed Dujardin in striking distance as well. Rob Vandervoort battled some strong riding for a solid run in 8th behind Chance Lenay and Roman Kristl in 1st and 2nd, respectively, while Mary Boddington threw down a run on the women’s side that had her in the lead by over 3 points. On the ladies’ ski side of things it was a battle in Angle Gully led again by Sydney Ricketts and Tasha Heilweil with locals Ashley Bembenek, Kele Thorsen, and Brittany Barefield in striking distance.
Mary Boddington on top of the Women’s Snowboarding podium with Erika Vikander in 2nd, Randa Shahin in 3rd, Lynn Neil 4th, and Robyn Borneman 5th.
After Staircase had been previously announced as a finals venue, the Sock-It-To-Me Ridge was decided upon to host the finals, where the snow was better and there were a little more options to be had than in a limited and partially sun-baked/frozen Staircase. It’s a quick venue, but Sock-It-To-Me Ridge showcased some really impressive skiing through the Cesspool and Little Hourglass sections, last used as a qualifier day for the adult event in 2010. Rob Vandervoort laid down the best run in his snowboarding division by 2 points to move up to 2nd place behind Roman Kristl, who’s solid run put him in 1st place after Chance Lenay’s control issues slipped him down to 8th. Mary Boddington was almost overtaken by Erika Vikander but held on for the win with Randa Shahin in 3rd. In the ski women’s division Sydney Ricketts smoked through Cesspool to wrap up first place after Kele Thorsen gave her a run for her money through Little Hourglass to get top run and move up to 2nd place. Unfortunately, Ashley Bembenek couldn’t hold on in her run out after she went huge in Little Hourglass opening the door for Tasha Heilweil to hold on to 3rd place and Brittany Barefield to move up to 4th after strong run through Little Hourglass. The creative Canadian, Kylie Sivell, doubled her Little Hourglass exit to take 5th and Jacqueline Pollard had the 3rd best run of the division coming through Cesspool to move up to 6th.
Roman Kristl took top honors in Men’s Snowboarding with Rob Vandervoort in 2nd, Davey Baird in 3rd, Jake Hutcherson 4th, and Brian Bozack in 5th.
The ski men put down one of the more impressive division-wide performances in recent memory with not one of the 24 skiers taking a fall. There were a few takers for the big 30-35 foot move on the skier’s right of Little Hourglass and it paid off for some as Ed Dujardin moved up for 16th to 10th after some ridiculous in-air adjustments to stomp. Max Kaupas had the top run of the day off the same move, coming up from 18th to 7th. Will Dujardin had 2nd-best scoring run of the day through Little Hourglass to move up from 8th to 5th while Ryan Hoynacki slipped to 4th with a strong run through Little Hourglass. Mark Mikos showcased some real solid skiing to move up to 3rd while Griffin Dunne put down a reliable run to build on his day 1 score into 2nd place. Ryan Faye, who tied for 2nd-best scoring run of the finals with Will, had only been .2 behind the leader going into the day and his greasy run through Little Hourglass secured him the overall victory, wrapping up the double event win for the weekend and grabbing himself some valuable FWQ points. Big props are going to the Kiwi, Elliott Murray, for sending a huge air off a pillow in between Little Hourglass and Cesspool but the judges knocked him on his backslap and control issues to the finish.
A huge thanks goes out to athletes for shredding these chalky, hard pack venues at Crested Butte Mountain Resort and keeping it safe and of course to the incredible event staff at CBMR for putting on another great event. The FWQ IFSA series continues this week in Taos, where the 2-star will go down on Thursday and the 4-star on Friday and Saturday.
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