The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Francesca Ace Pavillard-Cain leads charge
This past week, the Western State Colorado University (WSCU) Freeride Ski Team began their cross country tour with the Salomon Extreme Freeride Championships at the Taos Ski Valley Resort. From February 28 to March 2 the team competed against the best collegiate riders in the nation and came away with some pretty impressive hardware.
Francesca Pavillard-Cain won the ladies skiing category, Cierra Glenn placed fourth, and Katylin Hughes placed sixth, both in ladies skiing and Kevin Adams placed 13th in men’s skiing.
Connor Michael, Francesca Ace Pavillard-Cain, Kevin Adams, Alex Else and Justin Barr represented the WSCU Freeride Ski Team and WSCU Mountain Sports at the event.
Adams was able to step it up during the final stages of the competition, giving the crowd his best performance of the year.
In addition, this was Pavillard-Cain’s first Taos Freeride Competition and she practically flew right past the rest of her competition. Pavillard-Cain also placed second in the fourth annual Campus Rail Jam in the ladies skiing category earlier this season.
Freeride coach Alex Else helped the riders find their ideal lines, and with the huge support of the rest of the freeride team the riders were able to find the spark that they needed to succeed in the competition.
“I was very pleasantly surprised to see Adams really find his zone,” said WSCU Mountain Sports media team member Joel Matuszczak. “He has always struck me as a quiet kid—however, this competition has shown that he can step it up and push his potential to the next level, representing WSCU Mountain Sports with pride.”
The Freeride Ski Team, along with about 20 other members of WSCU Mountain Sports Team, is in Sun Valley, Idaho this week competing in the USCSA Collegiate Nationals. Head on over to www.WSCUMountainSports.com for updates on the team’s status.
