Slope Sistair Rules The Ranch

If I was updating Freeride Foundation's Facebook status this weekend, the progression would have looked a bit like this:

Freeride Foundation is trying to avoid accidentally finding the peach pit (and possible piece of gum) that Gale failed to throw out of the passenger side window of her car last week.

Freeride Foundation is eating pizza at Pablo's in Grand Junction with the women of Slope Sistair.

Freeride Foundation is freaking out that I may have lost my phone in City Market...but I don't remember taking it into the store....why can't I hear it ring?

Freeride Foundation is at The Ranch! It's a freerider's paradise!

Freeride Foundation found my phone next to a dried out peach pit underneath an atlas, underneath the passenger seat. Ew and hooray!

Freeride Foundation is puckered up riding Pucker Up for the first time on my Trance. Hmmm, perhaps I need a 7in freeride bike after all.

Freeride Foundation is having dinner with the ladies of Slope Sistair and James from Grassroots. Lucky James!

Ok, you get the picture.

To fill in the gaps, The Ranch is quite literally a freerider's paradise located about 9 miles outside of Grand Junction, CO. It's a network of trails, jumps, man-made stunts, and a huge slopestyle course, all within a short push from a fairly civilized cabin (ie, running water, a 6-burner stove, huge fridge, and electricity).

Want to ride some of GJ's finest trails? A short jaunt down a dirt road will get you to The Ribbon, and a short shuttle ride puts you within access of Free Lunch, Pucker Up, Holy Cross, and more. Run by Grassroots Cyclery in Grand Junction, The Ranch was the site of the third installment of Slope Sistair.

Stephanie Nychka (left) founded Slope Sistair as a way to get as many ripping slopestyle girls together as possible for a weekend of riding, progressing, and inspiring. The weekend started with trail rides on The Ribbon and Pucker Up on Friday. On Saturday, pros like Tammy Donahugh and Gale Dahlager coached riders looking to improve their confidence on the dual slalom track and on jumps. There was plenty of time for everyone to session the slopestyle course, wall rides, and other jumps around The Ranch.

Sunday's slopestyle session started with a best trick contest off of a step-up that's separate from the slopestyle course. The slopestyle session was rider-judged, and it was no easy task, as Tammy and Darcy Turenne (below) put on a show that included tricks like no-handers and foot-buzzing x-ups.
After a lengthy jump session and a lunch break, everyone moved over to the slopestyle course. the course starts with a bridge to wood-ramp jump or two sets of doubles. Darcy got creative and tranferred fromt the bridge to the backside of the first double, while Tammy and Katie Hayes dropped the bridge to the wood ramp. After a few runs, those two were able to link up the bridge to the wall ride below. Tammy (below) took it even further by hitting doubles all the way down the course--and absolutely maching!

When it was all said and done, Tammy took home wins in both contests, and walked away with a new frame. She was so inspiring to watch, as she rode with the most confidence and style throughout the weekend. And Katie (right) is definitely one to watch. She couldn't get enough of the fire pit jump in front of the cabin, and she was the only other girl to hit the doubles on the slopestyle course. She has a calculated but aggressive style and a good eye for picking lines and judging her landings. We'll be seeing a lot of her in the future!

Best Trick
1. Tammy Donahugh
2. Darcy Turenne
3. Katie Hayes












Best Trick podium. How we do it at The Ranch.

Slopestyle
1. Tammy Donahugh
2. Katie Hayes
3. Darcy Turenne














Tammy slayed slopestyle.











Gale Dahlager has been to all 3 Slope Sistairs (along with Darcy and SS founder Stephanie).











Neven Steinmetz extends her World Cup 4X skills and busts a move on the wall ride.









Nadia Steinbrecher ramps it up.

Diablo Gravity Series Results

The third race of the Diablo Freeride Park Gravity Series took place this weekend in Vernon, NJ. We failed to post the results of the second race in July, so we'll include those too. Currently, Allie Burch leads the series for the Pro Women, and Becky Gardner is out front for the Amateur Women. The next race in the series is September 12-13. For more info, visit DiabloFreeridePark.com.

Round 3

Giant Slalom
Amateur Women
1. Bridget Kozma

Downhill
Open Women
1. Teal Stetson-Lee

Round 2

Giant Slalom
Amateur Women
1. Kristen Kastrinos

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Hannah Trimble

Amateur Women
1. Becky Gardner

Slope Sistair Is Next Weekend!

In less than a week, Grand Junction, CO will play host to the women's freeride festival known as Slope Sistair. This is a 3-day weekend of trail rides, clinics, slalom duals, and a slopestyle contest.

There's super-cheap camping on site, and some of the world's most talented female freeriders will be in attendance (read Darcy Turenne, Stephanie Nycka--who's also Slope Sistair's founder and organizer, Nadia Steinbrecher, Gale Dahlager, Tammy Donahugh and more!).
For more information about the event, visit Slope Sistair's website.

Windham, NY Pro GRT Results

The latest races in the Pro Gravity Tour took place last weekend at Windham, NY. Darian Harvey swept the weekend with wins in both downhill and mountaincross. Darian's on a winning streak, as she also won the Snowmass downhill the previous weekend. She maintains her ever-growing series lead going into the final Pro GRT race of the season at Whiteface, NY August 29.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Darian Harvey
2. Joanna Petterson
3. Dawn Bourque
4. Alexis Wruble
5. Jennifer Wolf
6. Lauren Petersen
7. Hillary Elgert
8. Allegra Burch

Cat 1 Women 30-34
1. Susan DelPino

Cat 2 Women 25-29
1. Elisabeth English
2. Christin McCurdy

Cat 2 Women 35-39
1. Karen Clymer

Cat 2 Women 45-49
1. Felicia Kearsley

Cat 3 Women 13-14
1. Maddie Crowley

Cat 3 Women 30-34
1. Jennel Ortiz

4X
Pro Women
1. Darian Harvey
2. Hilary Elgert
3. Joanna Petterson

Cat 2 Women
1. Maddie Crowley

August's Featured Rider: Britney White

Britney White is an all-around gravity ripper who started her career in while growing up in Wyoming. Britney's a quick descender, an aggressive jumper, and she rides with style no matter what she's doing. Britney recently moved to Bellingham, WA to be closer to Whistler and increase her training program. She's also in the process of getting her personal training certification, so she can help others reach their goals as well.--FF

Name: Britney White
Home: Formerly Bozeman MT, currently Bellingham WA
Age: 26
Favorite type of riding: Downhill with lots of jumps, berms, and flow.
Why you ride: For everyone reading this who rides, this is a silly question! It's so much fun!
Sponsors: RaceFace, Twenty6 Products

I've been riding bikes my whole life, but when I was younger it was just for transportation: like traveling down deep gravel roads, crossing cattle guards and avoiding coyotes (that's Wyoming for ya!). I bought a hardtail cross country bike when I was 18 to ride to school and decided to try it out on a trail one day. Best decision ever! After I got the whole front/back brake thing figured out it was all downhill from there. I haven't put the bike down since.

There definitely are not a lot of girls that ride DH in Montana. But, luckily I have a great group of guys to ride with that push me to progress and keep up of course. We all got lucky a few years ago when my family bought about 1700 acres just outside of Bozeman. Within a few years we built 3 DH shuttle trails, and a really fun freeride jump/ berm track with a bobcat. This was where I spent most weekends in the spring and fall working on trails, and riding of course. In winter, I usually stick to my skis for at least a few months. It makes me appreciate getting back on by bike that much more!

I don't think there's any one skill that makes you great at riding/racing. It's a lot of pedaling, line selection, being comfortable in the air, smooth on the bike. All these skills take lots of practice, practice, practice! I've worked the hardest to learn how to conquer just staying on the bike and not crashing!

I was in gymnastics when I was little and a coach told me something that stuck. I applied to riding my bike and believe it helped me. She said, "Spot your landing and picture executing it perfectly in your head before you go for it." That's what I do with any obstacle put in front of me and, luckily, it usually works!

The feeling of being smooth over the ground on a bike is, for me, one of the best feelings in the world. When I get on my bike and start riding a trail, I leave every other thought or problem in my life behind me. There is nothing else that matters. Being smooth and free on a bike is so liberating and the learning curve happened fast for me, since I only rode with guys who were better than me. I hated seeing them having fun and going big and not doing it with them. So I started scaring the crap out of them and hitting the same drops and jumps, obviously with a lot less style!

I am and will always be progressing on my bike and that's why I love riding bikes. The satisfaction of getting a trick down, going faster, or conquering that big stunt feels so good that I never want to stop riding bikes.

Final Crankworx 2009 Results: Canadian Open DH

Emmeline Ragot won the final event at Crankworx 2009, the Canadian Open Downhill. Emmeline's stood on the podium all week, but this was her first win in Whistler. For more information, visit Crankworx.com.

Pro Women
1. Emmeline Ragot
2. Micayla Gatto
3. Claire Buchar
4. Danice Uyesugi
5. Dawn Cashen
6. Manon Carpenter

Senior Women
1. Terri-Anne Howard

Junior Women
1. Lorena Drumundo
2. Loren Rosser

Crankworx Enduro DH Results

The Crankworx Enduro DH consisted of a Super D-style course, a mass start (riding, not running), and loads of competition. Fionn Griffiths took her second win of the week (she also won the Air DH), besting Melissa Buhl by 10 seconds in this 24-minute race. The final race of Crankworx 2009 will be held today, and it's the Canadian Open DH. For more information, visit Crankworx.com.

Pro Women
1. Fionn Griffiths
2. Melissa Buhl
3. Emmeline Ragot
4. Katrina Strand
5. Kari Mancer
6. Anka Martin
7. Eve-Marie Marcotte

Senior Women
1. Amber Chorney Wilson

Crankworx Giant Slalom Results

Jill Kintner cruised to victory in last night's Crankworx Giant Slalom. Emmeline Ragot easily rolled through her early heats, but couldn't snag Jill in the finals. Melissa Buhl crashed in the second run of her first round, allowing Manon Carpenter to advance, and Leigh Donovan returned to gravity racing with a solid 3rd-place showing.

Today is the Canadian Open Enduro downhill race. It's a mass-start Super D/Megavalanche-style race designed for all-mountain bikes. Sunday is the Canadian Open DH race. More info is available at Crankworx.com.

Pro Women
1. Jill Kintner
2. Emmeline Ragot
3. Leigh Donovan
4. Manon Carpenter

Senior Women
1. Anita Naidu
2. Stephanie Grassi

USA World Championship Team Selection

The list is out. 3 American women will be headed to Canberra, Australia to compete in the Mountain Bike World Championships September 1-6. Melissa Buhl and Kathy Pruitt will wear the stars and bars for downhill, and Melissa and Jill Kintner will represent for 4X. Why just 3 women? I don't know, but we're rooting for all of them!

Crankworx Air DH Results

The Crankworx Air DH race was held on A-Line at Whistler Bike Park yesterday. Fionn Griffiths snagged the win by exactly one second over Jill Kintner. Competition for the ladies resumes tomorrow with the Giant Slalom. Get more info at Crankworx.com.

Pro Women
1. Fionn Griffiths
2. Jill Kintner
3. Emmeline Ragot
4. Micayla Gatto
5. Melissa Buhl
6. Leana Gerrard
7. Katrina Strand
8. Sarah Leishman
9. Beth Parsons
10. Manon Carpenter
11. Dawn Cashen
12. Anne Laplante
13. Britney White
14. Lorena Dromundo
15. Stephanie Nychka

Senior Women
1. Jamie Hill
2. Lisa Mason
3. Carolyn Kavanagh
4. Veronika Voracek
5. Cami Falk
6. Simmone Lyons
7. Savannah Rogers
8. Johanna Weintrager
9. Terri-Anne Howard
10. Daniela Cezaretto
11. Chantal Felten
12. Catherine Cartwright

Junior Women
1. Lauren Rosser
2. Holly Feniak

Crankworx WomenzWorx Results

The Crankworx WomenzWorx contest was held yesterday in Whistler, BC. There were two separate competitions at the WomenzWorx. There was an invite-only slopestyle contest, the Gala. In addition, there was a separate 4-run, 2-section judged component. Riders descended a technical section of trail, and they also rode a slopestyle-type jump run on Dirt Merchant. Stephanie Nychka and Claire Buchar shared the victory by tying in the Gala Slopestyle contest. Claire Buchar took the overall win for the two judged riding sections.

The Air DH is today! Visit Crankworx.com for more info!

Pro Women
1. Claire Buchar
2. Lorraine Blancher
3. Kathy Pruitt
4. Leigh Donovan
5. Anne Laplante
6. Stephanie Nychka
7. Manon Carpenter
8. Kristen Smart
9. Kathryn Hayes
10. Lynne Aitchison
11. Beth Parsons
12. Dawn Cashen

Open Women
1. Jamie Hill Pemberton
2. Lisa Mason
3. Rachelle Frazer
4. Johanna Weintrager
5. Savannah Rogers
6. Naomi Fife
7. Amalie Budgen
8. Fleirie Hunter W
9. Daniela Cezaretto
10. Jessica Vogt
11. Kerri-Ann Thibeau
12. Stephanie Grassi

Blast the Mass Results

The fifth race in the Mountain States Cup series took place in Snowmass, CO this weekend. The Blast the Mass races included a 4X, downhill, and Super D. Darian Harvey took the downhill win by about 12 seconds, and Rachel Bauer won 4X. The next MSC with gravity events will be held in Sol Vista, CO on September 4-7. Find more info at RaceMSC.com.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Darian Harvey
2. Jacqueline Harmony
3. Addie Stewart
4. Rachel Bauer
5. Martha Renn
6. Lisa Reinhard

Cat 1
1. Alisha Gibson
2. Margaret Gregory
3. Christen Boyer
4. Katy Monger

Cat 2
1. Jessica Kirkpatrick
2. Amber Price
3. Kristin Buell
4. Kyra Alexander
5. Lana Lawson

Cat 3
1. Rachel Baxter

4X
Pro Women
1. Rachel Bauer
2. Jacqueline Harmony
3. Martha Renn
4. Darian Harvey
5. Neven Steinmetz
6. Bobbi Kae Watt

Cat 1/2 Women
1. Alisha Gibson
2. Chrisen Boyer
3. Lauren Heitzman
4. Christin McCurdy
5. Lana Lawson
6. Catharine Cantway

Cat 3/Junior Women
1. Lucy Stevens
2. Danika Gillespie

Super D
Open Women
1. Jessica Kirkpatrick
2. Kimber Gabryszak
3. Lynn Bush
4. Mary Hoyle
5. Sonya Bugbee

Women 19+
1. Aubrey Aragon
2. Sara Landis
3. Sarah Rawley
4. Lauren Sullivan

Junior Women
1. Lucy Stevens

Crankworx Results...so far!

Crankworx is underway in Whistler, BC. So far, the Dual Slalom and Garbonzo Downhill are in the bag. WomenzWorx is today! Jill Kintner won the Dual Slalom and Miranda Miller scored the top spot in the Garbonzo Downhill. For more info about Crankworx, visit Crankworx.com.

Dual Slalom
Pro Women
1. Jill Kintner
2. Fionn Griffiths
3. Micayla Gatto
4. Melissa Buhl

Senior Women
1. Jessica Vogt
2. Anita Naidu

Garbonzo Downhill
Pro Women
1. Miranda Miller
2. Emmeline Ragot
3. Kathy Pruitt
4. Fionn Griffiths
5. Danice Uyesugi
6. Manon Carpenter
7. Katrina Strand
8. Kari Mancer
9. Dawn Cashen
10. Lina Skoglund
11. Kristen Smart
12. Beth Parsons
13. Dromundo Vargas Lorena
14. Anka Martin
15. Melissa Buhl

Senior Women
1. Celina Moore
2. Carolyn Kavanagh
3. Jamie Hill
4. Carrie Poole
5. Meghan Illingworth
6. Brittany Boyer
7. Liana Gregory
8. Kaz McGill
9. Jessica Vogt
10. Daniela Cezaretto

Junior Women
1. Lauren Rosser

Sugarbush Gravity East Series Results

The Gravity East Downhill Series race at Sugarbush, VT took place August 1-2. Dawn Bourque continued her winning streak with a decisive victory here. The next Gravity East Series race will be held at Wilmington, NY August 29-30. The Whiteface 5K Downhill is the longest downhill race on the East Coast, and is known for being an epic weekend. For more information, visit GravityEast.com.

Pro Women
1. Dawn Bourque
2. Karen Eagan
3. Alexis Wruble
4. Susan DelPino

Cat 2/3
1. Rebecca Bagley
2. Meredith Mansfield

Mount Snow Mountain Bike Festival

There are some fun goings on at Mount Snow, VT this weekend. There's a Kenda Cup Pro XC race, but what's really exciting is that there are also downhill and dual slalom races too! Jeff Lenosky's doing a Super Stunt Show. Also, there are mountaincross and mountain bike skills clinics, so if you've always wanted to try racing a different discipline, now's your chance to learn to do it right! Oh, and don't forget the Super D racing, short track, concert, and fireworks! For more information, visit http://mountsnow.com/bikefestival.html.

Bromont World Cup Results

Now that we can all watch the World Cup action on Freecaster, it's much easier to make sense of the results we see online. You can tell who bobbled, who flatted, and who made up 5 seconds in the lower woods. But you still don't get a sense of what's really going on as a racer. One of the riders who's been sending out phenomenal race reports all year is Joanna Petterson. Last weekend at Mont Sainte Anne, she had one of her best World Cup finishes yet, taking 3rd in 4X. This weekend, she experienced some ups and downs, but we'll let her tell you all about it. You can learn more about Joanna from her blog: JoannaPetterson.blogspot.com:

Downhill is what we do. But from the get-go this weekend, I hadn’t expected it to go as far downhill as it did--and then make a complete u-turn.

I was having a great week at practice. At times I was feeling really good on the downhill track and pretty confident in my ability to qualify this week. The track was dry when we inspected it and by the morning of practice it had completely changed with the downpours that ensued. But
that’s racing… rain or shine I try to face the day with every intention of riding to the best of my abilities and beyond.

One spill in practice and I was feeling focused for qualifying. I had a pretty good run but after last weekend, I was definitely a little cautious, which I couldn’t afford when I hit a rock and my chain came off my chainring. Luckily I was able to spin it back on just in time and made it into finals.

Racing Saturday morning was met with sunny, beautiful skies. And the track was drying out again, except for a few sections that got so soaked they wouldn’t dry out soon. The Bromont course is a very rocky track, and the one particularly fast rocky section that I felt very confident in was my quite literally my downfall during my race run. I was seen by many on Freecaster.tv,
spinning and sliding out of control down the rocky face. I lost my goggles (which someone was kind enough to return) and managed to turn my bars so far sideways I had to stop and fix them after getting out of the rock section. I lost so much time in the process I finished last, much to my disappointment.

I couldn’t believe it.

I took my frustration and decided to let go of expectations and just ride my bike. Mountaincross remained for the day’s competition and I needed a little redemption. I was asked during practice what I wanted from the day and I answered honestly, "To have fun riding my bike." And that’s what followed. My first heat was challenging with Mio Suemasa, Anneke Beerten, and Neven Steinmetz in the gate along side me. I came across the line in second to Anneke and was into the round of eight. In a dramatic second heat, I battled for 2nd and came out on top. I was into the finals for the second time in 2 weeks.

I was up against the same three women in the final as I was last weekend in Mont Ste Anne. It was Jill Kinter, Anneke Beerten, Fionn Griffiths and myself lined up for the start.

I had a pretty good start from lane 4 and held my line, managed to get past Anneke and Fionn for a brief moment when Fionn shot in front on an inside line and took first. It was a great race and I finish 4th. I also walked away with the pride of knowing I was one of the only women to
attempt the pro line of challenging doubles. That was one of the highlights for me.

This week I am in Vermont for the Mount Snow Mountain Bike Festival. Looks like it’s going to be a busy weekend! Thanks again to everyone for the support and mostly, for believing in me.

--Jojo

Downhill
1. Sabrina Jonnier
2. Florian Pugin
3. Mio Suemasa
4. Tracy Moseley
5. Celine Gros
6. Micayla Gatto
7. Claire Buchar
8. Emmeline Ragot
9. Emilie Siegenthaler
10. Kathy Pruitt
11. Anita Molcik
12. Anais Pujot
13. Fionn Griffiths
14. Melissa Buhl
15. Danice Uyesugi
16. Petra Bernhard
17. Darian Harvey
18. Amy Laird
19. Gabrielle Malloy
20. Anne Laplante
21. Joanna Petterson

4X
1. Fionn Griffiths
2. Anneke Beerten
3. Jill Kintner
4. Joanna Petterson
5. Melissa Buhl
6. Sharsha Huntington
7. Eva Castro Fernandez
8. Lucia Oetjen
9. Mio Suemasa
10. Angelika Hohenwarter
11. Anita Molcik
12. Anne Laplante
13. Neven Steinmetz
14. Leanna Gerrard