Photo Epic: Strait Acres Slalom Invitational 2023
Words: James Stokoe
Tropical storm Hilary had everyone on edge for the 2023 Strait Acres Slalom Invitational. The course builders spent endless late nights working tooth and nail to make sure the course would be ready for when the world's best slalom riders were due to arrive at Snow Summit Ski Resort located in the beautiful Big Bear Lake, California. The morning of the event came and we all waited patiently to see what Hilary was to bring us, fortunately, mother nature is a huge fan of the Straits and especially the Strait Acres Slalom Invitational as the storm held off until the wee hours of the morning following the event.
Before we could get down to the racing, there was the matter of crowning the king and queen of the Scrub Off presented by Stan's No Tubes. During the jam format, we saw the athletes take on the scrub wall located toward the bottom of the slalom course and push their limits to see who could get their bars to barely scrape the face of the wall of dirt and position their back wheel to throw as much dirt on the spectators as possible, then miraculously bring it back to land safely on the backside. The $1500 first-place prize for the woman went to Brooke Anderson who consistently laid down textbook scrubs, and Ryder Lawrence took the men's category by defying the laws of physics multiple times.
Next on the docket was to watch some of the fastest and most stylish slalom athletes go head to head in the round of 16 for both the men's and women's categories to whittle away through the brackets to find out who will be our number one spots for the 2023 Strait Acres Slalom Invitational. The racing was fast and tight, there was an unspoken urgency in the air from all the athletes as the clouds were gradually getting darker and darker, the temperature was dropping, and the shuttle trucks were lapping as quickly as their engines would let them to make sure the heavens didn't have a chance to open and put a dampener on the weekend. The rains held off and the racing concluded with Kialani Hines taking the win for the woman and Kenneth Gustafson for the men. The fans were stoked, and the event went off without a hitch, there were a ton of high-fives and that was a wrap for the 2023 Strait Acres Slalom Invitational.
Jonathan Simek throwing dirt
The fans were out in force to watch the style go down
The groms were out in force
People got loose
Your course designer/builder, Kyle Strait
Kyle was proud to show off his plans, which he kept in an empty Vans shoe box
The sketchings from a master of his craft
The village at Snow Summit Ski Resort in Big Bear Lake was buzzing with excitement - it's amazing to see fans of all ages coming out to see their heroes race
Ryder Lawrence showing the fans what they came out for
Fortunatly there was more dust and dirt in the air than rain
It's always a pleasure when Dylan Stark appears to compete in the Scrub Off
Teagan Heap keeping it low
Brooke Anderson with bags of style and commitment
Olivia Silva throwing down for the woman
Last year's winner Jonathan Simek came back to defend his crown
Olivia Silva taking some of her uncle's style - it runs in the family
Stans No Tubes put up some serious cash for the Scrub Off; the best save went to Parker Garner, Brooke Anderson took the win for the woman, and Ryder Lawrence for the lads
Tropical Storm Hilary's clouds were building throughout the day
Simington Statlin boosting the Megladon feature
The amateur ladies, Libby Ellis and Amber Potter going head to head in the first bracket
Athletes found every opportunity to get a little steezy
Dani Johnson and McKenna Merten showing us what proper form looks like
The final berms after the scrub wall, and before the last flat corners took out a number of racers
Kate Thayer on her way to taking second place in the Beginner Women's category
Braydon Bringhurst (R) and Ryder Lawrence battling it out in the round of 16
Cody Kelley with his unique style that can be recognized from miles away
Kailey Skelton ramping up the power out of the flat corner
Kyle Strait chasing down Kenneth Gustafson, Strait didn't quite pull Kenny back and Kenny went on to win the event
Kialani Hines (R) and Kyleigh Stewart
Stepping down
The flat corners at the top gave the athletes something to scratch their heads over, by the finals most of the riders had it figured out - a lot of trust in their tires
Nik Nesteroff (R) and Frew Jackson in the round of 8
Cody Kelley entering the rythym section
Eddie Reynolds (R) & Frew Jackson keeping the racing neck and neck all while still looking good doing it
First place qualifier Lani Hines (L) and second place qualifier Jordy Scott over the step down into the scrub wall
Sara Ligman's eye's full of nothing but concentration
Nik Nesteroff showing you how to ride the scrub wall in a race situation - just get over it as fast as possible!
Sophie Allen (R) and Alaina Henderson making their way through the rhythm section in the round of 16
Eddie Reynolds pushed it just a little too hard on the last berm in the consolation final
Sportsmanship
Love for the competitors
This is what mountain biking is all about, family and friends
The excitement was just too much for some and a nap was needed
Kialani Hines takes the top step, Jordy Scott in 2nd, and rounding out the top three, Kailey Skelton
Kenneth Gustafson took the win, with Jackson Frew in 2nd and Ryder Lawrence grabbing the third spot
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More of this. DS is a great spectator sport that is super fun.
I have a crappy DS course in my yard that is still a blast when friends come over to hang out and "race"