words by Jason Mousseau photos by Erik KalacisRed Mountain is the host of the Redbull Coldrush which is a competition for non-competition skiers. The winner of the event is determined by the athletes themselves as they test their slopestyle, big mountain, and touring skills.
Orchard Cliffs: The venue for the slopestyle eventThe slopestyle portion of the event took place at Orchard Cliffs which is a small cliff band inbounds at Red Mountain. A total of 17 features were constructed by Jeremie Duchaine and a small team of builders a week prior to the event to let the jumps set and keep the landings fresh. Having such a large number of jumps ensured there was something for every type of skier, ranging from the big booters and cliff drops to the pillow lines and tree jibs. Since the format of the slopestyle was rider judged, it allowed skiers to do their own thing and hit the features they wanted without having to please anyone but themselves.
The view from aboveThe Coldrush officially started on Thursday morning, where athletes had a few hours to inspect the cliff band and choose which features they like best. This gave time for the crowd to gather and let the media setup at the bottom of the venue where Redbull provided food, drinks and warmth for all the spectators. The format was more of a jam session where the 18 athletes were split up into three groups and each had three hits on the features of their choice. The jam lasted from 12 to 4, giving the athletes plenty of time to relax in between hits.Group 1:Jeremie DuchaineDana FlahrDaryl TreadwaySean PettitWes HarrisJP AuclairGroup 2:Matt ElliotTyler CeccantiRiley LeboeRyan OakdenSven KueenleCallum PettitGroup 3:Andy MahreColston BeastonDave TreadwayMike HopkinsDane TudorAnthony Boronowski
The view from belowThe day started off with a bang when Sean Pettit floated one of the smoothest switch cork 5's off one of the middle hits. Things just kept on getting better as more athletes started to drop and use all the different features. Backflips are the balls, and obviously the athletes agree. Some of the biggest tricks of the day were backflips. backflip treetaps, double backflips, super laidback backflips. If that's not your thing, then you might prefer Dane Tudor's floater three's or Mike Hopkins rodeo 7's, both locals at Red.
Sven Kueenle getting creative with a pillow drop 180
Ryan Oakden boosting one of the biggest backflips of the day
He was pretty stoked on it too
A decent crowd showed up to watch and enjoy the free Redbull
Unnatty corked 7 by Anthony Boronowski. First hit.
Andy Mahre dropping on the leftside with a switch 3 into the pow
Forget tree taps, it's all about the backflip treetap. skier: Tyler Ceccanti
Tons of media were present to shoot for the eventThe media was filming every hit to put together edits for each athlete which were shown to the rider's on Saturday night. In the end, Sean Pettit came up on top with Anthony Boronowski and JP Auclair in second and third. The next two days were both very different, Friday being the freeskiing portion on Mount Robert's and Saturday being the skin up to the summit of Robert's. Athletes had all morning to do their inspection runs and scope out their lines, since they only have one filmed run which will later be judged by their fellow athletes. Dave Treadway led the pack with a huge huck off the top being followed closely by Sean Pettit who launched a three off the bottom cliff.
The venue for the freeski and skin upJeremy Duchaine was the first athlete to start the ascent up Roberts and led the pack the whole way up but was beat by Dave Treadway who finished the skin up in 1 hour and 11 minutes. Athletes had the rest of the afternoon to ski Red and met up after supper to watch everyones individual edit and decide who is the ultimate freeskier. When all was said and done, Dave Treadway was crowned the champ being followed by Sean Pettit and JP Auclair...Everyone partied hard that night at the Red Mountain day lodge and in true Rossland tradition drank the bar out of vodka. Overall Points Dave Treadway 86 Sean Pettit 84 JP Auclair 76 Dane Tudor 74 Ryan Oakden 74 Dana Flahr 70 Anthony Boronowski 70 Callum Pettit 70 Tyler Ceccanti 56 Sven Kueenle 51