The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Ashley Bembenek takes third, Matt Evans fourth
It has been a wild ride for Francesca Pavillard-Cain competing on the big mountain circuit this season. Fortunately her season finished on a high note as Pavillard-Cain closed out the 2014 season winning a four-star Freeride World Qualifier big mountain event at Big Sky, Montana last week. In addition, she racked up enough points on the Freeride World Tour (FWT) to qualify for the circuit again next winter.
This year was Pavillard-Cain’s first foray into the FWT scene. The FWT is the premier showcase for competitive big mountain skiing and snowboarding, open only to athletes who have qualified through a pipeline of international events.
Pavillard-Cain stumbled in the first event of the series back in December in Chamonix, France, crashing on her run, but she recovered to stomp her run at the second stop in Kappl, Austria and finish in second place.
Then disaster struck both for the tour and for Pavillard-Cain. While back in Crested Butte, Pavillard-Cain crashed into a tree while skiing, breaking her orbital bone in four spots.
Down but not out, Pavillard-Cain headed back to the FWT to compete in the third stop at Snowbird, Utah. While still on the mend, she decided to compete anyway, but had trouble getting past the thoughts of her injury.
“I didn’t want to give up the opportunity,” explains Pavillard-Cain. “I was still able to ski but it messed with me mentally. I could possibly do more damage or even life-long damage.”
Conditions at Snowbird added more turmoil to Pavillard-Cain. While the event was scheduled to run on the West Baldy Face, a massive avalanche on the venue forced organizers to delay the competition and move it to a different venue at Snowbird.
Pavillard-Cain competed, finishing the day in ninth place and the tour then headed immediately to Revelstoke, British Columbia, where organizers and athletes were handed another massive curveball. The Revelstoke stop is world-renowned for the Mackenzie Face venue but once again, the snowpack did not cooperate as control work on the venue resulted in a competition-ending avalanche.
“During visual inspection you could tell it was scary conditions,” says Pavillard-Cain. “They threw an explosive on the face and before it even exploded, the entire thing slid.”
That concluded the FWT for Pavillard-Cain, leaving her in seventh place in the overall standings and well short of a complete season of competition.
“It was disappointing but I had placed well enough to qualify for the world tour next year,” says Pavillard-Cain. “My goals going into the year were to podium and qualify for the world tour again, and I reached both of those.”
Pavillard-Cain then hit the road with the Western State Colorado University Mountain Sports Team in a coaching role as the team headed to Telluride for a Subaru Freeride Series competition, and to do some skiing “just for fun.”
She then headed to Big Sky, Montana with the team last week for a four-star Freeride World Qualifier event. While her initial intention was to coach and free ski again, she changed her mind and decided to jump back into the competition fray.
“I was feeling really good so I decided to get one more comp in under my belt,” says Pavillard-Cain. “Sort of just do it for fun.”
Pavillard-Cain finished the first day of the competition in first place with an eight-point lead and set her sights on holding the lead in the finals, but refused to play it safe.
“I wanted to keep my lead but still push myself,” says Pavillard-Cain.
She headed into an area on the venue known as Hell’s Half Acre, an area she flashed in a competition in prior years, and did the same, including nailing a straight-line double-drop through cliffs to seal the win.
Crested Butte local skier Ashley Bembenek joined Pavillard-Cain on the podium, coming in third, and homegrown big mountain competitor Matt Evans placed fourth among the men.
“It felt really good,” says Pavillard-Cain. “It was nice skiing for fun and doing well. It’s a nice confidence boost at the end of the season and I’m really looking forward to the world tour next year. I got some experience from competing on it this year and some confidence.”
