Moles and Mead Reign Supreme at
US Extreme Skiing Championships

After experiencing some of the biggest dumps in recent memory throughout the months of December and January, less than a foot of new snow in February left the steeps of Crested Butte filling in, but very hard for the sixth annual US Extreme Skiing Championships, February 24-27.

Park City's Brandt Moles and New Zealander Bridget mead proved to be the class of the carnage-riddled field, taking first in men's and women's classes respectively. Moles impressed the crowd and judges by skiing technical, fluid lines that ultimately led to huge cliff airs. He punctuated the airs by throwing huge spread eagles (a move that he says he does for comic effect, and because inverts are illegal, not because he thinks spreads are rad.) Mead continued to up the ante on the other women all week, constantly going after sicker lines than the competition.

The brutal hard-pack conditions on the first three days led to many spectacular tumbles and slides. The competition became a contest of DIN settings, as, competitors hucked themselves onto hard landings, hoping not to explode out of their skis on impact. The defending US and World Champions both ran into some hard luck and took untimely exits from the 1997 competition. World Champ Chris Davenport fell into a tree well after dropping a solid run down Staircase in the first round and failed to finish; defending US Champion Peter Bowers lost a ski after dropping a forty footer in Sock-it-to-Me and was eliminated for not crossing the finish with all his gear.

The venue softened upon the final day when the competition was moved to Hourglass/Bermuda Triangle, super-steep, cliffed-out face never before opened to the public. This opened the competition to even bigger airs and better landings, punctuated by Moles' 60-foot double-spread with a stall. Which he stuck.

Crested Butte locals filled the remaining top spots in both the men's and women's division. Jack Hannon, Rob VanAernem, and Brian Grosso finished second, third and fourth with first time competitor "Stinky" Pete Sowar, sponsored only by the local shop Cliffhangers, rising up through the qualifier to finish fifth. He was the only other competitor to hit Moles double-crotch air.

"Big Air" Bard Peters held onto second place, largely because of a very impressive, very technical line through Slot Rocks on that run of the competition. She was second overall, men included, after the first run. Former US Ski Team member Wendy Fisher also of Crested Butte, finished third.

Conspicuous in their absence were perennial bridesmaid and foot-wear icon Seth Morrison, and champion Shane McConkey. Both would-be contestants, nursing early season injuries, served as judges.

Men's Results
1) Brandt Moles, 1096 pts;
2) Jack Hannen, 1077;
3) Rob VanAernam, 1073;
4) Brian Grosso, 1036;
5) Pete Sowar, 1000;
6) Eric Warble, 995;
7) Jason Priegge, 992;
8) Willy Mushen, 990;
9) Scottie Lefebvre, 987;
10) Ron Pankey, 950.

Women Results: 1) Bridget Mead, 920 Pts;
2) Barb Peters, 880;
3) Wendy Fischer, 856;
4) AJ Cargill, 844;
5) Kristina Nicholas, 805;
6) Heidi Van Winkle, 796;
7) Bradley Richmond, 710.

• Jan. 22-26 Jackson Hole
  
• Feb. 10-14 Bridger Bowl
  
• Feb. 23-28 Crested Butte
  
• Mar. 19-23 Kirkwood
  
• Apr. 2-7 World Champs