The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We can go to the biggest amateur stage and represent”
The USASA (United States of America Snowboard Association) Nationals at Copper Mountain is a marathon of events with a field of athletes that includes the top amateurs in the nation as well as members of the U.S. Olympic Team and a competitor or two from the X Games.
“It’s a taxing week,” says assistant director for the Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team (CBMST) Christian Robertson. “We’re on the chair every day at 7:30 a.m.”
And while the CBMST may be one of the smallest teams in attendance at Nationals, they took to the challenge without hesitation, stepping onto the podium time and time again.
“The kids just put down top-level performances,” says Robertson. “They didn’t flinch, they didn’t back down.”
The CBMST athletes carried their momentum throughout the week, bringing home a pile of hardware and causing a stir among their peers.
Skier Aaron Blunck came into the week with his eyes on the overall skier National title ages 13-15. After taking second place in the halfpipe on Monday, April 5 and a first-place finish in the slopestyle the following day, Blunck sealed the deal on Wednesday with a third-place finish in the skiercross.
“He skied really well and we made his skis really fast,” says CBMST freeride head coach Woody Lindenmeyr.
With podium finishes in all three events, Blunck finished the week with the skier men ages 13-15 USASA National Champion title.
Hillari Spencer and teammate Hailey Loeffler held tight through the succession of heats battling against seasoned alpine racers to reach the finals and finish in second and third place, respectively, in the 16-18 years-old age class.
Skylar Kraatz had a breakout performance in her Nationals skiercross debut in the 13-15 year-old age class.
Kraatz spent last season on the alpine racing circuit and switched over to skiercross this season near flawlessly finishing with a second place at Nationals.
“She was motivated all through her training runs and going for it,” says Lindenmeyr. “She transferred her skills from ski racing and skied really well.”
Tiffany Taaca joined her teammates on the podium in skiercross, taking third place in the 9 and under age class.
Josie Byron ended the week with an eighth-place finish in the 13-15 years-old age group in skiercross, Sean Johnson battled some big guns to a ninth-place finish in the 16-18 year-old age group and Aiden Truettner got his feet wet competing for the first time at the National level.
“For his first trip to Nationals he did awesome,” says Lindenmeyr.
While none of them came away with a National skiercross title, five of the eight CBMST skiers posted podium finishes in the skiercross at Nationals.
“I’ll take that over a win any day,” says Lindenmeyr.
On the snowboard side of things, Robertson’s crew kept the needle pegged all week long, especially Nora and Colleen Healey.
Competing in the Menehune age class, ages 9-10, Nora took third place in the slopestyle and halfpipe and won the slalom, giant slalom and boardercross events to bring home the overall National title.
“Nora was on the podium every day,” says Robertson.
Meanwhile, sister Colleen repeated as the Breaker girls ages 12-13 overall National champion. Colleen won the giant slalom and boardercross events, finished third in slopestyle, fourth in slalom and 11th in the halfpipe.
“The Healey reign of terror continued through the week,” says Robertson. “The Healeys are clearly some of the best in the nation. By the end of the week people were wondering who the Healey girls are. It’s cool to hear that chatter.”
Alexis Roemer had her hands full in the women’s open class in the boardercross, sliding into the starting gate against an Olympian, a NorAm champion and a woman fresh off a win on the snowboarding Revolution Tour.
“The field was stacked,” says Robertson.
Roemer rose to the occasion, reaching the final heat and finishing in fourth place.
“I think it was huge for her,” says Robertson. “To prove she can run with some of the top athletes is awesome.”
The Menehune boys had a massive field of riders in the boardercross at Nationals, with 60 riders battling for the podium.
CBMST athlete Thomas Taaca advanced through all his heats to reach the finals, posting his top result of the week of events with a sixth-place finish and took fifth place overall in his age class.
Josh Gallen remained consistent all week in his effort at Nationals, competing in the youth men class, completing a top-notch performance from the entire CBMST snowboard team.
“They couldn’t have ridden much better than they did,” says Robertson.
Robertson believes that the CBMST snowboarders and skiers took home more hardware than any other team in relation to the size of the CBMST.
“We couldn’t be more happy with how the week went,” says Robertson. “We can go to the biggest amateur stage and represent. Kids, parents, coaches, family and friends all came together to help this whole deal happen.”
