The North Face Masters at Kirkwood, California!
Kirkwood, California is one of Tahoe’s hidden gems, nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains, 30 minutes from Lake Tahoe. We were lucky to spend a few epic spring days there this past week for The North Face Masters. Two out of the four days we rode, it was powder! That’s half the time!! We went fast, caught some air and made some sweet turns this April Fools weekend. Kirkwood treated us well and mother nature took care of us all week. The contest, sponsored by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, is not only a few intense days of snowboarding and competing, but a time to get to kick back and enjoy the company of an awesome group of people! A collaboration of talented riders, photographers, filmers, cow-belling spectators and variable venues are the ingredients that make up this unique event!
The ladies podium for stop #2 of TNFM (Camila Brown 3rd, Casey Lucas 1st, Laura Dewey 2nd, Rosemarie Daiek and Tiffany Noel 4th) Photo Credit- Amy Jimmerson/MSI
Day One- We showed up to a foot of fresh on Wednesday, before the event. It was an awesome day and I got to rip around with Kirkwood local, Rosemarie Daiek, who was a great tour guide. We were so lucky to receive all this fresh snow right before the event, with more in the forecast!! Kirkwood, California is one of the most “natural” resorts out there, with the most challenging terrain in the basin, so it’s a great place for backcountry lovers, but it has something for everyone. They have an awesome park and a park crew that is out there in all conditions making sure the park is on point. And of course there are also some great groomers, if that’s what you like! They also offer some great women’s programs like Expedition: Kirkwood Women’s Camps and Girl Powder Queen of the Park Contest, as well as great music events.
Halo and Rosemarie Daiek!
Day Two- Day one of the event. Registration and freeride day. Got to see a lot of friends and hang out and ride around scoping the venue on Kirkwood’s “Vista” overlooking the famed “Cirque.” It was a sunny and bluebird day and it brought smiles to everyone in attendance. Everyone competing in the contest got out and made some turns and there were high fives all around. Everyone was excited about the week ahead, and in my opinion, this was the most fun day of the event! There was a mandatory meeting after the day of riding when head judge, Tom Burt (legend!!) gave a little speech, introduced the judges (Andy Hetzel, Temple Cummins, and the famed Julie Zell) and format and gave riders the opportunity to express any concerns. After a few rounds of free beer from Sierra Nevada, everyone headed home to get some well-earned relaxation!
Day One Venue- “Lookout Vista”
Ashley Thornton getting down on Day 1 on “Vista” Photo Credit- Amy Jimmerson/MSI
Day Three- First day of competition! A little windy at the top, with variable snow conditions - overall a beautiful day at Kirkwood Mountain Resort. We were riding the “Vista” with the leftover snow from Wednesday. It made for some sticky spring conditions, but still great snow to be found. Some standout runs were Iris Lazzareschi, charging with beautiful fluidity, with a cab 180 off a 10 foot cliff. Casey Lucas, Camilla Brown, and Ashley Thornton also killed it in fludity and style. Rose Daiek, a Kirkwood local who was headed up to AK the day after the contest, had a very smooth run, and Maribeth Swetkoff charged, but was unfortunately unable to make it to finals. Tiffany Noel came out on top by making it down the face super fast. Her line wasn’t very technical but her speed really impressed the judges. Everyone was forced to work with less than perfect conditions, and try to make it look like it was great!
Day Four and Five- On Saturday, the scheduled day for the contest’s finals, the mountain experienced 100mph+ winds and constant snow for the entire day, causing most of the mountain to be shut down, and delaying the contest until Sunday. We enjoyed a day at the casinos watching the snow pile up. Some of us were lucky, but most of us weren’t! (Roulette was not my game!!)
The finals venue, on Kirkwood’s famed “Cirque” with 21+ inches of freshies!
The finals took place the next day on a permanently closed area of Kirkwood’s terrain. The forbidden area is called the “Cirque.” With almost 2 feet of fresh snow blanketing the mountain, there were pristine conditions for all the athletes, bringing huge smiles to everyone’s faces!! There were some variable conditions, despite the fresh snow. Most of the ladies were unable to land their runs, or charge as hard as planned due to the limiting conditions. SB team rider Ashley Thornton had a standout run, finding good snow all the way down, making some soulful turns to the finish line. Iris Lazzareschi bombed out of the start gate with speed and beautiful turns!! I thought she had a winning line, but minor mistakes kept her from doing just that. It was a similar situation with Shannan Yates, who I spoke with earlier in the day about a double she had picked out to ride on the looker’s left of the venue. She had an impressive run, but just could not get to her feet after one of her drops. Rose Daiek took a unique line to looker’s right of the venue, where no other ladies went. She said she was surprised to find a lot of rocks, and windblown spots, and not the fresh snow she had expected. Casey Lucas, a Kirkwood local, took the top spot by landing 3 different airs on the venue. Laura Dewey landed second by picking a hairy line, and Camila Brown, taking home third, also had a similar line exploring the face trying to find some good snow.
Ashley Thornton’s finals run!!
Shannan Yates getting interviewed by Ratty Sheidow after charging her run! Ratty was injured and unable to compete, but covered the event along with Frankie and Nick!
Rose Daiek waiting for her score, which landed her in fourth place! Have fun in AK Rose!
SB Team Riders Ashley Thornton and Halo are ranked in the top 20 of the tour!!!
The North Face Masters of Snowboarding concludes it 3-stop tour April 12-15 at Snowbird, just outside of Salt Lake City, UT. Both Ashley and Halo are on the waitlist and we are hoping to get them in to the final stop of the tour. Congrats to all the competitors this week for putting on a solid show! Check out http://www.thenorthfacemasters.com for full results and video! Stay tuned to shredbetties.com for an update on the Snowbird stop of TNFM, next week. Thanks to Kirkwood Mountain Resort and MSI for putting on a great event. Also, thanks to everybody at Ride Snowboards, VZ, Exit Real World, and Shredbetties.com for making this possible!!
Kirkwood Rocks!
Go check them out at http://www.kirkwood.com !!
Tucked away about 35 miles southwest of South Lake Tahoe, Kirkwood Mountain Resort offers big Mountain skiing/riding with a small town attitude. Our unique location atop the Sierra Crest combined with elevations ranging 7,800 to 9,800 feet create a little something we like to call the K-Factor – a geographical predisposition to receive the lightest, the driest, and the most plentiful snow in the Tahoe region. With 2000 feet of vertical drop, and over 2300 acres of terrain from calm groomed beginner runs to hair raising cornices, cliffs and the most high angle grooming around, there’s something for everyone at the ‘Wood.
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