It stormed all night last night and into today. In fact, it started snowing even harder throughout the day with high winds reducing the visibility up on top of Snowmass’ blustery peak. Low vis, high winds, dumping snow? Sounds like the Colorado Freeride Champs to me!
It seems that every year Aspen/Snowmass tries to run this competition, it is inevitably put on hold due to weather. While new snow is never a bad thing, it draws out the pressure of a competition weekend for everyone involved. While the big guns in competitive freeskiing are currently battling their own weather delay in Kirkwood at the North American Freeskiing Championships, the regional riders and first-time freeskiing competitors here in Aspen are confronting their own set of pressures and concern.
This competition over the years has seen a slew of shredders who have all made the leap from no-name greenhorns to FWT veterans with dozens of comps under their belt. Many big names in competitive freeskiing earned their chops here at Snowmass first, before taking their skills to the road. So you can bet there are a number of first time competitors who are losing sleep, two nights in a row now, over their respective line choices and the fears associated with a leap into this new realm.
And for us judges – Kiffor Berg, Buck Erickson, Riley Gessle, and myself – the delay means a juggling of venue choices, line scoring issues, and questions as to how we’re to stay warm during tomorrow’s forecasted blizzard. Hopefully, we can start the comp tomorrow and avoid having to score the Champs as a one-run comp. Yeeesh!
Snowmass, the Tatsuno Way
I gave a quote to Jamie Lynn at the Snowmass Sun . She wanted to know about where I like to go when riding Snowmass. Here is an excerpt:
My favorite moment is cresting the top of the High Alpine chair, ready for that quick 10-min jaunt over to the Hanging Valley Headwall.
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