Race Report: Big Mountain Enduro Round 4 - Big Sky, MT
A new race, a new venue, and more steep, raw trails than you can shake a stick at. For its penultimate stop of 2019, the Big Mountain Enduro made its way to Southwest Montana to uncover a hidden gem. Big Sky Resort played host to 200 racers who came to take a shot at taming the wild trails laid out in the shadow of the Big Sky’s ever-imposing Lone Peak.
Over the course of two days, racers covered 21 miles with 7,000 ft of climbing and 8,500 ft of descending. The course consisted of six stages that sampled some of the excellent terrain Big Sky has to offer. Racers were kept on their toes with a mix of steep chutes, off-camber turns, gnarly roots, the occasional bike park berm, the muddy steeps, high-speed ski runs, and enough sharp rocks to destine more than a few tires and wheels for the trash pile. The pain of the transfer climbs was numbed by the stunning views and the prospect of ripping down trails that had racers grinning ear to ear and begging for party laps once the racing was done. By the end of the weekend, the term “best trail ever” was nearly overused.
Racers and spectators alike were abuzz with speculation about who would come out on top at this new venue. The new and unique terrain presented new challenges for the racers as they worked their way down the mountain in search of that elusive top step on the podium. After two days of tight racing that saw racers in the Pro ranks trading stage wins and, in several cases, tying down to the 10th of a second on some stages, the #1 spot would go to Cooper Ott for Pro Women and Todd Renwick for Pro Men.
In Big Sky fashion, where the fun of riding your bike trumps the seriousness of a race run, the entire Pro Men field, and two talented groms, finished their day by earning some air miles doing a wild party lap on the black diamond Ninja Marmot jump line.
Strong work from Jazlyn Smith (U21 Women) this weekend with a first place finish.
Master's 50+ Mens champ Mark Weirich rolling into Stage 1.
Master's 40+ Male Mike West navigating the deep woods of Big Sky.
Owen Davis (U21 Men) making his way through the scree on Stage 1.
Myles Trainer secured 4th overall for Pro Men.
Storms from the night before may have left Revenge a bit greasy, but Lia Westermann still found a way to enjoy it. Lia earned the 2nd spot on the podium, just 1.7 seconds off the leader, Cooper Ott.
Despite the gut punch of mechanicals on Day 1, Montana local Damon Sedivy (Pro Men) climbed back to 6th by the end of race weekend.
Scott Countryman throwing down hard on a greasy Stage 2.
Yup, it's that steep. Welcome to Montana ladies and gents. Ian Morgan bombing down the waterfall on Stage 2.
Trust your knobs and hope there's no rain. You like loamy dirt, roots and rocks? Big Sky will deliver.
Expert Men's Nate Sheehan keeping it low and fast.
David Rhine cutting up Stage 3.
Epic views for the start of Day 2.
Master's 40+ Male, Tate Dunkel, working his way through the chicanes of loamy dirt and exposed roots on Stage 4.
Andy Burns dodging trees and roots on Stage 4.
Did we mention loamy dirt and greasy roots yet? Ian Mullens got the top spot for Expert Men...by nearly 2 minutes.
5 seconds separated the top 3 Pro Women this weekend. Stefanie McDaniel got 3rd with a total time of 27:20:9
Eyes on the prize for Cooper Ott this weekend.
Even home turf advantage couldn't help Mens Pro Bryce Oxley as a crash took him out late in Day 2. Rest up bud!
Head down and eyes locked, Quinn Reece finished 3rd for Pro Men with a time of 0:24:05.3.
Again...roots? Pro Men's Trevor Boldi showing the proper way to descend - fast and loose.
Todd Renwick bombing his way to the top of the Pro Mens Podium.
Smiles for miles from your leading ladies of Master 40+. Amber Tinstman took home 1st & Krista Birkelo followed closely behind in 2nd.
Lauren Bingham staying focused through the flow of Stage 6.
Todd Renwick demonstrating that over is sometimes faster than on.
Adam Prosise doing Adam Prosise things.
Steeze and speed from local Branham Snyder. Branham finished 8th in Pro Men.
Definitely not the worst views for the weekend.
I think we can all agree it’s already great.
Racers refueling halfway through Day 2.
Christian Atkins took 1st for U21 Men on his Devinci.
Owen Davis dropping into Stage 6.
No shortage of drifty moondust over the weekend.
Lazer focus from Yeti's Lauren Bingham.
Spectators were plenty over the weekend.
Big Mountain Enduro: Big Sky Drift. Starring Trevor Boldi.
David Stringfellow testing his side knobs on his Minion DHF's.
Local grom Blaise Ballantyne is no stranger to the gnar that is Big Sky.
In Big Sky fashion, where the fun of riding your bike trumps the seriousness of a race run, the entire Pro Men field, and two talented groms, finished their day by earning some air miles doing a wild party lap on the black diamond Ninja Marmot jump line.
Plenty of delicious grub and libations awaited racers at the end of the day.
BME Big Sky Results
Pro Men
1st: Todd Renwick - 0:23:45.5
2nd: Evan Geankoplis - 0:23:47.2
3rd: Quinn Reece - 0:24:05.3
4th: Myles Trainer - 0:24:15.8
5th: Scott Countryman - 0:24:21.7
Pro Women
1st: Cooper Ott - 0:27:15.7
2nd: Lia Westermann - 0:27:17.4
3rd: Stefanie McDaniel - 0:27:20.9
4th: Amy Morrison - 0:28:44.9
5th: Lacey Andersen - 0:29:12.1
Expert Men
1st: Ian Mullens - 0:25:33.9
2nd: Logan Eure - 0:27:04.8
3rd: Justin Kelp - 0:27:20.4
U21 Men
1st: Christian Atkins - 0:24:27.3
2nd: Aiden Chapin - 0:24:48.8
3rd: Travis Claypool - 0:25:00.7
U21 Women
1st: Jazlyn Smith - 0:32:45.5
2nd: Ashlyn Puzey - 0:35:39.7
Amateur 21-39 Men
1st: Andy Burns - 0:28:14.8
2nd: Ben Link - 0:29:06.3
3rd: Joel White - 0:29:33.9
Amateur 21-39 Women
1st: Jordann Jordan - 0:37:11.7
2nd: Brenda Moczygemba - 0:42:18.0
3rd: Evelyn Racette - 0:43:05.8
Master 40+ Men
1st: Rich Drew - 0:26:06.0
2nd: Mike West - 0:26:34.9
3rd: Timmy Evens - 0:26:41.1
Master 40+ Women
1st: Amber Tinstman - 0:32:22.2
2nd: Krista Birkelo - 0:34:26.4
3rd: Lisa Gustin - 0:34:35.0
Master 50+ Men
1st: Mark Weirich - 0:30:01.2
2nd: Todd Smith - 0:30:21.3
3rd: Don Fritts - 0:30:28.5
Sport Men
1st: Max Seelye - 0:15:25.1
2nd: Ian Halderman - 0:17:10.7
3rd: Dade Smith - 0:17:12.2
Sport Women
1st: Brenna Mozingo - 0:20:56.2
Groms
1st: Forrest Christian - 0:26:05.9
2nd: Jenson Chapin - 0:26:19.0
3rd: Izak Boardman - 0:27:25.6
Full results can be found here.
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
And who ever wrote the results in the article cmon...my last name is Kelm not "Kelp" lol