The third and final day of the Subaru Freeride Series at Telluride Ski Resort (SFS) concluded this weekend with conditions nothing less than spectacular. A bountiful storm cycle blanketed the resort with fresh snow just in time for three impressive days of competition culminating in Saturday’s finals. All athletes in the two-day main event competed at an extremely high level resulting in a close competition. At the end, Jonathan Penfield and Camila Brown won the snowboard competition, and Connery Lundin and Kaki Orr won the ski division.

“It’s incredible to see so many new athletes emerging onto the scene. The tight level of competition required all athletes to push the level of the sport,” explained Competition Director Bryan Barlow. “I look forward to watching this progression continue as we move towards future competitions. As competition organizers, we always strive to make the best decisions for the current conditions and venues. The athletes’ smart decision making today absolutely confirmed that having a visual only inspection of Dihedral Face was the right decision.”

Snowboard Competition
The competition began with women’s snowboarding. Camila Brown of Salt Lake City, UT chose an excellent line enabling her to maintain high speed while executing fluid turns. She also made excellent use of playful fall line features at the bottom of the venue. With two days of solid competition, the judges gave her a total combined score of 124.67.

In the men’s snowboard division, Jonathan Penfield of Pemberton, BC accomplished his second Subaru Freeride Series win of the season with a total combined score of 144.00. Penfield is a highly thoughtful and calculated competitor who understands what the judges are looking for and plans lines he can solidly deliver.

“I’m definitely stoked to be the current point leader after taking two wins this year,” exclaimed Penfield. “It’s great to come to Telluride for my first time and hit it with amazing conditions. There’s a really cool community here.”

The crowd was absolutely gripped while watching the winners of the coveted Backcountry.com Sickbird Award. Skier, Mark Mikos, was the only athlete to launch a chute transfer across the cliff band and snowboarder, Gabriel Gibbs, was the first man to stomp the large cliff in the hanging snowfield.

“Winning the Sickbird belt buckle is freakin’ unreal and came out of no where. It’s a huge honor for sure with a lot of energy around the award,” explained Gibbs, “The rest of the field crushes it and they had me super stoked to go ride my line.”

The North Face Young Gun Award is granted to the most impressive up-and-coming athlete under 20 years old. Chance Deschamps-Prescott was recognized for this award by outwardly exemplifying sportsmanship and passion for the mountains. Deschamps-Prescott skied an extremely creative line through a very technical chute in the center of Dihedral Face.

The Subaru Freeride Series continues to Telluride, CO (March 4-8), Alyeska, AK (March 16-22) and Big Sky, MT (March 25-29). After the Big Sky competition, the 2015 Freeskiing World Tour and Masters of Snowboarding Champions will be crowned. For the event schedule and details, please visit www.SubaruFreerideSeries.com.

Join Freeride Series on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and by using #FreerideSeries #SFS15. With the strong heritage, the Freeskiing World Tour and Masters of Snowboarding Facebook pages will provide sport specific news regarding SFS.

SFS is sponsored by Subaru, The North Face, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Sony’s Action Cam, Clif Bar, Snowboard Magazine and Backcountry.com. The Freeride Series is an MSI production.

Subaru Freeride Series Telluride, men’s results

Subaru Freeride Series Telluride, women’s results