RV Stylee

I would like to thank the Jersey Shore boys, Ed "The Red" Field and Pauly Brockman for coming up with the idea. Slept six comfortably and definitely was slopside accomadations with a firepit and snow cave icluded. Thanks to Tyler Dewitt, Jake Laskin, Ivava Krone and my lady Liz for sharing the accomadations, and everyone who hung out. Let's get a few next year create a freeride village.

Top: Brews after a long Day at the Casa

Bottom: Watching the footie from the day with the boys from Whistler.

Chuck White gets Snorting Elk Angry!

Hey Chuck Thanks again for your involvement in The Silver King. See ya next year. Oh yea and as Adam Devargas put it " I could go out and do a powder run! " Thanks Buddy

John Barci Kicks Ass

Wanted to send out thanks for another successful comp. Saw over a 100% increase in the rider numbers there this Year. And hopefully another 100% next year.

Spcial Thanks to APO Snowboards

I would like to give a shout out to Will Veve APO's Owner who chilled with the riders at both comps. We appreciate your support and look forward to taking a picture of you next year with a board on your feet!

Stay tuned for pictures from the weekend RV Stylee

2008 North American Snowboard Freeride Tour Final Standings

2008 North American Freeride Snowboard tour
Final Standings

Name ---- Colorado Freeride --- Silver King ---- Overall

-------Snowboard Women
1. Shannan Yates ---- 200 --- 200 ---- 400
2. Ivana Crone ---- 150 --- 140 ---- 290
3. Lisa Ruggieri ---- 140 --- 130 --- - 270
4. Onna Konicek ---- 180 --- 0 --- - 180
4. Alison Kayes ---- 0 --- 180 ---- 180
6 Nathalie Nevins ---- 160 --- 0 ---- 160
6. Jamie Coughlin ---- 0 --- 160 ---- 160
8. Heather Chapin ---- 0 --- 150 ---- 150
9. Rachel Sheidow ---- 130 --- 0 ---- 130
10. Kendra Charts ---- 120 --- 0 ---- 120
10. Alexandria Jackson ---- 0 --- 120 ---- 120
-------Snowboard Men
1. Dave Watson ---- 180 --- 200 ---- 380
2. Ben Crocker ---- 150 --- 130 ---- 280
3. Tyler Dewitt ---- 140 --- 120 ---- 260
4. Jake Laskin ---- 105 --- 140 ---- 245
5. Riley Gessele ---- 200 --- 0 ---- 200
6. Sky Risvold ---- 0 --- 180 ---- 180
7. Wallace Westfeldt ---- 160 --- 0 ---- 160
7. Adam Devargas ---- 0 --- 160 ---- 160
9. Aaron Robinson ---- 0 --- 150 ---- 150
10. Jonathan Penfield ---- 130 --- 0 ---- 130
11. Eli Lieberman ---- 120 --- 0 ---- 120
12. Jason Nielson ---- 110 --- 0 ---- 110
12. Doug Thayer ---- 0 --- 110 ---- 110
14. Tim Roberts ---- 0 --- 105 ---- 105
15. Matty Fulop ---- 100 --- 0 ---- 100
15. Joey Smith-Howard ---- 0 --- 100 ---- 100
17. Jeff Adler ---- 95 --- 0 ---- 95
17. Justin Treat ---- 0 --- 95 ---- 95
19. Joel Howard ---- 90 --- 0 ---- 90
19. Duncan Morel ---- 0 --- 90 ---- 90
21. Aaron Lippold ---- 85 --- 0 ---- 85
21. Andy Bergin-Sperry ---- 0 --- 85 ---- 85
23. Evan Winn ---- 80 --- 0 ---- 80
24. Teddy Hoffman ---- 75 --- 0 ---- 75
25. Raymond Viera ---- 70 --- 0 ---- 70
26. Aaron Berne ---- 65 --- 0 ---- 65
27. Casey Vandenbroek ---- 60 -- 0 ---- 60

2008 Silver King Freeride Results

2008 Silver King Freeride
Final Standings

Snowboard Women
Rank -- Name -- --- Run 1 -- Run 2----- Total

1st Shannon Yates-- 20.56 -- 32.88 -- 53.44
2nd Alison Kayes -- 18.38 -- 26.25 -- 44.63
3rd Jamie Coughlin -- 15.19 -- 26.81 -- 42.00
4th Heather Chapin -- 17.13 -- 24.31 -- 41.44
5th Ivana Crone -- 14.88 -- 26.--41.07
6th Lisa Ruggieri -- 15.44 -- 25.25 -- 40.69
7th Alexandria Jackson -- 11.06 -- 25.63 -- 36.69

Snowboard Men

1st Dave Watson -- 23.75 -- 32.56 -- 56.31
2nd Sky Risvold -- 20.06 -- 34.56 -- 54.62
3rd Adam DeVargas -- 18.31 -- 36.19 -- 54.50
4th Aaron Robinson -- 20.19 -- 31.94 -- 52.13
5th Jake Laskin -- 18.25 -- 30.63 -- 48.88
6th Ben Crocker -- 19.38 -- 25.44 -- 44.82
7th Tyler Dewitt -- 15.00-- 28.88 -- 43.88
8th Doug Thayer -- 19.81 -- 20.38 -- 40.19
9th Tim Roberts -- 17.38 -- 22.75 -- 40.13
10th Joey Smith-Howard --16.00 -- 23.19 -- 39.19
11th Justin Treat -- 16.56 -- 20.44 -- 37.00
12th Duncan Morel -- 17.25-- 18.19 -- 35.44
13th Andy Bergin-Sperry -- 12.94 -- 20.81-- 33.75

Silver King Freeride 2008

2008 Silver King Freeride

Crystal Mountain, Washington was the setting for the 6th annual Silver King Freeride Competition. The Silver King is an impressive 1200 Vert Peak with a spine of rock down the middle of the venue, allowing the riders to find tight steep chutes, Rocks to pop off of, or an elevated snowfield with a mandatory 40 footer for an exit. The conditions were less than ideal because it had rained to the top of the mountain then got cold and started snowing. Day 1 for the riders was taking place on the Snorting Elk Bowl, a 500 vertical foot venue with tight tree chutes at the top approaching 60 degrees, some big rocks up top, and a technical rock section on the right and tight trees to small cliffs to the left on the bottom. There was about 3 inches of fresh on top of the hockey rink for the riders.
This year marked the first time women had competed in snowboard . 7 women showed up to join 14 men looking to be crowned champion.
The Women started the event off through a constantly changing pattern of snow, fog, and flat light that made it very difficult to stick your airs. Many of the women at Crystal were either 1st time or second time competitors. I was impressed by Heather Chapin , a Mt Hood local who was very nimble on her feet, could have ridden a more difficult line, but ended up in third for the day. 2nd place went to Alison Hayes from Whistler who looked like a ghost coming down the venue just as a squall line hit. How the judges could see her I don’t know. But it was Wily veteran Shannan Yates, last weekends winner from Snowmass, who came in ripped the most difficult line in the tree chutes and aired out the bottom.
On the men’s side the action was very interesting because only Ben Crocker Adam Devargas, and Dave Watson had competed before on this venue and went 1st, 2nd, and 4th on the Podium last year. Dave Watson would set the bar for the day by tearing up a tight tree shoot to a 15 footer that sent him into the bottom trees where jump turns ruled until there was nowhere left to go. A tree was pushed aside a point of the board and a 20 foot up and 30 feet out came out of nowhere which was stomped, and then pointed to the finish. Ben Crocker, reigning Silver King champion stomped his big air at the bottom but did not get the line score and was left in 5th with Adam Devargas in 6th. Sandwiched in between were three first year Freeride competitors. In 4th was Doug Thayer from Tahoe. Local Sky Risvold sat in 3rd, and Aaron Robinson from Whitefish, Montana was perched in 2nd. 1.12 points was all that separated 6th from 2nd. Place and then a 3.56 point gap to Dave Watson in 1st.

The final was set for The Silver King. As usual the King was more elusive then accommodating, not holding any of the snow that had been continually falling since it rained all the way to the top of the venue 4 days earlier. The women would start the day off with weather holds and poor visibility as the squall lines pushed through the venue all day. Most of the women decided to test themselves on the riders left side of the venue, called Pinball’s a 50 degree slope interspersed with trees, rocks, and pepper. The 1st couple of ladies avoided anything crazy and just put down smooth fast pow turns all the way to the bottom. Jamie Coughlin was one of them and her run would push her from the bottom of the pack all the way up to 3rd and the podium with the 2nd highest score of the day for the women. Alison Kayes maneuvered her way through pinballs
And held on to 2nd position overall. But it was The Shannan Yates show again, aggressively carving up Pinballs, dropping a rock band and flying down to the finish.
The men took over after Shannan. Tyler Dewitt, sitting in next to last, started off in Hairballs a tight steep chute that scored really well and was able to move up 5 places to finish in 7th. He was followed by Kirkwood local Tim Roberts who took a nice line through the top of Pinballs then lost his way and was left in 9th place. Next came Jake Laskin, who was the only competitor ski or snowboard who attempted to ride Pinball chute, a scary long chute not very wide that he even aired in the middle of. He might have moved up even farther had he stuck his landing off the left side of the spine, but settled for 5th. He was followed by Adam Devargas who came in to Hairball’s hot, then aired out which caused him to go right by the middle chute. But it was his aggressive line through the elevated snowfield and a 40 footer to get out that gave him the highest score of the day and moved him all the way up to the podium and a 3rd place finish. He was followed by Ben Crocker, notorious big air artist who came down through Hairballs, the middle chute, and onto the elevated snowfield for something big and a shot at the podium. He eyed up a 70 footer pointed it but did not have enough momentum, hit a cliff up high and then bounced onto his head from 60 feet for 6th. Doug Thayer who was sitting in 4th then tried his luck on the Pinball side missed his airs and fell to 8th place. Sky Risvold took his run to the far right of the venue. Not the most technical line but one with fresh pow and a big launch at the bottom for which he received a sickbird nomination, and the second highest score given to a snowboarder at the comp. He was rewarded with a 2nd place finish overall. It was down to the final two riders to see who would be King of The Silver King. Aaron Robinson then followed Sky over to the right hit the big air at the bottom to the Ka-Ka’s of a sick bird Nomination. The lack of difficulty on his run would drop him two places to 4th. Only the 1st round leader Dave Watson was left up top. Dropping into Hairball’s the crowd saw why he was in 1st as he made solid 180 degree jump turns through the chute then came down to the middle chute which was tighter then hairballs and still managed to flow smoothly through and onto the elevated snowfield. Too far left to drop the big cliffs he tried to get back to the right hit a section of ice and slid right passed the tree airs to the left of the cliffs, finished up with a mainline at the bottom and the 3rd highest score of the run, holding off Sky and Adam for the top podium spot.

The Silverking: Stop # 2, Crystal Mtn. Washington

Here it is 1200 vertical feet of fluff on a 45 degree slope. Steeps,chutes, cliffs and hanging snowfields. The action starts Thursday March 13 as the qualifiers kick off in Gnarly Elk Bowl or Campbell Basin

North American Snowboard Freeide Standings

Women---------------Event 1-------------Event 2-----------Event 3-----------Overall
1. Shannan Yates------200 pts
2. Onna Konicek-------180 pts
3. Nathalie Nevins-----160 pts
4. Ivana Crone--------150 pts
5. Lisa Ann Ruggieri---140 pts
6. Rachel Sheidow-----130 pts
7. Kendra Charts------120 pts
Men
1. Riley Gessele-------200 pts
2. Dave Watson-------180 pts
3. Wallace Westfeldt---160pts
4. Ben Crocker--------150 pts
5. Tyler Dewitt--------140 pts
6. Jonathan Penfield---130 pts
7. Eli Lieberman-------120 pts
8. Jason Nielson-------110 pts
9. Jake Laskin---------105 pts
10. Matt Fulop--------100pts
11. Jeff Adler----------95 pts
12. Joel Howard-------90 pts
13. Aaron Lippold-----85 pts
14. Evan Winn--------80 pts
15. Teddy Hoffman---75 pts
16 Raymond Vieira---70 pts
17.Aaron Berne-------65 pts
18. Casey Vandenbroek-60 pts

823 Palisades

Had a blast hanging out with everyone at my pad this weekend. Hope to do the same next weekend in Washington RV stylee.

Stihl Colorado Championship Weekend

I would like to thank all of the men and women who came out to my home mountain and showed the spectators where the future of Freeride and Snowboarding in general is going. Several of the riders killed it all weekend, many brought creative new lines and a few had sick tricks. Check out the spectator shots and check back for video and pics coming soon!

2008 Stihl Colorado Freeride Results Snowboard

Women

Run 1 Run 2 Total

1. Shannon Yates 25.6 31.2 28.4

2. Onna Konicek 18.0 17.8 17.9

2. Nathalie Nevins 19.4 16.4 17.9

4. Ivana Crone 19.0 16.6 17.8

5. Lisa Ruggieri 17.6 14.8 16.2

6. Rachel Sheldow 17.2 10.6 13.9

7. Kendra Charts 16.0 0 8.0

Men

Run 1 Run 2 Total

1. Riley Gesselle 38.4 40.2 39.3

2. Dave Watson 40.4 35.8 38.1

3. Wallace Westfeldt 35.4 34.0 34.7

4. Ben Crocker 30.6 35.6 33.1

5. Tyler Dewitt 30.6 34.6 32.6

6. Jonathan Penfield 35.2 26.4 30.8

7. Eli Lieberman 25.6 35.0 30.3

8. Jason Nielson 29.6 28.4 29.o

9. Jake Laskin 26.8 30.4 28.6

10. Matt Fulop 28.8 0 14.4

11. Jeff Adeler 26.0 0 13.0

12. Joel Howard 24.4

13.Aaron Lippold 19.4

14. Evan Winn 19.0

15. Teddy Hoffman 17.6

16 Aaron Berne 14.8

17. Casey VandenBroek DNF

2008 Stihl Colorado Freeride Championships Podium

2008 Stihl Colorado Freeride Championships Go Off

Wow the 2008 North American Snowboard Freeride Tour started off insane as the riders came to Snowmass, Colorado for the Stihl Colorado Freeride Championships. Having Snowed 16 inches at the beginning of the week, Sunny skies and warm temperatures ruled all week leaving conditions a little less then ideal. The Two Trees area is an elevated snowfield with a mandatory air from 25 to 80 feet, which is also the toughest line on the venue. The ladies started off the day and Shannon Yates separated herself from the rest of the field by smoking the Dogleg and then dropping 15 feet off the rock shelf to a first place. Local lady rippers Nathalie Nevin and Onna Konicek rounded out the top Three.
For the men the day was started off by Ben Crocker dropping a front flip off the Two Trees shelf which would set the bar for the Day and end up in the Local Paper. He was followed directly by Eli Lieberman who started out in dogleg then sent a perfect back flip over the lower rock shelf. Newcomer Jason Nielson decided to drop the Diving Board for a huge 60 footer to set the crowd on fire. Tyler Dewitt stoked the crowd by splitting the trees with mad speed. Jonathan Penfield showed everyone at the venue how to ride The Double with smooth style no matter what the speed. Local shralper Casey Vandenbroek was on his way to the run of the day doubling the Two Trees shelf til he knocked himself out landing the bottom air. Most of the riders decided to test their skills in the Two Trees Area but it was Snowmass local and last years champion Dave Watson who wowed the crowd with some nice jump turns and the most solid stomp of the day. The field was cut to 11 and here is how it went
1. Dave Watson
2. Riley Gessele
3. Wallace Westfeldt
4. Jonathan Penfield
5. Tyler Dewitt
5. Ben Crocker
7. Jason Nielson
8. Matt Fulop
9. Jake Laskin
10. Jeff Adeler
11 Eli Lieberman
The final day would see blue skies, warm air, and 65 athletes in The Burn Cliffs looking for ways to end up on the podium. The order would be switched and run in reverse order. So the women skiers led off followed by snowboard women. Gluteus with a short, tight chute was one of the few places to sneak through the cliff band with out leaving your feet. All of the ladies used this chute except Shannon Yates who went up onto the pillows between Gluteus and Triple Drop doubled off the top and then Finished her winning run with smooth turns down to the finish.
1. Shannon Yates
2. Onna Konicek
3. Natalie Nevins
The men were faced with the task of sweeping up the rear after 40 Men’s skiers had torn up the venue as we had done for them the day before. Matt Fulop and Jeff Adeler both dropped out of the final due to injury and illness leaving 9 riders. Eli led things off with a nice smooth line down the Triple Drop. Jason Nielson stepped it up big again by boosting off a little nub next to the rope in Stihletto for another sixty plus air and a sickbird nomination. Tyler dewitt stepped up huge off the top of triple from 35 ft onto a narrow shelf and navigating the bottom 2 cliffs then cart wheeling in the bumps at the bottom to dash any hopes of the podium. Wallace, sitting in 3rd left the top hoping to make up points on Riley and Dave. Picking Triple drop which he rode to victory 2 years ago he wasn’t able to move up with the sun dropping, the crust forming, and the snow getting hard. Riley then dropped into XXX which had the best pillow lines in the venue and he picked a good one. Lining up a double it was obvious he had found some soft north facing snow. Dropping 40 onto this little pillow and then another 15 out of the cliffs, Riley charged down the bump field to the finish as the onlookers up at Gwynn’s High Alpine went crazy. Watson finished off the comp with a Triple drop run that could only be considered crispy at best. Trying to keep it fluid and fast he chose to split the rocks at the top but landed in a bomb hole and had to push out. Stomped the second cliff and then sent it over the third with tons of speed, coming down through tree branches and pulling off the high speed landing and avoiding trees in front of him at the last minute. Unlike the ladies field, the podium for the men was up in the air and would be announced 2 hours later at the awards ceremony. Here is your 2008 Podium.
1. Riley Gesselle
2. Dave Watson
3. Wallace Westfeldt