Ski The East Freeride Tour: Sugarbush Recap

 

As little known as it all may be, there is a strong evolution going on in the skiing world right here beneath our noses on the East Coast. We all know about the great night life at Killington, the world-class lodging at Stowe and the infinite snow-making coverage at Okemo. But beyond these marketing lines there are countless hot-beds of loyal rippers pushing the limits of their home mountain’s perception and the reality of skiing on the East Coast. I was unquestionably reminded of this movement at Saturday’s Castlerock Extreme Challenge at Sugarbush – the second stop of the inaugural Ski The East Freeride Tour.

 

 

Saturday’s competition was greeted with near-perfect conditions. We already used “perfect” to describe the Tour’s opening event at Magic Mountain on Saturday, February 27 – over 50 inches of snow in the days preceding the event and light snow which gave way to sun on the big day. “Near-perfect” was Sugarbush this past Saturday; blue bird skies and a streaking bright sun, temperatures in the low 40’s, no wind and excellent corn-snow coverage on the featury, steep and bumped-up terrain of Castlerock.

 

 

Skiers and riders from all over the East came to compete on the 1,700 vertical foot course; a total of 75 competitors made the 13th annual event the largest ever. “Castlerock is my favorite trail on the whole East Coast”, said John Egan, who founded the competition. For those of you who don’t recognize the name, maybe you’ve been spending a bit too much time in the park. Egan was discovered skiing moguls at Sugarbush in 1978 by ski film legend Warren Miller and he quickly became a regular in his ski films. John has over 30 first descents in remote locations around the world under his belt, was one of the original members of The North Face Extreme Team and he’s called Sugarbush home through it all. When asked what the judges would be looking for, Egan responded “quality of turns – you have to be in control; consistency; and creativity. It’s a cool liftline course; there is some terrain up there that you can only get here at Sugarbush. If you play with the terrain and huck off some of those rocks and stumps, you get judged on that, too”, he said laughing.

 

 

Jay Peak’s own John Witherspoon laid down a scorching run to win the men’s division. Spoon, the 43 year old world-class extreme series competitor set the bar high with his technical turns, consistent speed and big airs. Undoubtedly the flashiest entrance of the day, Spoon launched the three-staged rock drop starting gate with a huge spread eagle. I caught up with him at the après-party and he told me his fondest memory about the move. “I was in Les Arcs, France competing at a World Tour event and the announcer spoke in French the whole time – I couldn’t understand a word he said. But, whenever someone would throw a spread eagle, he would yell out in English “old school is not dead!” in a thick French accent. To this day, that’s all I think about when I see one”. There is no doubt the many young schalpers who were watching Saturday got a first-hand taste for the level of skier the East Coast’s mountains can produce.

 

 Spoonman's Spread that would lead him to victory.

 

Rounding out the top three in the men’s division were Sugarbush locals Darrel “Pony Boy” Mays and Chris Parkinson. Parki, as he’s known, was the Casterock Challenge’s reigning champion. “I’ve been living and working here at Sugarbush for 21 years”, he said. Parki is one of Sugarbush’s Bush Pilots program tour guides. The goal of the program is to learn the skills needed for big mountain skiing. “We start on some of the hairier trails here at Sugarbush and in the Mad River Valley, then we explore some of the side and backcountry, we take them to Jay Peak and progress towards the likes of Mt. Washington and others”. Parki explained that Bush Pilots was Egan’s idea but arose from customer requests. “Sugarbush’s location is the best in the East, in my opinion – you have three incredible mountains in this one valley – the possibilities are endless”, he said.

 

The women’s podium was stacked with Jen Bennett, last year’s second place winner, Caitlin Hurley and Chris Daigle. The junior’s podium was topped by Johnny Egan, Jr., Ian Grum, and Hobbie Weston, admist the stiff competition of 46 in the division.
The sun-kissed crowd packed into Sugarbush’s Wunderbar after the event to enjoy some hard-earned libations. Ski The East, Meathead Films and Jay Peak Video, the Tour’s media sponsors, had tables set up in the bar which were constantly surrounded by an enthusiastic contingent of pint-sized ski bums. There was a raffle with tons of sponsor giveaways before the grand finale – the frozen t-shirt contest. At stake was a South American Snow Sessions (sasnow.com) custom Da Kine backpack. The two lucky groms were challenged to be the first to fully put on an official Ski The East Freeride Tour t-shirt, which happened to be frozen rock-solid. The crowd went wild as the two raced for over two minutes before the victor finally claimed his spoils.

 

The level of competition of the event among all the divisions was incredible. Despite the influx of newcomers to the event, the podium spots were dominated by Sugarbush locals. A part of that is home field advantage; part is a reflection of Sugarbush and the vibe John Egan and his crew have created there. What other mountains here in the East offer cat skiing adventures for first tracks on powder days or have backcountry progams like Bush Pilots? Most importantly, this dedicated group of accomplished skiers is passing along their knowledge and getting the mountain’s next generation of kids stoked.

 

 

The simple answer is yes; a similar vibe is most likely developing at other mountains – and it is definitely happening at Sugarbush. With little or no communication between each mountain’s crews, opportunities to exploit other’s paralleled efforts are rarely taken advantage of. I must admit, it is easy to fall stagnant in the pursuit of your home mountain. The friends you ski with, your favorite runs and stashes and other more quantitative factors like your season pass and ski house make it very easy to become narrow-minded. And maybe that is why the Freeride Tour is being so warmly accepted. Finally – we have an excuse to come together, compete and learn. See you at Jay Peak March 20th and 21st!