Gunnison Valley freeskiers lay it down in Jackson Hole

Mark Mikos and Louise Lintilhac take fourth place in their fields

In an exception to what is sometimes known as the Freeskiing Weather Tour, Crested Butte’s own Mark Mikos and Louise Lintilhac skied their way into fourth-place finishes over a beautiful weekend at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort during the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour Qualifier event last Friday and Saturday.
The qualifier is a chance for athletes who did not amass enough points in past events to earn a pre-qualified spot in subsequent Freeskiing World Tour stops, exempting them from the first qualifier day. Both Lintilhac and Mikos earned pre-qualified spots over the course of the weekend.
Also skiing out of Crested Butte, Hailey Loeffler and Hillari Spencer placed eighth and ninth, respectively, in their first competition as adults. Both had previously skied in the junior division. Will Dujardin shredded himself into a ninth-place finish in the men’s division, with Tom Runcie earning himself a top-20 finish at 15th.
Day One of the competition was held in Casper Bowl. Jackson Hole hadn’t seen any snow for a week, so conditions ranged from hard-packed chalky powder to sun-affected death cookies and slush on the venue. Out of the 23 female competitors, only 10 would go on to Day Two. Lintilhac skied a steep rocky chute to a ten-foot air, taking third place. Loeffler and Spencer chose similar lines and stayed on their feet through tough conditions at the bottom of the course, landing themselves in eighth and ninth, respectively. Cierra Glenn and Sierra Halverson of the Western State College Freeride Team also competed, but did not advance to Day Two.
The men’s field was huge, with 73 competitors starting, only 21 of whom would go on to the next day. Mikos, also of the Western State College Freeride Team and a ROMP skis athlete, chose to ski a giant rock fin, airing it out at the bottom and stomping on in to eighth place. Runcie worked his way to skiers left of a giant cliff face, lacing turns down the face and clearing a fifteen-footer for seventh. Dujardin hucked a steep peppery section at the bottom of a chute, earning himself 18th. Peter Smith, now skiing out of Vail but originally from Crested Butte, earned himself 20th on the day. Max Lindsey, Matt Byrne, and Phil Chilimindris, all of Crested Butte, skied Day One but didn’t get spots for Day Two.
In all, Day One was a strong showing for the Crested Butte skiers more athletes advanced to Day Two than any other mountain. The venue for Day Two was Tower 3, a face permanently closed to the public. Hillari Spencer skied first, laying down a solid run along the side of the steep “Unskiable Chute.” Hailey Loeffler skied directly after her, finding her way down some tight chutes in the rocky buttresses of Tower 3. Lintilhac chose similar terrain to her first day’s run, putting down solid turns in steep rocky terrain rather than searching out big airs. At the end of the day, it was good enough for fourth, behind Rebecca Selig of Timber Ridge, a former overall tour winner and first at Jackson, Crystal Wright of Jackson Hole, in second and another former overall tour winner, and Kristi Knaub of Big Sky, in third.
On the men’s side Mikos skied a great run airing 15-footers into and out of the “Unskiable Chute” and skiing the bumps at the bottom of the venue like a groomer for fourth place. Tom Runcie went into the day in seventh overall and stomped successive airs in the top part of the course only to get hung up on a mogul near the bottom of the course, finishing up 15th. Will Dujardin came into the day in 18th but landed two big airs out of “Unskiable Chute” and managed to move himself up to ninth, narrowly missing a pre-qualified spot on the Tour. Jessie Bryan of Snowbird skied his way into first, with Caleb Brown of Fernie in second and Corey Felton of Jackson Hole in third place.
The next stop for the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour will be right here in Crested Butte from Thursday, February 17 to Saturday, February 19. For more information, go to www.freeskiingworldtour.com.