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Snowmass MSC race weekend.
by brule
Posted: Aug 17, 2009
Source: Long Nguyen
Friday August 7th, 2009 was the first day here in Snowmass Colorado. Riders from around the Rockies Mountains started to trickle in early in the morning for the 5th round in the Mountain States Cup Series. Since there was a break in the World Cup Series Aaron Gwin, Jared Graves, and Sam Blenkinsop decided to drop by Snowmass and compete. The Pro DH and Mountain cross class was stacked with top riders and it was going to be a difficult one.
Read about the whole weekend and view tons of pics inside,
Friday August 7th, 2009 was the first day here in Snowmass Colorado. Riders from around the Rockies Mountains started to trickle in early in the morning for the 5th round in the Mountain States Cup Series. Since there was a break in the World Cup Series Aaron Gwin, Jared Graves, and Sam Blenkinsop decided to drop by Snowmass and compete. The Pro DH and Mountain cross class was stacked with top riders and it was going to be a difficult one.
Read about the whole weekend and view tons of pics inside,
Snowmass Day 1
Many of the Pro riders practiced on the downhill track, which it seemed to be the more difficult of the two. For the usual contenders, they were familiar with the Mountain Cross course since 75% of the track had not been changed in the past three years. The downhill track was quite dry and loose making it tricky since over 50% of the track is high speed. Hell’s kitchen was the most difficult part of the course since it was the most rugged with a fast rock garden into a blind drop with an immediate right turn followed by a left hand drop into a right handed loose, rocky corner which unfortunately has claimed some of its victims on the first day (Healing Vibes). (Sorry I was unable to make it up the downhill course to capture some images on Day 1).
Since many of the Pros were familiar with the 4X track, practice was small. Some took one or two runs and called it good and others just took a quick look at the course visually and were confident enough. The riders who practiced the most were the young guns that have just moved up to pro class and are working hard hoping to do well. With only 45 minutes of pro practice left Jared Graves stopped by for a short practice. Surely his talent spoke for itself and he looked mean and fast. Graves looked very comfortable on the course since he has raced Snowmass before. At 5pm local time practice was over and another day is soon to come.
Snowmass Day 2
The morning came fast and I was tired from my trip out to Snowmass the day before. I gathered my things, hopped on the chair lift and up the mountain I went. It was my first time in Snowmass so I had no idea what the track was going to look like. I soon found out why the track was so hard to ride and why they called it Hell’s Kitchen. The mountain is steep fast and very hard to hike. After spending an hour hiking down the mountain I found a place where I wanted to shoot. The pro riders were looking fast but not comfortable. The conditions of the track changed each time a rider came down. The mountain still took its toll on riders and National Yeti/ Fox Factory rider Joey Schusler had an unfortunate accident in Hell’s Kitchen putting him out of the race (He is alright. Nothing broken just has to spend a few days off the bike. Get well soon). Even though many of the riders were spending their time on the downhill course they still took it easy since Pro mountain cross practice is from 12-2pm, followed by seeding.
When noon hit some of the pro riders took their final runs for the day and headed down to the pits to change and then hike their way up to the mountain cross track.
I decided to take a break till finals since I shot practice the day before and I know qualifying was going to go by fast. At 5pm qualifying results were up and the riders were headed to the top of the hill. Graves, Ropelato, and Hanak are your top three qualifiers with Ropelato only .73 slower than Graves. With so many fast riders, racing was going to be good this evening. When racing began your faster guys were still faster than the fast but it wasn’t till the semi finals hit and the gates were stacked with talent. There was some falls and upsets and the final four in the gate was Jared Graves, Mitch Ropelato, Petr Hanak, and Jon Watt. Mitch Ropelato is your young, up and coming rider who is 17yrs old and took 2nd place in mountain cross in Bromont Canada at a UCI World Cup and looks promising to keep Graves working hard. The gate drops and around the first jump Graves was leading followed by Hanak, Ropelato and Watt, which are your top four riders' finalist in that order. Even with the pro woman class being small they still gave a good show and the top four were Rachel Bauer, Jacqueline Harmony, Martha Renn, and Darian Harvey. Mitch Ropelato and Jacqueline Harmony are your current Pro GRT leaders. Congratulations to all mountain cross winners.
Pro Woman Results:
1 RACHEL BAUER Aspen CO Banshee / Poison Spider Bikes
2 JACQUELINE HARMONY Tucson AZ Vixen Racing/Loeka/All Mountain Cyclery/Hayes
3 MARTHA RENN Avon CO
4 DARIAN HARVEY Durango CO Cannondale Factory Racing
5 NEVEN STEINMETZ Boulder CO Ellsworth
6 BOBBI KAE WATT Broomfield CO Tough Girl / Contessa
Pro Men results:
1 JARED GRAVES Toowoomba QLD Yeti Fox Factory
2 PETR HANAK Winter Park CO
3 MITCH ROPELATO Ogden UT Cafe Rio / Canfield Brothers
4 JONATHAN WATT Broomfield CO Bikeparts.com - Fox Shox
5 LOGAN BINGGELI Saint George UT KHS Bicycles
6 MICHAEL BUELL Boulder CO Team Geronimo
7 NICK VAN DINE Park City UT Cannondale Factory Racing
8 BRIAN BUELL Boulder CO Team Geronimo
9 THOMAS TOKARCZYK Durango CO Jamis Bikes
10 GEORGE STEPHENSON Folsom CA Yeti Fox Regional
Video from Snowmass from Yeti Cycles:
Snowmass Day 3:
After a good night of mountain cross, today was downhill finals. Downhill seeding was set to start at 11:15am and finals were set to start at 3:15pm. When seeding started at 11:15, with the pro women on course first. With the class still small, the times were still faster than many who had shown up to race over the weekend. After pro woman seeding, pro men were now on course and they were looking extra quick. The track was even looser than before and everyone knew that the course would be different by the time it was their turn to come down. Sam Blenkinsop was your last man on course because he raced Super D prior to seeding and won the Open class. Congratulations on Sam’s Super D win. At the end of seeding your top three qualifiers were of course the Yeti/ Fox World Cup team Aaron Gwin, Sam Blenkinsop, and Jared Graves in that order. They were riding smart but they also looked fast and comfortable on course. After seeding Cat 1,2, and 3 were going to race and then Pro men and woman were going to start.
When 3:15pm hit, the first pro woman was on course. Spectators worked their way up the hill and crowded themselves around Hell’s Kitchen and were cheering all the riders on. After the pro woman class went by the pro men were now on course. They had the worse conditions since they didn’t know what lines were going to be available and they didn’t know what might now lay in their way. Many of the pro men went down on their race run because it was so loose, so you knew that this could be anyone's game even though you had World Cup athletes racing. They were weary of the track conditions just like everyone else. When the final ten riders were left, many people including myself started to get anxious with all of us wondering who is going to win. And before you knewit, the race was over. Gwin was your pro men winner with Blenkinsop, Graves, and Neer (Shawn Neer’s first pro race) right behind him. Aaron’s final run was 6 seconds faster than his qualifying time. Your top four pro women are Harvey, Harmony, Stewart, and Bauer. Kain Leonard and Darian Harvey are also your current Pro GRT leaders.
Pro Woman Results:
1 DARIAN HARVEY Durango CO Cannondale Factory Racing
2 JACQUELINE HARMONY Tucson AZ Vixen Racing/Loeka/All Mountain Cyclery/Hayes
3 ADDIE STEWART Roy UT Go-Ride/Hayes/Harlot Wear/Amys
4 RACHEL BAUER Aspen CO Banshee / Poison Spider Bikes
5 MARTHA RENN Avon CO
6 LISA REINHARD Phoenix AZ Amp'd Racing
Pro Men Results:
1 AARON GWIN Morongo Valley CA Yeti Fox Factory
2 SAM BLENKINSOP Wanganui NZL Yeti Fox Factory
3 JARED GRAVES Toowoomba QLD Yeti Fox Factory
4 SHAWN NEER Arvada CO Orbit Racing
5 KAIN LEONARD Gunnison CO Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team/TLD
6 WAYLON SMITH Newhall CA Mongoose
7 MIKE KREGER Louisville CO Sol Vista Bike Park
8 LOGAN BINGGELI Saint George UT KHS Bicycles
9 JOHN KEEP Ramona CA The Bike Works
10 STEVEN WENTZ Costa Mesa CA Team SolVista / Commencal USA
View all pics from the weekend here.
With the race over it was time to pack up and head home. It is going to be a fun 7-hour ride home. And congratulations to all winners over the weekend!
-Long Nguyen
Editor's Note - Long submitted this prior to Crankworx, but do to the workload that is Whistler we were unable to get it live until today. Thanks Long!
Many of the Pro riders practiced on the downhill track, which it seemed to be the more difficult of the two. For the usual contenders, they were familiar with the Mountain Cross course since 75% of the track had not been changed in the past three years. The downhill track was quite dry and loose making it tricky since over 50% of the track is high speed. Hell’s kitchen was the most difficult part of the course since it was the most rugged with a fast rock garden into a blind drop with an immediate right turn followed by a left hand drop into a right handed loose, rocky corner which unfortunately has claimed some of its victims on the first day (Healing Vibes). (Sorry I was unable to make it up the downhill course to capture some images on Day 1).
Since many of the Pros were familiar with the 4X track, practice was small. Some took one or two runs and called it good and others just took a quick look at the course visually and were confident enough. The riders who practiced the most were the young guns that have just moved up to pro class and are working hard hoping to do well. With only 45 minutes of pro practice left Jared Graves stopped by for a short practice. Surely his talent spoke for itself and he looked mean and fast. Graves looked very comfortable on the course since he has raced Snowmass before. At 5pm local time practice was over and another day is soon to come.
Snowmass Day 2
The morning came fast and I was tired from my trip out to Snowmass the day before. I gathered my things, hopped on the chair lift and up the mountain I went. It was my first time in Snowmass so I had no idea what the track was going to look like. I soon found out why the track was so hard to ride and why they called it Hell’s Kitchen. The mountain is steep fast and very hard to hike. After spending an hour hiking down the mountain I found a place where I wanted to shoot. The pro riders were looking fast but not comfortable. The conditions of the track changed each time a rider came down. The mountain still took its toll on riders and National Yeti/ Fox Factory rider Joey Schusler had an unfortunate accident in Hell’s Kitchen putting him out of the race (He is alright. Nothing broken just has to spend a few days off the bike. Get well soon). Even though many of the riders were spending their time on the downhill course they still took it easy since Pro mountain cross practice is from 12-2pm, followed by seeding.
When noon hit some of the pro riders took their final runs for the day and headed down to the pits to change and then hike their way up to the mountain cross track.
I decided to take a break till finals since I shot practice the day before and I know qualifying was going to go by fast. At 5pm qualifying results were up and the riders were headed to the top of the hill. Graves, Ropelato, and Hanak are your top three qualifiers with Ropelato only .73 slower than Graves. With so many fast riders, racing was going to be good this evening. When racing began your faster guys were still faster than the fast but it wasn’t till the semi finals hit and the gates were stacked with talent. There was some falls and upsets and the final four in the gate was Jared Graves, Mitch Ropelato, Petr Hanak, and Jon Watt. Mitch Ropelato is your young, up and coming rider who is 17yrs old and took 2nd place in mountain cross in Bromont Canada at a UCI World Cup and looks promising to keep Graves working hard. The gate drops and around the first jump Graves was leading followed by Hanak, Ropelato and Watt, which are your top four riders' finalist in that order. Even with the pro woman class being small they still gave a good show and the top four were Rachel Bauer, Jacqueline Harmony, Martha Renn, and Darian Harvey. Mitch Ropelato and Jacqueline Harmony are your current Pro GRT leaders. Congratulations to all mountain cross winners.
1 RACHEL BAUER Aspen CO Banshee / Poison Spider Bikes
2 JACQUELINE HARMONY Tucson AZ Vixen Racing/Loeka/All Mountain Cyclery/Hayes
3 MARTHA RENN Avon CO
4 DARIAN HARVEY Durango CO Cannondale Factory Racing
5 NEVEN STEINMETZ Boulder CO Ellsworth
6 BOBBI KAE WATT Broomfield CO Tough Girl / Contessa
Pro Men results:
1 JARED GRAVES Toowoomba QLD Yeti Fox Factory
2 PETR HANAK Winter Park CO
3 MITCH ROPELATO Ogden UT Cafe Rio / Canfield Brothers
4 JONATHAN WATT Broomfield CO Bikeparts.com - Fox Shox
5 LOGAN BINGGELI Saint George UT KHS Bicycles
6 MICHAEL BUELL Boulder CO Team Geronimo
7 NICK VAN DINE Park City UT Cannondale Factory Racing
8 BRIAN BUELL Boulder CO Team Geronimo
9 THOMAS TOKARCZYK Durango CO Jamis Bikes
10 GEORGE STEPHENSON Folsom CA Yeti Fox Regional
Video from Snowmass from Yeti Cycles:
Snowmass Day 3:
After a good night of mountain cross, today was downhill finals. Downhill seeding was set to start at 11:15am and finals were set to start at 3:15pm. When seeding started at 11:15, with the pro women on course first. With the class still small, the times were still faster than many who had shown up to race over the weekend. After pro woman seeding, pro men were now on course and they were looking extra quick. The track was even looser than before and everyone knew that the course would be different by the time it was their turn to come down. Sam Blenkinsop was your last man on course because he raced Super D prior to seeding and won the Open class. Congratulations on Sam’s Super D win. At the end of seeding your top three qualifiers were of course the Yeti/ Fox World Cup team Aaron Gwin, Sam Blenkinsop, and Jared Graves in that order. They were riding smart but they also looked fast and comfortable on course. After seeding Cat 1,2, and 3 were going to race and then Pro men and woman were going to start.
When 3:15pm hit, the first pro woman was on course. Spectators worked their way up the hill and crowded themselves around Hell’s Kitchen and were cheering all the riders on. After the pro woman class went by the pro men were now on course. They had the worse conditions since they didn’t know what lines were going to be available and they didn’t know what might now lay in their way. Many of the pro men went down on their race run because it was so loose, so you knew that this could be anyone's game even though you had World Cup athletes racing. They were weary of the track conditions just like everyone else. When the final ten riders were left, many people including myself started to get anxious with all of us wondering who is going to win. And before you knewit, the race was over. Gwin was your pro men winner with Blenkinsop, Graves, and Neer (Shawn Neer’s first pro race) right behind him. Aaron’s final run was 6 seconds faster than his qualifying time. Your top four pro women are Harvey, Harmony, Stewart, and Bauer. Kain Leonard and Darian Harvey are also your current Pro GRT leaders.
Pro Woman Results:
1 DARIAN HARVEY Durango CO Cannondale Factory Racing
2 JACQUELINE HARMONY Tucson AZ Vixen Racing/Loeka/All Mountain Cyclery/Hayes
3 ADDIE STEWART Roy UT Go-Ride/Hayes/Harlot Wear/Amys
4 RACHEL BAUER Aspen CO Banshee / Poison Spider Bikes
5 MARTHA RENN Avon CO
6 LISA REINHARD Phoenix AZ Amp'd Racing
Pro Men Results:
1 AARON GWIN Morongo Valley CA Yeti Fox Factory
2 SAM BLENKINSOP Wanganui NZL Yeti Fox Factory
3 JARED GRAVES Toowoomba QLD Yeti Fox Factory
4 SHAWN NEER Arvada CO Orbit Racing
5 KAIN LEONARD Gunnison CO Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team/TLD
6 WAYLON SMITH Newhall CA Mongoose
7 MIKE KREGER Louisville CO Sol Vista Bike Park
8 LOGAN BINGGELI Saint George UT KHS Bicycles
9 JOHN KEEP Ramona CA The Bike Works
10 STEVEN WENTZ Costa Mesa CA Team SolVista / Commencal USA
View all pics from the weekend here.
With the race over it was time to pack up and head home. It is going to be a fun 7-hour ride home. And congratulations to all winners over the weekend!
-Long Nguyen
Editor's Note - Long submitted this prior to Crankworx, but do to the workload that is Whistler we were unable to get it live until today. Thanks Long!
18 Comments
- + 8
bikrboij
(Aug 18, 2009 at 0:15)
Man the Yeti team is killin it
Anyone know if the 4x track is available for the rest of the summer? I'm heading that way in 1-2 weeks and would love to rip it
The track looked likeit had been there a while. (already had weeds on it) The resort isnt actually open for lift accesed riding. But the 4x track is not lift accesesed. Check it out if your there.
The pics of the DH race track do not show how steep it really was! The braking bumps were so huge right before that wooden kicker.
The pics of the DH race track do not show how steep it really was! The braking bumps were so huge right before that wooden kicker.
[Reply]
[Reply]
Yeti must feel pretty good being able to stack the podium like that in their home state.
Sweet video too!
Sweet video too!
[Reply]
[Reply]
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