Big congratulations today to Karhu Team skier JT Robinson, who took third place at the US Extreme Telemark Freeskiing Championships at Crested Butte, Colorado over the weekend. The podium placement alone is a worthy accomplishment, but JT also received the coveted Sickbird Award for a Lincoln Loop thrown mid-line in the Finals. We asked JT what ran through his head during the run, and here’s what he wrote about the internal dialogue:
"86, you ready?" came the voice from the start gate.
"Yeah, Dead-end Chutes." With that it was into the super gnarly gauntlet of trees, bumps, rocks and consequences of Crested Butte's Dead-end Chutes.
It’s a steep bump field above Bodybag and Dead-end to get to the first feature. "Nice and easy, conserve your explosion,” says my inner guide. "Find the first feature in the top section, it's in line of sight with the caution sign for Dead-end."
"Tips left, tips left... and stick, stick, out right." The ten-foot drop fades behind me, moving across to skier's right of the Dead-end caution sign.
"Smooth, no wasted movement, over to entrance, keep it smooth... And in, now quick tele turns all the way to skier's left side marker... Got it, and in." I approach the beginning of the rocky pillow section. Sun-baked corn under my feet cascades through some severe consequences that lie below.
"Around the tree, tips right for next air to pillow… got it. Get left on that spine, side hop over the pepper through the tip-tail pine field goal aaaaand through it!” On to more gnarly pillows.
"This is the turn; this is the crux move, get solid, go. Hold onto it, hold on. Okay, see the next one, stay close to the edge on this one... Got it, go." The yelling from below intensifies as I jump turn to a six-foot pillow drop above 80 feet of cliffs and rocks. I need to stay small and get back to the right as I come into the last double-stager in the line.
"Too big, too left... ROCKS... hang on! Got it, holy crap, I still got it!" I realize that I am too deep to get over for the last stage of the double I wanted to do. In a snap judgment I go into my "Option B" line towards Hamburger Rock.
"Okay, Hamburger from the nose... Lincoln loop... throw it hard... see it... see it…"
The crowd erupts, bringing me through the finish line, fists punching the sky and screaming at the top of my lungs in triumphant relief.
ADULT MEN (full results here) Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Total
1 Ben Morello Crested Butte CO 34.60 38.4 38.2 111.20
2 Seaton MacMillan Crested Butte CO 34.80 32.8 35.2 102.80
3 J.T. Robinson Fruit Heights UT 32.60 33.6 35.8 102.00
4 Jake Sakson Carbondale CO 34.20 34.8 31 100.00
5 Phil Spinner Denver CO 32.80 32 34.8 99.60
Way to go JT!
(A quick clip of JT from Tough Guy Productions' Open Windows. If we get any video from the comp run, we'll post it up.)
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