Hard-charging ripper, Sonja Lercher, led me down her forerun for Day 2 of the 2008 Telluride Freeskiing Open. Due to our unfortunate falls on Day 1, both Sonja and I were readily available for the first ever helmet cam-based follow cam forerun. This chick absolutely rips, and as you’ll see in the vid, she takes no time in leaving me behind. Way to go Sonja!

Well, it’s been a few days since this year’s Telluride Freeskiing Open finished up and crowned new champions for the 2008 season. Griffin Post and Hannah Whitney each threw down a series of runs throughout the two-day event to solidify their spots at the top of the podium.

The big news of the weekend came out of Aspen, which Frankie and Pauldo (the gracious announcers) dubbed the “Ripper Factory” for all the talent that has recently been coming out of the woodwork. John Nicoletta and Adam Moszynski came in 2nd and 5th, respectively; it’s great to know that the people I get a chance to ski with on a regular basis can rip so hard AND do it when the pressure of a competition is on. So proud of you guys, and the rest of the Aspen crew will be out in force at the rest of the competitions for the season, so watch out for the “Ripper Factory” to set a new standard in your home ski area.

In other news, my first day run sent me into the air in a sideways hangtime and my dream of a successful weekend was cut short by a hard impact into the middle of the main gully of Genevieve (the first day venue).

The following video is the first episode in a series I like to call Man vs Mountain. Each episode will be one of my competition runs from the US Freeskiing Series this year. Enjoy!