The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Klara Wohlers and Grant Johnson dominate
The Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team (CBMST) junior telemark skiers made the most of their shot at defending their home hill at the 15th annual US Freeskiing Telemark Championships, Friday and Saturday, March 18-19.
After posting podium results in two other competitions this season on the road, they stepped up to the podium in force at Crested Butte.
“I know that the kids had placement goals, it’s hard not to” says CBMST telemark coach Mark Robbins. “But we tried to stay clear of that. I told them all they can do is ski their best and hope it’s better than everyone else.”
Ultimately, their skiing was better than all the rest as CBMST athletes Klara Wohlers and Grant Johnson won the junior women’s and men’s titles.
It was Wohlers’ third title in a row at the Crested Butte event. Wohlers has the competition mindset dialed and knows what it takes to win the competition. The difference is the speed and fluidity with which she does it.
“She didn’t change her lines at all,” says Robbins. “But she skied them more aggressively and more fluidly.”
Wohlers lines included skiing through Angle Gully in both of her runs on the Headwall day one and then flashing Staircase top-to-bottom on the finals day.
It’s just been a matter of time for Johnson. Focused more on skiing rather than airs, Johnson continues to impress the judges with the same two tenets as Wohlers—speed and fluidity.
“For the most part he kept his skis on the snow,” says Robbins. “He’s just skiing so much more quickly and confidently.”
Robbins gives the unofficial team MVP award to 13-year-old Conrad “Conradical” Truettner. Truettner finished day one in fourth place but jumped up into second place in the finals for his first podium finish of his young career.
“Something just turned on for him on his second run on day one,” says Robbins. “I knew he had it in him to move onto the podium.”
CBMST athlete Asher Coady makes the trip up from Gunnison to work with Robbins and the team and made a big step this past weekend skiing in his first competition.
Robbins and Coady spent some time in areas like Angle Gully this season but never put him through there in one continuous ski run.
“We just started getting into those technical areas,” says Robbins.
But something clicked for Coady and he finished his first competition ever in sixth place.
“He’s hoping to go on the road next year to compete so this was a great start,” says Robbins.
Robbins believes that what set his athletes apart from the field was conditioning.
“All of our kids were skiing just as fast at the bottom of the venue as they were at the top, which is impressive because Staircase is a pretty long run,” says Robbins.
In the end, he believes that while they all had great finishes, the CBMST athletes conveyed and maintained a more important role at the competition.
“The biggest thing is the great spirit of competition,” says Robbins. “Give the rest of the field a great example of what it takes emotionally, physically and mentally to do well and have fun. If you’re not out there having fun, why do it?”
All but Wohlers are done for the competitive season. Wohlers will take her talents to the Junior Freeskiing Tour (JFT) and compete in the Junior Freeskiing Nationals at Snowbird, Utah, April 7-10.
