Local riders stomp North Face Masters

Clif Dimon, Susan Mol each take first place

Local riders Clif Dimon and Susan Mol stomped back onto the big mountain snowboard competition scene winning the men’s and women’s titles at the North Face Masters at Snowbird February 8-10.

Dimon amassed three Boarderfest big mountain titles but last competed four years ago in the 2004 Subaru U.S. Extreme Boarderfest at Crested Butte Mountain Resort.
The event soon dissipated and with it went Dimon’s days of competing.
That is until this year when Dimon decided that he would enter the North Face Masters. The event, a big mountain snowboard competition, is the brainchild of international sports marketing firm Mountain Sports International (MSI).
Actually, he didn’t so much decide as he just said “yes.”
“A friend of mine who works for MSI asked me to go,” explains Dimon. “For some reason I said yes.”
Mol last won a snowboard big mountain event in 2002 but did not fare so well in 2003 and missed the 2004 season with an injury so she headed to Snowbird to clean up some unfinished business.
“Not even finishing and then being hurt I had a little redemption to deal with,” says Mol.
“Plus I had a bunch of friends to go with,” Mol says.
The weekend opened with a day of inspection as riders were treated to some heinous wind swept conditions looking for the right line the next day.
“It was terrible, just hammered by the wind,” says Dimon.
Poor visibility forced the cancellation of the first day and the competition was reduced to two runs on the final day venue with much better snow.
Dimon, who admits he made no effort to prepare for the event, found himself at the top of his first run with no plan in mind.
“I was sitting at the top of the course thinking, ‘what the hell am I doing here?’” says Dimon. “I just tried to find something that was tough.”
Mol has spent her winter working for the Crested Butte Ski Patrol with just six or seven days spent on her snowboard. She believes it was all her time at work that prepared her physically for the competition. Once she was at the top of her first run, she decided it was all or nothing.
“I think trucking around through all of the snow throwing charges and skiing has helped me to stay really strong,” says Mol. “My plan was I only got one run to make it to the super final so I just threw it out. Get as much as I can when I can and don’t hold back.”
In the end, Dimon put together a smooth fast line up top, dropped into a rocky section for some pillow drops and was in first place after one run.
Mol followed suit riding a similar line to Dimon’s.
“We just pretty much charged it from the beginning,” says Mol.
The field of 70 men and 23 women was then cut down to 15 men and 6 women for the super final.
Dimon stuck to his game plan from the previous run in an effort to defend his position.
“I figured the judges liked that run so I did the same one and just went faster,” says Dimon.
Mol upped the ante in her second run to hold off the rest of the women’s field for good.
“I added a little creativity at the top and charged the same line on the second half of the run,” says Mol. “I knew no other women were going in there.”
The plan worked for both riders as they finished on top of the podium, Dimon with $4,000 in his hands and Mol with $3,000 in hers. In addition, they were both awarded with Ninja swords and earned a free trip to the North Face Masters event in Aleyska, Alaska April 2-6.
“I’ve never been to Alaska so I’m really pumped up,” says Mol. “They better fly us out of Gunny.”