CRESTED BUTTE — A new judging system on the 14-year-old Freeskiing World Tour has opened doors to skiers who can deliver style as well as substance.
The fourth stop of the tour at Crested Butte’s 20th annual U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Championships this weekend debuted a top-notch lineup of aggressive athletes who skied for style and creativity points as well as the traditional line selection, control, fluidity and technique judging categories.
Replacing the aggressiveness category, the new judging criteria for style saw athletes flipping, grabbing and adding flair to their performances. Backflips and off-axis spins in the middle of the rock-peppered, ridiculously steep Staircase area of Crested Butte Mountain Resort often resulted in spectacular explosions, but occasionally jettisoned skiers to Sunday”s super finals.
“The quality of skiing today was unbelievable,” said Rex Wehrman, a former ski pro who has judged freeskiing contests for the last five years. “I’ve never seen anything like it ever before.”
At Saturday’s finals, a heavy-hitting roster of pre-qualified skiers competed with a large Crested Butte contingent that survived Friday’s pre-qualifying round. And still, the local Butte skiers defended their turf, with seven CB skiers making the final cut of 37 skiers in both the ladies and gents divisions. In a gnarly venue where any fall resulted in a long tumble through trees and cliffs, many veterans of the freeskiing podium exploded.
“People were just blowing up today,” Wehrman said.
Of 55 male skiers, 27 made the cut for Sunday’s super finals. Seven CB male rippers made the final cut and Butte native Francesca Pavillard was the only local lady representing among the 10 female finalists. While Vermont’s Mad River Glen skier Lars Chickering Ayers posted the highest score of the day, CB’s Tom Runcie, Alex Norton, Rob Dickinson, Caleb Mullen and Ryan Sutton all placed in the top 11.
Sunday’s contest in the rarely accessed Spellbound Bowl will offer two starting points. With a forecast calling for up to two feet of snow by afternoon and a venue riddled with massive cliffs, the potential of a soft landing could harvest a throwdown like never before.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com
