The U.S. Extremes that take place in Crested Butte, CO are renowned for many reasons. Not only is the resort of Crested Butte one of the steepest and most advanced resorts in North America, but the even more extreme terrain the ski patrol opens for this event makes it even more gnarly. The start list this year was stacked with a world class field of skiers of whom the winners of the last three years of the events (Aaron Estrada, Griff Post, and Jesse Hall) we’re all in attendance. I mention these people in particular because they have tamed these hills before, but the rest of the filed was equally as skilled and eager to win.

The first day took place on a zone called High Life and SpellBound. The amphitheater like bowl made for a great venue with many options for the athletes as well as incredible entertainment for the spectators. Athletes threw down in gallant fashion (as always) despite variable conditions and the eminent risks of extreme skiing. I however did not advance to the next day due to a small fall I endured after launching the last cliff in my line, but I am happy to have skied what I did. The last rock area I jumped was a 60-foot on a permanently closed part of the mountain that had never been jumped before. In the 17 years that Crested Butte has been doing the competition the cliff area I skied has only had enough snow on it to make it ski-able a few times, yet no other competitor has dared the non-shear cliff ban in years past. Furthermore, ski patrollers I spoke with afterwards say they have never even seen a skier in that area in the history of the resort. While I did not advance to the next day of competition, due to the strict judging criteria of a fall, I can walk away knowing that I pioneered a line on Crested Butte.

At the same time, I was happy to sit and watch my friends ski the next day on an area called Hourglass or Triangle Rock. These areas are also permanently closed zones on the resort due to the high consequence nature of their topography. Each line is typically littered with more rocks then snow as the steep terrain does not offer any type of harness for the snow to bond with causing it to slide to the bottom. However, the remaining athletes skied incredible lines, however like the day before many of the top contenders eliminated themselves by falling. In this sport falling is the easiest way to loose points, but from an athletes perspective sometimes it can’t be avoided. Nonetheless the show was incredible and I encourage you all to check out some photos as well as video on USFREESKIING.COM. Each event throughout the season will be broadcast on this webpage the day of the event. Spread the word because when you see what people can do on a raw mountain with skis attached to their feet it will blow you mind.

Till next time,
~T

This entry was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 8:29 am and is filed under tysonbolduc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.