The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Prep for upcoming comp this weekend
A week after strong performances on their home mountain, the Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team (CBMST) travelled to Aspen last weekend for the next IFSA Regional. Brittany Barefield and Solon Gray won their respective female and male 15-18 year-old divisions, while Brooks Hudson took second place in the U12 division.
The CBMST rolled into Aspen on Friday night amidst snow and a building social media onslaught of what they were/would be missing at home. When fog, not snow, caused a weather hold on Saturday, forcing the competition to be held Sunday, it’s no surprise that some team members and coaches alike wanted to head home.
But if there is anything Crested Butte is known for, it’s perseverance, and the team was ready for action on Sunday morning. A fresh few inches had blown in on the venue in the “Y Zones” on Highlands Bowl, and that was on top of six inches reported the day before. Stoked on the powder competition, the team solidified their line choices and battled tough visibility in the competition venue.
After their first-ever big mountain competition last weekend, the U12 division was eager to get after it again. Unfortunately, some mistakes in judging led to an athlete who crashed being crowned champion. Brooks Hudson led the way for the CBMST with second place (we’ll just call it the “real” first place), and Kye Matlock finished in fifth (really forth) place, only 9/10ths of a point behind Brooks, showing just how tight the U12 competition really was. Jackson Warner and Gus Bullock were attacked by the snow snakes in the powder and fell.
Brittany Barefield represented the CBMST’s female contingent and did it well. Brittany’s strong skiing amidst the myriad of features in the venue really helped her stand out amongst the women’s field.
“She skied better than over half the dudes!” said competition judge and local shredder Whit Boucher.
“That was so much fun,” added Brittany after her run.
There were eight CBMST males competing in the 15-18 Men’s division, and despite the team’s mixed results, Solon Gray came out on top, winning the division. Running second to last, Solon watched all the competitors throw down and had his work cut out for him. Earlier competitors had thrown backflips and big airs, but Solon wasn’t intimidated. He stuck to his plan and executed all of his airs with clean landings and showcased his powerful skiing technique. Solon, who has been a ski racer for years, has recently focused more on big mountain competitions where his racer technique is paying off in a big way.
Lane Griffin, Matthew Harper-Johnston, and Conrad Truettner led the rest of the men with 14th, 24th, and 27th, respectively. It was Matthew’s best competition run in his two years on the CBMST and the freshman has shown great improvement over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, Oz Scott, Bill Klein, Peter Landry, and Patrick Curvin all took falls in the powder. Patrick Curvin had a great run going with a creative tree gap but backslapped and washed out on his landing while Bill Klein started his run with a Big 3 that he slightly over-rotated.
Next up for some of the CBMST athletes is the Junior Freeride Tour event on Sunday, February 16, which is part of the Subaru Freeride Series Freeride World Qualifier event. The Taos IFSA National Series event follows the next weekend. It’s busy times for the CBMST, but all this snow has the team buzzing and ready for action.
