After a brief delay due to do avalanche work the Finals of the 2011 Canadian Freeskiing Championships got rolling on Monday at about 12:30pm. With temps hovering around -20 degrees fahrenheit spectators kept warm by cozying up next to the bonfire built by the friendly Revelstoke ski patrol. The show did not disappoint….
After the initial scares from the first two female competitors losing skis and nearly tumbling over some serious exposure the athletes settled into some solid skiing. Leah Evans took down the women’s title with smooth skiing through varying snow conditions. All the other ladies had a bit of trouble with the avalanche debris in the lower part of the course. Tatum Monod finished in second place by skiing an exposed line and local Nicole Derksen placed third.
The mens event was pretty damn exciting to watch, if you could keep your fingers and toes from freezing off. Top notch runs were thrown down by Vermonter Dom Malaussena who moved from 20th to 11th and Connery Lundin who bounced himself from 13th to 4th. One of my new favorite skiers Spencer Brinson moved up one spot from fourth to gain his first podium finish. The top two spots did a flip flop as tour veterans Lars Chickering- Ayers and Drew Tabke battled it out. A strong day 1 run put Tabke in 1st place going into the day, but a couple of backslaps cost him the points he needed to hold off the hard charging Lars. Lars’s run was atypical of his normal style. Instead of big airs and huge fast turns he worked his way through the most technical part of the venue in a mellow and controlled manner. The judges rewarded his guts and skills with a score that made him this years Canadian Freeskiing Champion.
The Young Gun Award that recognizes excellent skiing from an athlete 21 years old or younger was won by Tatum Monod. Tatum was impressive in her first competition ever, she looked like an experienced tour pro on both days of the event. Congrats to her. The highly coveted TBL Sick Bird Buckle was won by Sam Cohen. Sam was able to stick 2 large 360’s off of natural features during his 2 comp runs. This is the direction that MSI and the World Freeskiing Tour want to see things go and Sam made it happen this week.
Sorry for not getting this up earlier, we have been driving form most of the last 30 hours to get home. The next two events will be Crested Butte, CO and Jackson, WY. I am not planning to make it to either of these events, so check out www.freeskiingworldtour.com for more info.