Photo Epic: Big Mountain Enduro Hits The Crested Butte Ultra Enduro
FIVE DAYS OF AN ENDURO BATTLE
Day one of the Crested Butte Ultra Enduro sent racers to over 12,000 ft elevation during two timed stages.
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 There is no harder working crew than the Big Mountain Enduro crew. |
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| Local buses were put into service to shuttle racers for three days to the start of each day and bring them home after a long day in the saddle. |
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| Crystal Peak trail took racers up to the start of the first timed stage of the week and it was no easy task. |
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| The final push to the top of Star Pass and the start of the first stage of racing was a doozy. |
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| Preston Bagley starts the week of racing as the only Junior Male racer. All week long he had great performances which would have earned him sixth place in the Am 19-39 Men's race. |
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| Racing in Crested Butte can make you feel small, very small. |
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| Colin Pickett puts in some pedal strokes on a flat section of Trail 400. |
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| Will Olson smashes through one of many stream crossings on the open stage of five days of racing. |
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| Sarah Rawley finds the smooth line through the rough on the lower section of Trail 400. |
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| A group of Pro Men including Joey Schusler and Chris Johnston finish out the first half of the climb up to the Teo Ridge Trail and the second stage of day one. |
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| Mike West is always a pleasure to watch riding. He has a very distinct style which is usual very fast! |
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| After the first day of racing, Marco Osborne found himself in the lead. |
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| Ross Schnell flies on his way to a second place finish on the first day of racing. |
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| Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski gets loose on the lower section of Trail 400. JHK finished the day in 7th. |
Day two of the Crested Butte Ultra Enduro sent racers out for 33 gruelling miles with 6,729 feet of descending and 5,699 feet of climbing. Opening the day with a climb UP the Deadman's switchbacks to Cement Mountain Trail. Racers descended Cement Mountain Trail to Roaring Judy Trail for the first timed stage of the day. After a 17 mile transfer racers lined up for the second timed stage, Doctor's Park Trail. This Crested Butte classic trail is one of the best trails in the area if not the state. After nearly 30 minutes of timed racing the final standings for the day were extremely tight. On the Pro Men's side young gun Marco Osborne continues to hold off the field with a 10 second lead over Ross Schnell in second. Kathy Pruitt held onto her first place position in the Pro Women's category over Heather Irmiger.
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| If you aren't hiking, you aren't mountain biking! That seems to be the case if you are riding in Crested Butte. Kristen Naber hikes it out to the start of Roaring Judy Trail. |
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| Jennifer Crew was all smiles dropping into Roaring Judy trail, the first stage of day two. |
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| Tim Poppe of Crested Butte keeps it low and fast on the opening of stage one on day two. |
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| Taylor Lindeen blurs through the start of stage one of day two. Lindeen held a commanding lead in the Am Men 19-39 race. |
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| Fairly new to the enduro scene, Derek Bissette has shown that he has the skills and speed to be a top ten contender. |
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| How do you stay at the front of the pack day in and day out? You put in pedal strokes anywhere and everywhere possible. Ross Schnell on his way to another second place finish. |
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| After nearly ten years of photographing Joey Schusler, I have never gotten a photo like this one. Mechanicals are not a common thing for this shredder. |
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| Crested Butte local, Matthew Steinwand shows the best way to cross Spring Creek before the last climb up to Doctor's Park trail. |
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| No stranger to Colorado singletrack, Ross Schnell flies into one of the fastest and roughest sections of Doctor's Park. Schnell finished the day in second, ten seconds behind Marco Osborne. |
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| Nate Hills taking the high line up and over a boulder. |
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| Alex Petitdemange keeps it loose through the rocky section of Doctor's Park. Petitdemange had a great week of racing holding a consistent top ten finish. |
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| Heather Irmiger just squeezed by Kathy Pruitt to take the win on day two by less than two tenths of a second. |
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| Mountain Flyer Magazine founder Brian Riepe keeps it smooth through the rough of Doctor's Park. Riepe finished top on the day in the Master's Men race. |
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| Marco Osborne continuing to prove he has what it takes to win. After two days of racing he holds onto his overall lead over Ross Schnell in second. |
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| Macky Franklin smashes through the single creek crossing on Doctor's Park Trail. |
After yesterday's rain, today's race was altered slightly. The extremely steep, rooty and rocky trail Waterfall was taken out, making today two stages instead of three. Riders were sent up to the top of Double Top, an extremely beautiful trail making its way over to the start of the day's first stage, Trail 409.5. The previous day's rain made for some slick and sloppy conditions. After making their way down the first special stage, racers then made their way up Trail 409 to the Cave's Trail decent. Cave's Trail being the shortest of all the timed stages, but possibly the steepest. The trail finishes with endless tight switchbacks, testing rider's cornering abilities. At the end of the day Jerome Clementz led the Pro Men by over 10 seconds and Kathy Pruitt continues her dominance of the Pro Women's race.
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| Photographer Eddie Clark prepares his bike for another day of abuse while out on course. |
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| The third and final shuttle day brought some ominous weather. |
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| Todd Park enjoying the early morning pedal transfer on day three along Double Top Trail above Cement Creek. |
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| General consensus of the pedal transfer that started day three; THIS IS AMAZING! |
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| Two Am women racers make their way to the start of the first stage on day three with Gothic Mountain breaking free from the clouds in the background. |
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| The opening of Trail 409.5 was like many other high alpine trails in Crested Butte; wide open and fast! |
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| The steep and muddy trail known as Trail 409.5 |
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| Ben Cruz was entertaining to watch race all week, and on most stages he was blasting tunes as he was ripping the trail. |
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| Trail 409.5 put Kathy in her comfort zone with high speeds and steep, muddy trail. |
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| Mike West, aka Old Man West looks nothing like an old man on the bike. |
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| Yet another amazing view with a fast switchback. Cave's Trail made for a perfect enduro course. |
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| Nothing like a high speed switchbacking trail on the edge of cliff! |
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| Cave's Trail is something special. |
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| There is no denying Kathy Pruitt has some downhill skills. After three full days of racing, Pruitt continues to hold onto her overall lead in the Pro Women's race. |
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| No stranger to the BME or racing, Sarah Rawley makes quick of a tight turn on Cave's Trail on day three. |
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| After an altered race course for the day due to rain, Jerome Clementz takes his first win of the week by nearly ten seconds over the overall leader Marco Osborne. |
Day four of the Big Mountain Enduro, Crested Butte Ultra saw racers take on a single timed stage. After racers climbed/hiked nearly 3,000 feet up to the base of the Athracite Range for the start of the Green Lake Trail. The trail starts out super rocky then gets steep! After a brief section of dirt road racers dropped into the second section of the trail, a very physically demanding trail. The rolling flat left racers gassed and gasping for air. The tight switchbacks near the end allowed the top cornering riders to shine. After over 12 minutes of timed racing Jerome Clementz once again brought the fastest time, just three seconds off was Marco Osborne in second and Ross Schnell in third. For the Pro Women Kathy Pruitt continues to prove her dominance on the trail finishing 12 seconds faster the Heather Irmiger in second and Sarah Rawley in third.
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| The top of Green Lake Trail has no shortage of great views. |
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| An unknown racer blurs into the dark forest of Green Lake Trail. |
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| Colin Pickett of Crested Butte shows good form into a steep off camber turn on day four. Pickett was a mere second off of second place on the day. |
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| Theo Fellgett of Great Britain takes the high line through the rough on day four. |
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| Mid way down Green Lake Trail on day four, racers had an all out sprint on a short section of road. Jake Meyer breaths deep as he drops off the road back onto singletrack. |
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| Kathy Pruitt opens it up on the fire road section of Green Lake Trail. Pruitt led the Pro Women from day one all the way to the end. |
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| Crested Butte local Janae Pritchett makes the fast right turn back onto single track after flying down the wide open fire road section on Green Lake Trail. |
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| Ross Schnell making quick of yet another TIGHT switchback on Green Lake Trail. |
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| Mr. Smooth displaying what he does best. |
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| After the final back country day, Marco Osborne was sure to put on fresh rubber for the final day of racing at Evolution Bike Park. |
The fifth and final day of the Crested Butte Ultra Enduro sent racers to Elevation Bike Park on Mount Crested Butte. Each of the three stages brought very unique trails. Stage one on Luge was a anaerobic nightmare. Stage two went down Avery, the park's downhill track. The third and final stage sent racers down the brand new trail Captain Jack. Recently opened, Captain Jack has tons of steep and over camber roots through loamy dirt with one major rock garden.
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| This is truly big mountain enduro racing here in Crested Butte! |
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| Kristen Naber of team Pin It Girls was seemingly floating into the start of stage one of day five. |
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| Todd Park flies through one of the opening berms on the Luge Trail. |
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| Greg McNally sponsored by the best, Mom. Greg was one of the few Canadians to make the trek to Colorado for the Ultra Enduro. |
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| Melissa Thomas gets low on Luge Trail, the first stage of day five at Evolution Bike Park. |
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| An unknown racer floats into the opening of Avery Trail. |
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| Zach White gets back, way back through the opening rock garden on Avery Trail. White finished the day on top of the Vet Men race. |
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| Young gun Cody Kelley smashes through another rock garden on Avery Trail. He finished the day in an honourable 12th place. |
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| There is no denying Joey Schusler is a downhiller at heart. Schusler finished second on stage two on the final day of racing. |
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| Ulmer Naish does his best jump squash on Avery Trail, the second of three stages on Evolution Bike park. |
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| Marco Osborne blurring his way to the overall win after five days of hard racing. |
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| Hats off to this man, Timothy Moore. Timothy raced all week long, on a Reeb hardtail. |
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| Shortly after this frame, Taylor Lindeen had a nasty crash in the rocks. He got up on his own power and finished out the stage, securing his overall win for the week in Am 19-39 Men's race. |
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| After four days of racing in the backcountry, Heather Irmiger took on the final day full speed ahead. She continued a great week of racing finishing second overall. |
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| Janae Pritchett keeps it smooth and fast through the lower section of the brand new trail Captain Jacks. |
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| Josh Carlson's skills shined on the final day of racing at Evolution Bike Park. He took the win on the day by less than two tenths of a second over Marco Osborne. |
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| Marco Osborne knew that all he had to do on the final day of racing was to keep it smooth and upright and he did just that! He took the win for the week by less than 30 seconds. |
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| 1 Kathy Pruitt (not pictured), 2 Heather Irmiger, 3 Janae Pritchett, 4 Lauren Kuennen, 5 Melissa Thomas |
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| 1 Marco Osborn, 2 Ross Schnell, 3 Jerome Clementz, 4 Mike West, 5 Nate Hills |
Photos and words by Devon Balet
Full results here.
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Member since May 5, 2007
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-- winner of the old guy's (40+) race
Enduro
I think she missed it and the little girl was standing on the podium instead of her