The 2013 Subaru Freeskiing Series season started of with a bang at Moonlight Basin last weekend. This event was a huge success for its second year in a row due to good weather, decent snow, hard work from both MSI and the Moonlight Basin events staff, and of course strong skiing from top FWQ athletes from the Americas Region. I had posted some of the results and the official write-up form the folks at MSI, but this post will go more in depth and share loads more photos.
During Day 2 we saw some huge moves being thrown down by both the Men and the Women. The Fourth Class Double/Triple (depends on how you hit it) was my personal favorite and at least 4 Men skied it clean. These big moves on the hill translated to big move in finish order with Montana’s own Joe Jasper leaping from 12th to 4th on the final day. Another local, Randy Evans, was able to boost himself into 3rd by skiing fast and clean.
Check out the video highlights here! Videos: MSI
In the end the battle for the top spot was between youngster Patty Baskins of Vail and Tour veteran Christian “Little C” Boucher. The styles of these two riders could not be more different and it was amazing to see how two skiers both attacked the mountain in their own way. Patty ended up prevailing with his fast greasy style and fluid trickery. Christian put on a hell of a show as usual with his directional ultra-high speed skiing and large fall-line airs. In an interesting side note Little C has barely been skiing this Winter since relocation to Quebec last year. He has been crushing a hill that he said “Takes about 20 seconds on the way down.” Even the skis these guys ride are very different with Patty rocking a 180ish cm park ski that is 82mm in the waist and Little C going big as usual with a 200cm Kastle that is 104mm in the waist.
The Women’s field thus far this season has been the most impressive group as a whole I have seen in my 11 years on the tour. All 11 Women in the Finals skied with power and agression rarely seen on the type of snow we were all dealing with. In the end Hadley Hammer’s smooth flow and unique lines won her a commanding victory. Sasha Dingle, who just returned to the tour two weeks ago in Taos, took 2nd place for the second comp in a row by straight killing it both days. The podium was rounded out by long time competitor Katrina Devore who may have been the most stoked person on either podium.
Other Interesting Stuff and Photos:
Also back on the scene after a year or two hiatus was Snowbird’s Jesse Bryan. He threw down the biggest line on Day 1 and a backslap kept him just outside the top 10 going into Day 2. At the end of his seconds day run Jesse tossed the above backflip and ended up over rotating about 5%. The resulting crash was a real bummer and put Big Jess’s podium plans on hold for another week or two.
Telemark skier Jake Sakson continued his attack on the Men’s side of things spinning and knee dropping his way to 14th. His Day 1 run was amazing and he capped off Day 2 with a monster spin. His upper section Day 2 was a little flat, so he slipped a few spots on the day. Still not bad for a guy with broken bindings….
With Max and Frankie over in Europe announcing the FWT events there was an opening for new announcers on the FWQ. The spots were filled with long time Snowbird skiers/competiors Ben Wheeler and Carlo Travarelli. These fellas kept the crowd laughing and the competitors stoked all weekend long. Carlo even took the chance of missing his first child’s birth to attend the event. Now that is commitment! I hope to see these guys behind the Mic at more events in the future.
The hike to the venues is still really gnarly. Due to the efforts of ski patrol it is about 20% less gnarly than last year:) Thanks for all the pick ax work to the guys and gels from Moonlight Basin’s finest!
The good folks at Moonlight Basin went out of their way to make the FWQ athletes and the MSI staff feel comfortable and welcome during our short stay at their resort. Big thanks to Greg and everyone at Moonlight for the great welcome party as well as the good times and big smiles all week long. See you next year for sure!
