It was a perfect day in Crested Butte for the final of the US Extreme Freeskiing Champs. Bluebird skies, temperatures near 50, and a rowdy crowd hopped up on PBR and sunscreen cheered competitors on as they very carefully made their way down Hourglass. Competitors were not allowed an inspection run making the already insane terrain even more challenging. All they could do was scope their line from the bottom and give it their best at the top. One of the judges, ex-competitor and notorious freeskiier Brant Moles, said that by not having an inspection run it made the competition more true to the sport of freeskiing. “When you are our in Alaska you don’t get to inspect your run, and then go rip it. You scope it from the heli and pick out landmarks to figure out where you’re going. It’s what freeskiing is all about.”

The women ran first and really stepped it up laying down incredible lines through some of the most difficult terrain on the venue. Local Carrie Jo Chernoff nailed a very technical line through the “Bermuda Triangle.” But it was Jennifer Ashton who really shinned throughout the competition. She won the first day (both men and women) with a score of 44.4 by skiing the most aggressively through the highest line on Body Bag. She went on to win the $6500 purse with a total score of 152.8, leading the second place winner by a ridiculous gap of 16 points.

The men’s field was incredibly tight all the way to the end. Griffin Post of Denver, CO was the big winner leading second place Ryan Sutton by only .2 points. With some truly awesome skiing, Post managed to move from 19th to 2nd place after his first run. In the final run he nailed a pillow line that made the crowd go wild. Crested Butte local Jesse Hall placed 3rd only .4 points behind Sutton. The most exciting run of the day came from Chris Tatsuno who busted an 80ft front flip off the largest cliff in the venue. All in all the athletes put on an incredible show in Hourglass giving the crowd a true taste of what extreme skiing is all about.

For photos and detailed results visit:
CBMR.com

Results Final Day

Women
1. Jennifer Ashton
2. Wendy Fisher
3. Carrie Jo Chernoff
4. Susan Medville
5. Chandra Nellis
6. Emily Teague
7. Philipa Hunt
8. Holly Walker

Men
1. Griffin Post
2. Ryan Sutton
3. Jesse Hall
4. Bobby Block
5. Gary Fondl
6. Roy Leckonby
7. Frank Konsella
8. Brad Acre
9. Cliff Bennett
10. Matt Luckow
11. Alex Norton
12. Lars Chickering-Ayers
13. Christ Tatsuno
14. Cody Price
15. Elijah Lee
16. Gabe Robbins
17. Ben Somrak
18. John Taggart
19. Shawn Wolfenbarger
20. Rex Wehrman
21. Kyle green
22. Luke Shanner
23. Kyle Sul
24. Michael Scheuer
25. Brady Smedsrud
26. Ben Furimsky