Racing the Gnar at Keystone - Yeti Cycles Big Mountain Enduro presented by Shimano
On Saturday, 200+ racers tackled some of the most challenging terrain in the country at Keystone Bike Park for the Yeti Cycles Big Mountain Enduro presented by Shimano stop number 3. Keystone is notorious for being technical and big, and riders stepped up their game, maintained fear levels and descended 10,000 vertical feet over 4 gnarly stages. Going back one week earlier, BME promoters and resort operations were a bit concerned due to the excessive snow around the mountain from the big Colorado winter and crews had to shift it into overdrive just to dig out the trails that had multiple feet of snow on them. Without these efforts, trails would have been very limited for this BME stop, but hard work paid off and what a race it was.
From the big top to bottom stages, various conditions, tons of rocks and stoked racers, this event definitely goes down as a historical one for US Enduro events. Not to mention, the Yeti FOX Factory team swept the podium and actually the top 8 spots in the pro men field and Anne Galyean was able to pick up her first and much-deserved win of the season. For the U21 men, Quinn Reece took the top step, with Evander Hughes and Ross Soriano coming in seconds behind him. Keep your eyes out for these young shredders, as they put up times that mirrored some of the top pro men and will soon be a force to be reckoned with. The BME crew also put together a kids mini "Fun-Duro" where the young up and comers were able to race one of the lower green trails and take part in the BME action. This was well received by everyone and kids from the ages of 6 to 12 were able to race alongside some of the best in the world, some of which even chaperoned the kids while on their race run.
Up next is BME stop number 4 at Winter Park, CO taking place on July 8th. Racers can expect more technicality thrown at them, big vertical and some new stages that will not disappoint. This event is filling up quickly, so make sure to register online in advance, as it will sell out. There is even word that some of the big hitters from the EWS will be in the attendance, so put this one on your calendar if you want to see or compete against some of the top riders in the world. Per usual, the sponsor village will be packed, trails will be ripping, Upslope beer will be flowing and good times will be had all around.
Pro Men:
1. Shawn Neer
2. Chris Heath
3. Nate Hills
4. Duncan Nason
5. Josh Conroy
Pro Women:
1. Anne Galyean
2. Krista Rust
3. Becky Gardner
4. Caroline Jarolimek
5. Sarah Rawley
U21 Men:
1. Quinn Reece
2. Evander Hughes
3. Ross Soriano
U21 Women:
1. Samantha Soriano
2. Lia Westermann
3. Jazlyn Smith
Master Men 40+:
1. Rob Drew
2. Dee Tidwell
3. Ryan Hughes
Full Results Here
BME Remaining 2017 Schedule:
Winter Park, CO/NAET: July 8th
Aspen Snowmass, CO/EWS: July 29th–30th
Crested Butte, CO/BME Finals: August 19th–20th
Mascota, Mexico: November 10th–12th
Photos by Tony Wilhelms.
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Mairiporã XC World Cup 2024
42114 views
42114 views
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
I rode Keystone 6 days last year and had multiple hot laps on nearly every trail with my relatively modern DH bike. I expected the enduro bike to be faster on the jump/flow/park trails like Cowboy-Up and Paid-in-Full, where it has a lot more pep than the DH rig, but was surprised that I was faster even on the steep stuff.
Watching the Yeti guys rail Jam Rock during practice it's apparent that even at Keystone, one of the steepest parks in CO, a full on DH bike isn't very useful for mere mortals not hitting WC level speeds and air, and perhaps why Yeti doesn't sell one anymore.
/shitpost
Great race btw. Super fun and well-organized!