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Show Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, January 21-24, 2017 The Park Record B-10 TOWN RACE SERIES Why big-mountain skiing? local legend Shane McConky to oversee big-mountain events and contests across the globe. In true McConky fashion, the program had very little structure — and that was the point. Today, youth events through the association and pro-level Freeride World Tour events are judged on overall impression like slope and pipe, but the venues are wildly variable, and the format is more of an all-day jam than a one-and-done format. That makes it tricky for spectators, but more laid-back and relaxed for competitors, Bryant and Hawks said. “It’s about attacking the mountain — picking those lines and features that are more exciting,” Hawks said between runs. “Now that it’s a judged sport it’s becoming so popular, but it’s tough to see it going to the Olympics. Even though there’s hardly anyone who does halfpipe anymore, that sport still gets the top billing because it’s easy for spectators and the TV crews.” In late January, Obleski and a handful of fellow Team Breck skiers head to Crested Butte for the first contest of the season hosted by the association. All told, Obleski plans to compete in five regional events and two national events, including the GoPro Big Mountain Challenge on Peak 6 in March. He’s currently working on style, like spinning 360s off anything and everything, along with more opaque skills, like skiing aggressively. “It’s just a matter of getting out and skiing hard every day that I can,” Obleski said. “That’s what Clay and I have been doing.” resorts, and when you have that good competition — when you have that good result on a new line — it’s the best feeling in the world.” Colorado skiers explain why they love the sport Love at first ski Over the past four seasons, Obleski has made the trip from Denver to Breckenridge almost every weekend to train with Hawks and Team Breck. He got his first taste of big-mountain skiing as a 12-year-old, when he was taking advanced ski school classes and competed in the resortsponsored freeride competition in Contest Bowl. He took fourth place and was hooked immediately. “I’ll go home after skiing and watch every Freeride World Tour run from the past year, even the ones with falls,” said Obleski, who plays lacrosse for Denver South High School when he’s not on skis. “Some of the best pros in the world will have enormous falls, and those are almost more important to watch than the clean runs.” Ever since that first contest, Obleski has been going bigger and faster and harder every season, moving from the small, windblown trees and bushes in Contest Bowl to the legitimate double black diamond terrain on Peak 6. Bryant has been his coach since then, and the two spend most weekends simply riding around Breck, tracking from one spot to the other in search of drops, cliffs, rocks, bushes — anything that looks fun, no manmade features required. “When you’re coaching slopestyle, it’s more about the maneuvers. When you’re coaching big mountain, it’s more about being comfortable on your skis — being that all-around skier,” said Bryant, an Ohio native who started skiing with Team Breck in 2001 and moved over to coaching about 10 years back. “I’ve dealt with a lot of slopestyle in the past and this is just more pure skiing.” PHIL LINDEMAN Summit Daily SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. — When Clay Bryant told Nic Obleski to steer clear of a mogul beneath the deceptively small drop in Horseshoe Bowl, I’m pretty sure the 17-year-old skier from Denver heard him. I’m just not sure if he considered it before dropping. “Just watch out for the mogul on the landing,” Bryant told Obleski, his protégé and a fouryear member of the Team Breckenridge freeski program. Dubbed Hawks Freeride after director and former pro Chris Hawks, the program covers the gamut of freeriding — superpipe, slopestyle and big mountain — and boasts roughly 60 athletes this season. They range in age from 7 years old to 18 and older, but most share one thing in common: a fanatical love of freeskiing and snowboarding. These days, the Team Breck freeride program is split almost evenly between big-mountain riders and slope or pipe riders — a far cry from the early glory days of slope and pipe in the mid2000s. “I’m not 100 percent sure what it is, but I think a lot of it is the freedom,” Hawks said of the recent boost in big-mountain riders. “Our athletes get to test their skills on tough venues and it shows that they’re good, all-around skiers. Not everyone likes terrain park jumps, and this gives them a chance to show their unique qualities somewhere else.” On a chairlift ride earlier in the day — Bryant, Hawks and Obleski sessioned Contest Bowl off of 6-Chair before heading to T-Bar and Horseshoe Bowl — I asked Obleski the same question: Why big-mountain skiing? “This is more fun,” he said, and then paused for a long, long time, as if to say that’s all I needed to know. “I love how fun the competitions are. I get to see cool The Horseshoe drop Remember that mogul Bryant was talking about? Obleski did — and chose to air straight over it. Just seconds after Bryant told him the landing was clear, the soon-to-be high school graduate straight-lined into the takeoff and launched some 45 or 50 feet downhill, far past the jump and into the soft, windblown powder beneath. “It’s been cool to see him go from a kid to a big kid,” Bryan said with a grin. “Like, that was a big-boy drop.” And maybe that’s why bigmountain riding is winning more and more converts every day. Birth of competition Around the same time Obleski fell head over heels for big mountain, the sport started growing at an unprecedented rate. It began with the International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association, an organization co-founded by EXCLUSIVE LOCATION JEREMY RANCH Eagle Race Arena Mondays 3:00-6:00pm January 23, February 6, February 27 & March 13 AWARDS IN FOUR CATEGORIES Entry Fee: Individual $20 $60 for the season Team of Four Racers: $75 per race $240 for the season Discounted Race Lift Ticket: $35 Registration: Park City Ski Team | 435.649.8749 www.parkcityskiteam.org Park City Town Race Series 9197 CANYON VIEW DRIVE 5 B D | 7 B A | 5 , 5 0 0 S Q F T | $ 1, 5 9 5 , 0 0 0 MOUNTAIN-MODERN HOME ON 1.16 ACRES IN THE GATED JEREMY R ANCH COMMUNIT Y OF MOOSE HOLLOW PARK CITY | LAKE TAHOE | NEWPORT BEACH SAN FRANCISCO | LAGUNA BEACH | ST. GEORGE Kelly Rogers Paul Benson Engel & Völkers Park City Engel & Völkers Park City kelly.rogers@evusa.com paul.benson@evusa.com 435-640-7600 KellyRogers.evusa.com 435-640-7441 PaulBenson.evusa.com ©2017 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. 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