With more than 160 skiers and snowboarders chasing a $15,000 purse, there’s no doubt that this year’s Salomon Extreme Freeride Championships at Taos, NM was one of the most competitive stops yet. The stop is the only Freeride World Tour qualifying event in the states. Meaning the winner is invited to compete on stops all over the world!
Colorado was represented well with Crested Butte sweeping the men’s and almost the women’s senior divisions. The Master’s men saw a Squaw Valley sweep as well, with Larry Segal taking 1st, followed by brothers David Saputo and Jon Saputo.
In the Junior division, Telluride’s Kyle Koenig took the win for the men, followed by Steamboat Spring’s Matthew White. Local skier Peter Hunt tied with Colorado athlete Finn Mahoney for 3rd.
Women Ski:
1. Ashley Bembenek   Crested Butte, CO
2. Katie Gillen   Albuquerque, NM
3. Alex Riedman   Cressted Butte, CO
Women Snowboard:
1. Rosemarie Daiek   Lake Tahoe, CA
2. Meghan Moran   Steamboat Springs, CO
3. Meesh Hytner   Breckenridge, CO
Men Ski:
1. Brandon Clabaugh   Crested Butte, CO
2. Rob Dickinson   Crested Butte, CO
3.Tom Runcie   Cressted Butte, CO
Men Snowboard:
1. Ryan Montoya   Mescalero, NM
2. Justin Bobb   Santa Fe, NM
3. Matthew Baker   Vail, CO
A full list of results is available at http://www.skitaos.org/freeride/results.php