This last weekend the BSF Freeskiing team had their first USASA regional slopestyle and rail jam event of the season. It was a great weekend to kick off our competitions. We could not have asked for a better day to compete. Sunny skies and not too chilly was the perfect recipe for all the kids to throw down.
There were a total of just about 40 athletes competing, with BSF representing close to half the field. The day started with the slopestyle competition, which consisted of a rail feature of choice, followed by two jumps, and another rail feature at the end of the course. The judges were looking for “overall impression,” which consists of difficulty, amplitude, and style.
I was so impressed with the whole team. Especially our athletes who were competing for the first time ever! We had quite a few podium finishes (full results below).
One of the coolest highlights of the day was seeing Harry Amphlett compete for the first time. Harry worked hard all week to get ready for the comp. He went from not being very comfortable on rails to greasing the first rail in the comp both runs! Harry followed that up with a huge 360 on jump one and boosting off of jump two. My favorite quote of the day was when he was getting ready to drop into his first run he turned to me and said, “Cody, I don’t feel very good right now. I kind of feel like I’m going to throw up.” Thankfully that didn’t happen, but he got to experience first hand the nerves of competing and how to battle through it. That’s what it is all about!
Shortly after the Slopestyle event wrapped up, the athletes competed in the Rail Jam. A rail jam is when athletes have 30 minutes to hit a selection of different rails in the venue. The judges look for variety in the features that the athletes hit, as well as the difficulty of their tricks. Athletes tend to like this format because it is laid back and there is not as much pressure to land two runs. It was great seeing everyone throwing down. Especially Miles Hundhausen, who took home 1st place in the 15-22 year old age group.
