Everybody turned out fresh and eager for the skin up Roberts. It looked like everyone knew how to put their skins on and Andy Mahre didn't make the same mistake he made last year of putting them on backwards. It was the first time in Fritschis for Sean Petit, and it showed. At the top he was completely finished, but it was hard to tell if it was a lack of ski touring experience or short legs that meant he practically took twice as many steps as everyone else.

Jeremy Duchaine lead the pack out and everyone followed at 3 minute intervals. Jeremy pushed hard, but Dave Treadway logged the fasted time of 1hr 11mins to beat Jeremy by a minute. Darryl Treadway came in 7 minutes later and the rest, well lets just say they made it. Eventually.

That brought a close to the competition so anyone with any energy left over skied the fun conditions at Red Mtn for the afternoon before it was time to sit down and judge.

The athletes convened in the evening and watched the slopestyle and Big Mtn footage compiled by Freeride Entertainment to rank their favourite riders in each discipline. It is a unique concept where there is no real criteria to score each skier. It a contest where you earn your peers respect.

In the final wash-up, Sean Petit claimed the Slopestyle, followed by Anthony Boronowski and JP Auclair. Dave Treadway took the Big Mtn with his huge huck off the top, followed by Sean Petit. Dave claimed maximum points in the skin, and the overall title hung in the balance between he and Sean.

The entire town of Rossland turned out at Rafters to celebrate the event and witness Dave Treadway be crowned the winner of Red Bull Cold Rush.

Everyone drank the bar dry of Red Bull and Vodka and then proceeded to have a huge snowball fight outside after last call as everyone was so wired on Taurine.

All the athletes were stoked on the oppurtunity and any one who had the privelege of watching some of the best skiers in the business do their stuff were thrilled also.

Until next year.

For more information on the event go to the Cold Rush website or the Red Mountain Resort home page.

A big thank you to Red Property Management for the beautiful condo we are staying in.