The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Event brings out top racers in region
J2 class (ages 15-16) alpine ski racers have four races throughout the season to qualify for Junior Nationals, a slalom, giant slalom, super D and downhill. Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) hosted the first stop, the slalom, on Buckley the weekend of January 1-2, attracting the top alpine racers in the region in the J2 class.
Local second year J2 athlete Cole Byron is the oldest Crested Butte Mountain Sports team member carrying the alpine racing torch, mixing his training between the Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team (CBMST) and Team Summit out of Summit County.
“He acts as a leader for the younger racers in our program,” says Mountain Sports director Drew Cesati.
Byron posted back-to-back seventh-place finishes over the course of the two days, setting a foundation for making a run at the Junior Nationals later this season.
“Cole had a solid weekend and put two solid runs in each day,” says Cesati. “That gives him a couple results to build on and there’s plenty of racing left. He’s certainly got some work to do but he’s been working really hard and if he can keep up the effort I think he’ll find success.”
Second-year J2 racer Annie Ochs had a phenomenal weekend on her home hill, taking second place both days, third overall including the J1 athletes (ages 17-18) on hand.
Ochs grew up racing here in Crested Butte, including a stint with the Crested Butte Academy, before taking her talents to a team in Steamboat Springs.
Ochs’ effort puts her on track for a Junior Nationals showing.
“Those are a couple great results for her,” says Cesati.
Meanwhile behind the scenes, Cesati’s volunteer race crew ran a nearly flawless event handling the sub-zero temperatures in stride to put on the J2 qualifier event.
“The new core group of volunteers did a great job in their first event,” says Cesati.
The crew will get another test this weekend, as CBMR and CBMST will host the Alpine Orthopaedics Age Class Giant Slalom races on Saturday and Sunday, January 8-9.
Alpine racers ages eight to 14 years old will take to Buckley for Giant Slalom races on Saturday and Sunday starting at 10 a.m. The CBMST crew should have as many as eight skiers competing.
“We will have a good group of younger kids out this weekend,” says Cesati.
