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My tour of the west began on my 39th birthday March 20, 2007. That was the day I flew to Portland, Oregon to hook up with my sister and some friends. But the story really begins 3 weeks before on March 2, the 1st day of the Stihl Colorado Freeride championships. This is the first Freeride comp of the season for snowboarders. I tell people that I compete in Freeride comps and they look at me funny. Then I say "Ya it used to be called Extreme" as I throw up two fingers on each side of my head in quotations when I say the word extreme. Sometimes they still don't get it so I say "you know steeps and cliffs" at which point they wince and tell me I am nuts. In some ways I may be nuts but not when it comes to riding. I first saw a snowboard as a freshman in college while on a college ski trip to Squaw Valley U.S.A. in 1988. Having grown up at the beach surfing It was a natural match. In 1995 I moved to Snowmass Village, Colorado for the winter. Since then it's been 130 days plus every year with the exception of 2000 which I spent with a blown out knee. The Freeride comp came to my attention in 2002 when the Stihl Colorado Freeride Comp moved from Berthoud Pass to Snowmass.
Freeriding is Moving down steep terrain fluidly while at the same time using the natural terrain as your own personal terrain park. Unlike slopestyle there are no perfect takeoffs or landings only what you can figure out from inspection. The conditions can vary from the crispiest bone chattering crust to 3 feet of blower, depending upon the day. And unlike those guys out there killing it with sponsors and prize money on the pipe and park tours a win at one of the freerides nets $1000 if you are lucky. Second and third can count on some cash but everyone else is SOL. So most of us spend a couple of thousand dollars a year just for the chance to be a part of the vibe. It costs $125 for each comp and then lift tickets for 4 days, a hotel, and getting to and from the event.
, Over the past couple of years I have met the few guys who make up the veteran competitors. Most of these guys rip it up at Kirkwood. They are led by the eternal veteran Pete Bennett who has competed in every Comp that has been held at Kirkwood, that's 11. Never one to lose control,fall,or put a hand down he always ends up in the mix. Next is Adam Devargas who does a good job of combining technical skills with the ability to huck. Will Brommelsiek who can come up big on any given day. He's a legend around Kirkwood known for stomping big airs to the delight of the locals. Then there is Ben Crocker, a powerful rider who can drop just about anything and throw in his patented front flip. There is also Adam Krenicki who always brings that Squaw Valley attitude. Otherwise I have gotten glimpses of the old guard with the likes of Corey Kaczmarek. There are are always the newcomers who come to compare their riding ability and see how they fare. Last year I was a newcomer to Kirkwood and after a big qualifying round was handed a big Kirkwood welcome by blowing up in the final and not making the superfinal.
Snowmass welcomed this years comp with 3 ft. of snow the week before the comp. Day 1 was held in the Hanging Valley Wall where your run is over before you know it. It involves two features at most but if you want to win two trees right or left is the only way. An elevated snowfield that is only exited by a mandatory air between 30 and 60 ft. Since I hail from Snowmass I had the local knowledge as well as many days spent flinging myself off the two trees. That day was the first time myself or anybody besides patrol had been in those cliffs. I knew it was where I had to go and the line was remembered like the lyrics of my favorite song. The day was one of the coldest of the year with highs in the single digits. Intermitent snow showers and some wind added to the difficulties of sticking let alone finding your line. Unfortunately for the rest of the field they did realize the consequences by giving me a 6 point lead even though Ben Crocker threw a beautiful front flip off the double. Ben sat in second followed by Jeremy Wood and Adam DeVargas a Kirkwood triple. Local Marek Cholinski rounded out the top 5.
Day 2 blew up into an awesome Colorado bluebird day with tons of fresh hanging in the burn cliffs waiting to be exploded. Since the men's snowboarders went before the men's skiers I knew that Triple Drop would be plush for the taking. Triple drop is made up of 3 distinct drops the first is 20-40 feet depending on one's entry. You land on a shelf about 40 feet wide and 20 ft long. When one looks from the top of triple drop you can see the the snowfield below you and a couple of pines which look about 50 ft tall and the shelf is right in the middle about 25 ft up. which sends you onto a 20 by 20 foot shelf with a 20 ft gap staight ahead that sends you off a rock that goes 25 feet staight down and usually sends you bigger with any speed. It represents the highest degree of difficulty on the venue and a proving ground for any champ in the making. Four riders ventured into triple drop this year and all finished in the top five. Ben Crocker won that day with a solid run down triple and a front flip off the top. Local Casey Vandenbroek was 2nd and I ended up 3rd after shwagging the third air in triple drop. I took the championship by two tenths of a point. Ben was 2nd, Casey 3rd, Marek ended up 4th after sticking a 50 foot back flip off the bottom cliffs and Breckenridge rider Tyler Dewitt who has competed here before 5th.
In Portland I hooked up with 2 other competitors, Will Brommelsiek and Matt Fulop. Matty Came out to Snowmass last year for the comp and had a 1st one day and a second overall. We left for Crystal early the next morning to the accompaniment of rain showers. 4 hours later we pull in to 6 inches of fresh and a registration to get our lift ticket. If you have never been to Crystal Mountain Washington let alone heard of it, check it out! Crystal has the longest vertical and boasts the biggest acreage when the backcountry is included of anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. It's basically a spine that runs for at least 4 miles with various peaks jutting up including the Silverking 1200 vertical feet with a rock spine running down the middle of it. Last years event was won by Christiaan Bourdrez who owns the Rainier rides Snowboard shop one of two at the mountain,and I think he said there were 4 competitors last year. I heard about the Crystal comp from Wallace Westfeldt who won the Colorado Freeride Championships last year and was my shotgun last year for Kirkwood. Unfortunately he blew out his Talus Bone early in the season and was done. So I told Ben Crocker and we basically brought 6 guys including the top 4 places.
Day 1 brought 8 Inches on top of Boilerplate to the Snorting Elk Bowl. 9 competitors registered and with the men's skiers who needed to qualify we inspected the venue. The bottom chutes were scrapped to ice before the comp started and very few that day went through that section smoothly. One rider that did was Adam DeVargas and he ended up in 2nd place. Will Brommelsiek had a sweet run going til he tumbled trying to mainlne the boilerplate. Pete Bennet put an uncharacteristic hip onto the snow and ended up in 5th. I went 2nd to last and decided to try sowething a little different. Most of the competitors were going skiers right into a rocky chute. I went left onto a snow spine and dropped a backside 360 over a rock band but lost my tail and put my hand down. Then I went through the boilerplate and could not get an edge so I pointed it without misfortune and ended up 3rd. Ben Crocker was after me and turned a double into a single with a front flip and the top seed going into the final.
The Final was 2 days later after the junior skiers and women skiers (Incuding the winner Laura Ogden who ripped the Silverking), and before the Men's skiers. It started raining sometime during the inspection and conditions deteriorated throughout the day. The best thing about the rain was everything was soft. The worst thing was all the hits over the rocks had receded leaving few options for hucking. One such option was a hanging snowfield that we would find out later was a mandatory 60 foot air. What made it scary as hell was that you could not see the takeoff from the point of no return. The hike up to Silverking takes about 25 minutes with the last 10 straight up. The Final went in reverse order so Will Brommelsiek led it off with a solid 1200 vert run, Local Bob Coffey had a solid run for being his 1st comp. which left him in the top five. Pete Bennett ended up 5th after day 1 but returned to his usual steady form, ripping through the features to a tie for 2nd place. Local Patrick Hennessey was sitting in 4th but could not get it together and fell out of the top five. I followed him with sweet 180 jump turns down this chute called ---------- which was maybe 2 feet wider than the length of my board,flowed well through the middle but aired at the bottom and through out a hip check which ended up costing me some money, slipping to 4th. Adam Devargas then rolled through a technical rock shelf double, but had a little mishap and let Pete sneak in and tie him for second. Ben Crocker rounded out the field. He had a similar line to Adam on top but got stuck at the double. At the bottom he ventured onto the snowfield took a couple of turns and pointed it from way back and off what ben and myself asummed was about 45 ft of air. He actually fell over 60 feet making a crater when he landed and popping right up to a screaming crowd. That sealed the deal because it was definitely the best score on the venue. Only one other contestant, a men's skier, attempted that line and he did not make it landing on the rocks and tumbling off into the snow.
The following morning brought 6 inches of fresh to our doorstep but we had travel to Lake Tahoe that day a nice 16 hour journey so we could register the next morning for The North American Freeride Championships at Kirkwood. 31 men had registered for the comp. Only 21 showed up and I did not blame them. It had been sunny and warm for 2 weeks, Monday brought wind and cold turning the snow into reef. Adam Ben, Pete Will, and myself went up to inspect the Venue, Vista abot 350 vert, this year filled with rocks the size of houses sticking out of the snow. Last year Kirkwood had a 300 inch base and over 800 for the season. This year they barely got to 150 inches before it started melting. While checking out this little chute I realized it was less then 3 ft wide at the bottom. so I pointed it in flat light hit an ice mound which tossed me onto the tail and then over. Flipping over the pepper rocks and careening staight at a couple rocks 40 feet below the chute. I could not catch an edge and slammed into them putting out my left forearm to take the brunt of the blow. Immediately after Impact Adam, who I had almost hit as I slid, Is there to help. I know I am dinged up but Nothing is broken. I go down to the clinic ,peel off a couple of layers and find a hole in my leg and forearm bleeding pretty good.
Next morning I am pretty sore but not enough to back out. Men's Snowboard started off the comp and I drew the first to go. It had started snowing the afternoon before and dumped 16 inches. So I went back through the same chute as the day before and ripped it, As I came down I saw a feature to pop off but before I got there hit some pepper and got tossed horizontally through the air. When I hit i popped to my feet as I slid fallline into a rock the size of an apartment. I had my body armor on so i hockey checked the rock, blowing out my ankle and spun off into the wnid swail where I came to complete stop. Pushed myself out and down to the finish line for 19th out of 21 and my lowest score ever in comp. Since I opened the comp I got to see evryone elses line. Local Tyrus Fisher through out one of the smoothest runs of the day and ended up 3rd. 3 Squaw valley guys, Last years podium performer Dan Krenicki and newcomers Ralph Backstrom and Chris Galvin had solid runs landing them in 4th, 5th, and 2nd. But the run of the day went to Pete Bennett who rode the tight shoot from the top then uncharacteristically hucked a 15 footer over rocks stomped it and charged down to the finish.
The final on Thursday was a bluebird. The winds had raged the day before for the men's skier qualifier and repositioned the 16 inches from 2 days ago. The venue was the left side of The Cirque famed proving grounds for the best in North America. Permenantly closed except during this comp it is always a challenge and many come just to get a shot at skiing this face. Over 1400 vert with air up to 100ft and littered with massive rocks, There were definitely plenty of no fall zones. Since I ended up 19th and 21st DNF I was up second, but wanted to get two runs through inspection. As I got to the point where you unstrap and then walk up 100 vertical feet I noticed my highback cracked clean throgh. I ripped it off clipped in and bolted for the finish. As I arrive Dak The announcer lets the snowboarders know they should be gone especially if you have an early start. I show him my broken binding and he calls over patrol who finds me 4 zip ties and a rol of ducktape. 5 minutes later Iam on my way taped up highback and ankle. I was intent on taking a mellow line and not pushing my luck with the ankle. The starter called me out and gave me the the countdown "From Snowmass Colorado folks Dave Watson, 3-2-1-go Dave. Islipped to the right side of the venue and dropped 8to 10 feet of a wind lip. then ollied a couple rocks a big left turn and then off a 10 footer and down to the final feature a rounded chute with rocks on the right. It was all fresh so dropped 15 feet over the rocks to a buttery soft landing and turns to the finish. Dak called me over tothe announcer's booth so he could check out the highback. It held together but was really floppy after the run. Adam Devargas who had blown up in the qualifier came 3 after me in 16th place and pushed the comp to new heights by sending a technical double and sticking it. But off the next hit he landed and did a complete cartwheel in the air back to his feet. Local Justin Bender 8th in the qualifier Came home with a crowd pleasing 50 footer off of Kodak Rock. Spencer Cordovano from Sun Valley followed Adam's line through double cleanly but had problems lower. Tyrus Fisher and Chris Galvin rode clean lines taking 3rd and 2nd for the run. Pete Like the majority of the riders had a hip check or worse and so the highest score of the round went to myself, but I was so far back from the qualifier That ended up 11th missing the top ten by .2 points.
The superfinal started with Adam Devargas having squeeked up to 10. He rode a decent line til he realized he could not huck off a feature and had to go around. Spencer Cordovano went back to the double and blew up. Which was the way it went for most of the field. Pete Bennett held on for 4th. Dan Krenicki finished with a solid ride up to 3rd place. Tyrus finished his comp the way it started with another smooth ride making him the most consistant rider and a 2nd place podium. Ralph Backstrom took top honors with by taking the highest score of the snowboarders 31.80 in a fast fluid flawless run.
Having competed now for four years I have seen the progression level of the snowboarders rise to taking some of the most challenging lines in the venue competing with skiers for that precious soft snow. On the women's side Shannon Yates and Tiffany Noel are pushing up to the same lines taken by thier male counterparts. Judging by the way the competion has increased over the past couple of years, riders are getting after it in the steeps and want to see how they fare.

P.S. If anybody reads this and wants to help find sponsors so that a tour could be organized throw me an email at snowmassair4@yahoo.com