TR - U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Tele Championships

[Tri-Ungulate]

Or: How I blew my ACL.

The short version with pics – for standard TGR attention spans

I drove down to Crested Butte to compete in the Master (Baiter) Division.
Yes. I fully realize that "Extreme Telemarking" sounds oxymoronic, and that "Freeskiing Telemark Championships" are somewhat akin to the Special Olympics - I mean, even if you win, you're still a retard on broken bindings, eh?
Add to that I was in the geezers division, and I was all set.


The venue for both days was the Headwall. py snow abounded, with lotsa rocks.
The terrain was suitably steep.



Due to marginal conditions, big air was not as feasible as, say, the Snowbird comp.
Instead, billygoating was the rule of the day.



Although the pics are of other skiers, the following 4 pics describe a line similar to my runs.
Steepness is similar to the above shots.

1) Entrance skiers left/center into Angle Gully.



2) Deceptively easy looking crux in the Angle Gully midsection.

This was a bad place to fall, although many of the competitors blew up here.
It was difficult to scrub speed due to the coral reef snow and hidden rocks on the steep landing.

Arrr, Me Mateys - Chocolate Chips Ahoy!


3) Once the crux was negotiated, one was faced with several choices of exit chutes, generally with mandatory air.

I did this line on my second run.

4) This alternate exit is skier's right.

I did this line first run, but had a worse landing than the skier pictured.
On my superfinal run I wiped out just above here and blew my knee.
I managed to limp down the rest of the course before the time limit and scored barely enough to take the win.

Dylan Crossman won the Open Men division by going gnarlier and bigger than anybody else.



This was one of his lower scoring efforts.
Although it looks like he's doing a double stager in the pic, the snow is actually some 10 feet beneath his skis.
He's taken off from the triangular slot of snow behind him and will touch down in about another 25 vf, far below the rocks.
Icy moguls await below in the runout.

For his superfinal run he did a flawless 360 off this feature.

For those of you who are more prose-oriented, don't get bored easily, and don't mind crossposts, here is my much longer description of the weekend.

Also, here are the news articles of Day 1 and Day 2 of the event.

Final results in this post

[hop]

Sucks to hear about your knee, but way to go out in style!

[Roo]

Way to sign off the season, Launce!

Heal up good, doc! Killer result in grim-looking conditions.

[Ripzalot]

gnar stuff, tri! i wouldnt ski that with full body armour.


heal quick!

[klar]

congrats and heal up quick. i love your assessment of how many words in a row the maggots and the hippyboard can take.

[Telepath]

Sorry to hear about the knee man; but yeah - way to get after it.

[TahoePowShredder]

geese. that coverage is bare. surprised they didn't reschedule for the safety of the contestants. i.e. you!

bummer you were injured.

[AK Rev]

Sorry to hear about your injury but kudos on squeeking out the win on sketchy conditions. I'm not a tele skier but the ones who are good are quite impressive.

You might have seen this video of the Mt. Tremblant tele ski patrol. These guys are incredible...particularly the guy who switch skies tele and makes it look easy. Great camera angles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAwTxpE7THk

[lemon boy]

While I liked the written ones, the one with pictures RULES!

again, nice job even if you did blow your knee.

[Long Duck Dong]

Sorry to hear about your knee L, hope your recovery goes well.

[hop]

You might have seen this video of the Mt. Tremblant tele ski patrol. These guys are incredible...particularly the guy who switch skies tele and makes it look easy. Great camera angles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAwTxpE7THk

I haven't seen skis that skinny since my racing days!

[stihletto]

All the pictures kick ass. What horrible snow conditions. Still you kicked ass.

[Raps]

Didn't even see this Launce before i posted up my TR about this comp.....

Good seeing you again and watchin the comp - hope the knee heels up fast

[teledave]

On my superfinal run I wiped out just above here and blew my knee.
I managed to limp down the rest of the course before the time limit and scored barely enough to take the win.

Sorry to hear about the knee, but FKNA blow out your ACL and then limp in to take the win. +a whole bunch of gnar points! Heal up fast!

[AK Rev]

That's what I'm saying...what a he-man. Big props to you on the strong finish and the win. Ta-da!

[Spark]

Launce that is awesome! First place for your div... FKNA!!!
Thanks for sharing the experience.

So happy I had the chance to rip with you at Snowbird.

Sucks about the knee. +++ vibes for you....hope you heal up well...this is an injury I think you could bond with a lot of mags about.

[goldenboy]

Sorry to hear about the knee. Conditions were definitely harsh for the comp this year, but nice work despite the conditions.

Most comps, I can argue for a couple of different people to get the win. Dylan Crossman skied the hardest line, the fastest, and floated a 3. Totally impressed.

[EVILLIVE]

better to end the season with an ngry than start it w/1. get well and rember the glory of finishin a champion.

[mtnbikerskierchick]

Congrats on your win but so sorry to hear about your knee! Heal well over the summer and be ready to kick some butt next year!

[bklyn]

Congrats and heal up quickly!

[Dside11-11]

Death or glory, eh? Fkn rad that you came away with the win, bittersweet that you had to leave a little of yourself on the hill. Looks like a victory in those conditions is not leaving on a backboard in a heli - conditions look horrific

Congrats!!!

[3snowboards]

Congrats on the win! Sorry about the knee. From those pics it looks like the venue was more rock then snow. Props again.

[Tri-Ungulate]

Thanks all for the vibes! They seem to have worked. I saw my Orthopod this week, and based on his exam, I may not need surgery after all, though I'm off skis for at least a month. Apparently my knees have been so bad for so long (with stretched and/or absent ACLs from old rugby injuries), that while the crash stretched (or might have even snapped) the ACL, the instability wasn't a whole lot worse than it had been previously.

The 'Pod figured that while the knees are unstable, I've been skiing hard on 'em for over 20 years, and surgerizing might not make a hudge difference. If I strengthen the surrounding muscles and wear the new custom braces I have on order, I might not need the knife just yet. The pain has been disappearing rapidly and I'm already off crutches with only a minor gimpy limp.

[Xover]

The pain has been disappearing rapidly and I'm already off crutches with only a minor gimpy limp.

now quit being a big pussy and go git yourself 4 rounds with some hot sup tonight and you'll be skiing tomorrow morning on 3-4 hours of sleep

jus kiddin' buddy (not really ); glad to hear things are looking up = $$$

[AK Rev]

That's a great report (in a strange kind of way). Hopefully you won't need surgery.