Hardpacked and wind effected snow greeted WSCU Mountain Sports Freeride Team skiers at Moonlight Basin Resort, the venue for the second stop of the Subaru Freeride Series for the 2012-13 season. Right on the heels of the USCSA Nationals in Sun Valley, Francesca Pavillard-Cain, Morgan Haymans, Matt Martel and Connor Michael, along with coach Alex Else, barely had time to do laundry at home before they were back on the road for the epic and twisting drive to Moonlight Basin, located near Bozeman in southwest Montana.
WSCU skiers were led by Pavillard-Cain. Sitting in 2nd after day one, she still ended up 7th in the end after making a mistake on her final run. Matt Martel placed 26th in the overall, the only one of the WSCU men to make it to the final run, other than Coach Else. In his first ever comp at Moonlight, the WSCU alumni and leader of the freeride ski team skyrocketed up the standings from 28th to 9th by winning the final run of the contest.
Francesca finding her line among the rocks. Photo: A. Jimmerson/SubaruFreerideSeries.com
Matt Martell keeping things under control on the steeps of Moonlight. Photo: A. Jimmerson/SubaruFreerideSeries.com
After the event, Else commented, “Fran continues to ski really well and our guys just keep getting better. These four star events are filled with some of the best skiers anywhere. Morgan, Matt and Connor are young, way younger than most of the guys up there so the experience they’re getting is invaluable.”
Next up is the Subaru Freeride Series event at WSCU Mountain Sports’ home mountain, Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR). Look for more of the same names in the four star event as well as some of our up and coming skiers cutting their teeth on familiar terrain in the two star event.
