The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
New champions, new faces, old faces and gob smack athleticism
by Than Acuff
It’s only getting better.
After two decades of men and women pushing what’s possible on a pair of snowblades in the Extreme Limits of Crested Butte Mountain Resort, the level of blading continues to progress and extend beyond the actual Extreme Limits themselves.
Case in point, Matt Evans who parachuted, from a plane, into Crested Butte to make it to the competition on Saturday, March 29.
Evans is one of several competitors raised in Crested Butte exhibiting supreme “bladeness.” Another one, Carson Hildebrandt, had the perfect mix of Mustache, Line, Air, Costume and Overall Bladeness to take the 2025 SBX title. Karen Reader took the women’s title with Ben Thompson winning the Jeremy Worrell Sickblade Award, Conrad Kaul taking the Charlie Parr Sub Parr Award and Erik Hilb recognized with the Kyle Uhl Award. Hildebrandt is a new champion, knocking 10-time champion Ben Blackwood back off the pedestal he helped build.
“The one who excelled above all the rest on this given day, though, was our new Snowblade World Champion, Carson Hildebrandt,” admits Blackwood. “Carson has achieved so much as an athlete but nothing like this, and I am so proud of him for reaching the pinnacle. He is a great human and an even better blader. Many don’t know that I actually taught Carson long-blading, also known as skiing, in a local program when he was five or six years old. Sure, Krista and PJ helped a little, as well as his years of being coached as part of the Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team, but it was my training during these critical weeks that pretty much taught him everything he needed to be an elite snowblader. I don’t know what it was, but although I knew he would be an amazing long-blader, I could sense he was destined to change the world of snowblading. So, while I taught skiing to the other kids in the class, I altered and personalized my instruction just for him in order to send him on a trajectory towards snowblade greatness.
Likewise, through my work in competitive freeride, I judged Carson numerous times as both a junior and adult athlete, and each time I would tweak his scores just perfectly to subconsciously adjust his skiing style to one day have the necessary skills to be a snowblade champion. I have a feeling these revelations might blow his mind as he connects the dots and realizes this to be true, and I have a message for him: I send my sincere congratulations on this remarkable accomplishment, Carson. I am so honored that the plan worked, and your time to reach snowblade immortality has come. You deserve it. And you’re welcome.”
But with global warming bringing the 2025 Grand Traverse to a screeching halt, a new administration bringing the country closer and closer to mad chaos, how does the future of the Snowblade Extremes and the future of the sport look?
Once again, we turn to Blackwood for answers.
“On top of the new generation of snowbladers pushing the sport to new heights, it was the veterans that took this year’s competition to the highest level any of us have ever seen,” says Blackwood. “The all-time greats like Matt Evans, Montana Wiggins, Grant Spear, Abby Philbrick, Lawson Yow, Scott Stewart, and Alex Mattes-Ritz showed up as strong as ever, but I don’t want to leave out the excellence of bladers like Evan Marcus, Sam Lesnikoski, Conrad Kaul, Turner Petterson, Emma Latta, Isaac Evans, and our new women’s champion Karen Reader. And I would be remiss to not mention Ben Thomsen, this year’s recipient of the prestigious Jeremy Worrell Sickblade Award. We should all strive to be as rad of a person and blader as he is, and Ben shredded Old Pro like few ever have before him.”
He continues…
“Now that we have been holding the Snowblade World Championships for nearly two decades, I have to accept the reality that I am probably approaching the halfway point of my career. That makes me a little sad, but I know there are many years of snowblading ahead of me. I don’t want to take it for granted, so I am going to smile and enjoy every minute of it,” says Blackwood. “Like every sport, snowblading is bound to evolve and progress. I already see the next generation making their move, and it won’t be long before we start hearing new names called to the podium every year. I look forward to seeing what they bring to the table and supporting them in any way I can. I am blessed and grateful for all that I have been able to accomplish in my snowblading career and will continue working to do more, but I am also incredibly excited to what all these legendary blading brothers and sisters can do. The world of snowblading has grown to such an incredible level that I am just honored to be a part of it.”
