Video & Race Report: Maxxis Eastern States Cup Kask Showdown at Sugarloaf, Maine by Eastern-States-Cup

Maxxis ESC Kask Showdown - Sugarloaf, Maine

Words: Eastern States Cup

After hearing racers raving about the trails and venue at Sugarloaf last summer, we had to make the trek to northern Maine again this season. This weekend riders would tackle five stages with a couple fresh sections for the Enduro, as well as some new features on the Crusher DH course. If you love sustained downhills, natural trails and fresh loam, this is the place to be. Adam Craig and his crew of trail gnomes have built something special here in the Carrabassett Valley, and we're glad to have a chance to sample the goods before the EWS comes to town later this summer.

Fresh sections of track and beautiful weather made this weekend one to remember.

Stan's Enduro

Enduro riders meeting with special guest Adam Craig. He knows this mountain like the back of his hand and has been hard at work creating these amazingly fun trails.

Kask Showdown racers would kick things off at 8am so they could finish in time for their DH runs. Nathan Sterckx weaves his way through the woods at the bottom of Stage 1, he would finish fourth for the Pro Men then take sixth in the Downhill.

Flat Tire Super Stage winners taking home some FTD swag for their efforts on Stage 1.

Kory Nagy transitions from bright ski trail to dark woods on Stage 2's Jackpot trail. He would improve one position from last race, squeaking into the Pro men's top five.

The Fox Transfer Seatpost Climbers Challenge was contested on the lengthy and steep Stage 1 transfer this weekend, here are the most savage pedalers from each class. After two big climbs, racers were relieved to take the lift for the final three stages.

One thing racers definitely got better at after this weekend is riding lightning-fast ski trails. Hannah Harrington sustains speed through the final few corners of Stage 3, she would take fourth place for the Pro Women.

Eli Gadbois gets aero back toward the base area, he would earn second in U20 and fifth in the Junior Expert DH class.

Stage 5 gets pretty serious about ten feet from the start, Eli Houle hucks and keeps it moving to round out the GT U15 boys class top five.

Nothing like a few slick slalom corners to finish out a big day the bike. After 25+ minutes of racing there were a lot of mishaps here, but all smiles when it was over.

First time we've seen Kayla Morin-Blanchette in action since the pandemic started and she's still got the speed, P3 this weekend in a talented Pro ladies field.

Mazie Hayden added some DH flavor to the Pro Women's mix, second place in her first Enduro of the year.

Mainer Kale Cushman got it done at home, winning every stage and besting the Pro Women by over a minute with a total race time of 23:47.

Enduro Pro Women: 4th - Hannah Harrington, 2nd - Mazie Hayden, 1st - Kale Cushman, 3rd - Kayla Morin-Blanchette, 5th - Mia Migliorino

P3 for Jason Memmelaar this weekend, he's so fast that sometimes you forget he's been racing in the Pro men's class for over ten years.

Adam Morse flows through the Maine woods, he would land in second place for the Pro Men after five stages.

Four stage wins and first Pro Enduro win for ProBuilds ripper Matt Driscoll, all while on a rental bike. What can't this kid do?

Had a great time on the bike this weekend racing the showdown here at Sugarloaf. I had an injury at Lourdes that kept me off the bike for 6 weeks. It was a slow recovery process after that, so I did my best to be smart and not rush to get back to the races, and I think it paid off! I’ve just been enjoying riding my bike, doing big rides lately, and I came into this first race back feeling fit and confident without any expectations. The tracks were super fun and physical, I was really happy with the way I was riding and I put down 6 mostly smooth and aggressive runs which ended up getting me the win in enduro and P4 in DH. Stoked to see the lil bro take the win in DH too, the whole ProBuilds and WoahGuy crew killed it this weekend. Excited to keep training hard and hoping to roll this momentum into the EWS in August.—Matt Driscoll

Enduro Pro Men: 4th - Nathan Sterckx, 2nd - Adam Morse, 1st - Matt Driscoll, 3rd - Jason Memmelaar, 5th - Kory Nagy

Intense Downhill

How could you not love racing at a venue like this? Beautiful views from the top of the Crusher DH course.

Matt Puchniak would slot into P2 for the Junior Experts, just 1.54 shy of the win.

Ideride racer Yofta Larocque rips down the ski slope to second place in the single crown class.

18-time U.S. National champion Adam Craig on course, having fun with the Maxxis ESC community.

Anthony Lapedota was the lone wolf for Get Loose Racing this weekend, but represented with a big win in the Amateur 19-29 class.

Amateur 40-49 class winner Matti Rousku surfs through the thick, loamy woods.

Three races this year and three Pro ladies podium results for Maxine Bergeron, P3 this weekend.

Defiant Racing's Mazie Hayden was fastest in the first split but lost some time in the more technical bottom sections, bumping her to second place.

After winning the Enduro, Kale Cushman decided she wasn't done, two years in a row she has taken the double win at her home mountain.

Couldn’t have asked for better conditions and weather for my first race of the season. A handful of fresh pieces of trail and tuned up sections at Sugarloaf for this weekend made it one heck of day of racing – both physically and the stoke factor of everyone I raced with. Thanks again Adam Craig for some of the best tracks on the East Coast – and for letting me borrow a shovel when I needed to make it run…just a tad smoother! Proud to call this mountain home!—Kale Cushman

DH Pro Women: 2nd - Mazie Hayden, 1st - Kale Cushman, 3rd - Maxine Bergeron

First Maxxis ESC race weekend of the year for Max Morgan, he would round out the Pro men's top three after taking seventh in his first Enduro.

Dylan Conte is always in the mix with the Pro boys. He put together another scorcher this weekend, winning the last split to land in second place, just 3.5 seconds off the win.

After spending some time on World Cup courses, Andrew Driscoll felt right at home on the long Sugarloaf track. He would lay down a 4:33, the fastest time of the day and his first official Maxxis ESC Pro win.

Stoked on the weekend! Honestly a good time riding with good people. Eased into the weekend, and paced my practice. It was so sick to learn a new track (for me) on the ESC. Felt good, and flowed with the track. Track was so sick, easy to ride, but hard to race! Dialed the race run back a bit to be smooth, and apparently it was fast. Definitely happy with the result, and hopefully this is the start of some consistency for me this year.—Andrew Driscoll

DH Pro Men: 4th - Matt Driscoll, 2nd - Dylan Conte, 1st - Andrew Driscoll, 3rd - Max Morgan, 5th - Benjamin Despres-Morin

Kask Showdown Podium: 2nd - Eli Gadbois, 1st - Matt Driscoll, 3rd - Kale Cushman

We're outta here! Thank you Sugarloaf and Maxxis ESC racers, we'll see you at Jiminy Peak in a couple weeks for another Kask Showdown.

Words and photos: Andrew Santoro
Video: Jason Scheiding

Enduro Results
Downhill Results
Easternstatescup.com

2022 MAXXIS ESC PRESENTED BY KATE'S REAL FOOD SCHEDULE

INTENSE CYCLES DOWNHILL SERIES
May 22 - Powder Ridge, CT
June 12 - Jiminy Peak, MA
June 26 - Sugarloaf, ME
July 10 - Jiminy Peak, MA
July 24 - Sugarbush, VT
Aug 7 - Killington, VT
Aug 28 - Blue Mountain, PA
Sept 4 - Windham, NY
Sept 25 - Thunder Mountain, MA
Oct 16 - Killington, VT Finals

STAN'S ENDURO SERIES
April 24 - Diamond Hill, RI
May 21 - Powder Ridge, CT Night Enduro
June 5 - Glen Park, PA
June 26 - Sugarloaf, ME
July 10 - Jiminy Peak, MA
July 24 - Sugarbush, VT
Aug 7 - Killington, VT
Aug 28 - Blue Mountain, PA
Sept 11 - Arrowhead, NH
Sept 25 - Thunder Mountain, MA
Oct 2 - Woodstock, VT
Oct 23 - Thunder Mountain, MA Finals

KASK SHOWDOWN SERIES
May 22 - Powder Ridge, CT
June 26 - Sugarloaf, ME
July 10 - Jiminy Peak, MA
July 24 - Sugarbush, VT
Aug 7 - Killington, VT
Aug 28 - Blue Mountain, PA
Sept 25 - Thunder Mountain, MA

MOTOREX EBIKE ENDURO SERIES
April 24 - Diamond Hill, RI
May 21 - Powder Ridge, CT Night Enduro
June 5 - Glen Park, PA
June 26 - Sugarloaf, ME
Sept 11 - Arrowhead, NH
Sept 25 - Thunder Mountain, MA
Oct 2 - Woodstock, VT
Oct 23 - Thunder Mountain, MA Finals

GT BICYCLES EAST COAST JUNIOR MTB CHAMPIONSHIPS
July 16-17 - Blue Mountain, PA - DH, DS, XC, Enduro

Author Info:

Eastern-States-Cup

Member since Mar 14, 2012
238 articles

15 Comments

15 0

Whataboutism FL (Jun 28, 2022 at 12:12)

East coast does it right. I understand the long history of DH racing over there, I wonder why CO doesn't have more enduro/dh races? Like local races/series at all the mountains that have lift access.

sharpiemtb (Jun 29, 2022 at 4:32)

they love their sufferfest old riding in colorado

wilsonians (Jun 30, 2022 at 1:25)

None of the mountains ever want to allow it. They charge huge sums and it just becomes a pain in the ass for the organizers.

IsaacWislon82 (Jun 30, 2022 at 8:32)

Rockies just finally started downhill racing again! Downhill Rockies is the new series, this year its just Angel Fire, Purgatory, and Telluride, hopefully it grows next year.

Naughtjm (Jun 28, 2022 at 12:19)

Don’t forget to catch the occasional eastern states meat report sponsored by all beef franks

brianpleva (Jun 30, 2022 at 11:31)

WHERE IS THIS?

jebcas (Jun 28, 2022 at 11:34)

Congrats to the Driscoll brothers, crushing it!

mtbmaniatv FL (Jun 28, 2022 at 11:51)

They're qwik!

ajasecent (Jun 28, 2022 at 14:44)

Pretty sure that Memmelgnar guy has been racing in Pro Men's class closing in on 20 years now!! Sweet Report!

Tormy FL (Jun 28, 2022 at 16:42)

Amazing tracks, I am now in need of more brake pads and ibuprofen

neimbc (Jun 28, 2022 at 17:27)

Sugarloaf was great - in the 90's I raced DH on Sat and XC on Sunday. Was a great atmosphere.

Speeder01 (Jun 29, 2022 at 8:12)

What a series. So many races!

sparkinson (Jun 28, 2022 at 11:42)

Stunning pictures!

ilovevanlife (Jun 28, 2022 at 20:43)

Probuilds, crushing life!

chUNdah-luVAh-69 (Jun 29, 2022 at 18:53)

Friggin mint. Nice work, bub.