Snowledge Ambassadors Eric Lee O’Brien, Brandon Craddock, Brian Stenerson, Colby Vavolotis, Marian Krough, and Andrew Rumph recently finished their competition at the IFSA Freeride World Qualifier event in Crested Butte, Colorado.

Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association (IFSA) hosted a 2 and 4-Star Qualifying event with the Freeride World Tour, at the legendary Extreme Limits Terrain.

One highlight from the competition: Andrew moved from 12th place to 6th place on the second day, earning the highest scoring Day 2 line and winning the Sick Bird Award for best air!

Congrats to Andrew- way to send it! Check out the POV photo of his run:

Brian’s Stenerson and the rest of our crew traveled from California to Colorado to compete. Read below for recap of the weekend from Brian:

“After arriving in Crested Butte for the FWQ 4* competition, we were all a little weary, and wondering what the conditions would be like for the comp. In the past (during multiple events at Crested Butte) the conditions were less than ideal, including ice and rotten snow—so we were really hoping for something a little more forgiving this time around. As with the rest of the western US, Crested Butte had been getting buried in snow for all of January, and had a well above average base so far. To our surprise, we had some warmer temperatures than what Colorado is used to, with highs in the mid 30’s. It felt like we brought the California weather with us. Even with the warm temps, it still managed to snow another six inches the morning of the Day 1 Qualifier, which motivated us to put our sending socks on. Good ol’ Sierra cement!

“Day 1 of the competition was held on Sock It To Me Ridge, which had much more snow than previous years which only meant one thing… they could open up a closed area near Sock It To Me called the Contest Cliffs! These cliffs are easily the first thing your eyes are drawn to during inspection, and it was obvious to me that this was where the highest line scores of the day could be found. Brandon, Eric, and myself all had different lines through Contest Cliffs, but with deteriorating conditions from competitors ripping it up all day, all three of us had uncharacteristic falls on Day 1. We, therefore, did not make the finals for Day 2, but this was a little bittersweet…

“The next day rolled around, and instead of being stressed-out with line choices for the finals, we had fresh powder on the mind. Eight inches fell the night before, so it was time to freeski around Crested Butte with good friend and local, Scot Chrisman. Crested Butte has very unique, rowdy terrain! To see what terrain we got into, check out Eric’s tracking session from the Snowledge app below. At the end of the day, no adventure at Crested Butte is complete without a trip to the local’s favorite Mexican food restaurant Teocalli Tamale, which doesn’t break the bank and provides some good eats for those of us who ski til we’re literally blue in the face. Cheers to Burke, who works at Teo’s and who made the food and experience pretty unforgettable. Burke is willing to go the extra mile and recommend his favorite hot sauces, burrito combinations, and more. Better luck next time on the comp side of things, but nothing beats a ski weekend with buddies and letting the stress fall away. Congrats to all the Crested Butte Extremes top placing athletes!”