NW Cup - Round 3, Mt. Hood
Do you like great racing, fast technical riding, nights spent camping in a parking lot, and a bike park with unparalleled views? Then you would have been right at home with the nearly 200 racers who descended on Skibowl to sample the basalt and soak in the views during round three of the NW Cup. The warm temperatures and unseasonably early wildflowers were just a bonus.
Skibowl has a reputation for steep descents and unforgiving craggy basalt. Nowhere is this more true than the pinball machine that is the rock garden on Arrow Trail — an intermittently open trail that blithely sends riders crashing about. While this gnarly exercise is reserved for the Pro/Cat 1 course, the Cat 2 crowd shares the wild ride down Cannonball.
Starting near the summit, Cannonball plunges down the face of the mountain for a screaming fast descent. As the turns wore down through the weekend, runs required an increasingly bold commitment to tire traction. With the highest speed section done, the Pro/Cat 1 Course headed for the Arrow Trail while the Cat 2 course split off to briefly join the Cat 3 course on Gnar-Gnar before reconnecting with the pro course on the Wood Trail.
The Wood Trail dishes up steep grades on dry soil that has a habit of forming ruts and nicely exposing roots. Unlike most of the mountain, the Wood Trail is typically shrouded in darkness broken only by the occasional spot of blinding sunlight. Lucky for racers, a large chunk of race day was overcast resulting in even and legible conditions.
In deference to the advanced terrain, the Cat 3 course is predominantly a fireroad descent. Because of this Gnar-Gnar's flowy turns at the bottom of the mountain are the real crowd pleaser on this course. Skibowl has recently added two short new sections of singletrack to reduce the time spent on the road, but Cat 3 riders should still be comfortable bombing down dirt and gravel.
Hopefully at this point you're planning a trip to Hood to test your mettle and enjoy the rowdy trails. Fortunately, the NW Cup is headed back to Skibowl in a few weeks for round four of the NW Cup, July 10-12.
Full Results Here
MENTIONS: @olympicdirtsociety , @ericashley
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 Kole Wetherell launching along the Ridge Trail during seeding runs (Pro Men). |
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| Dry and dusty conditions were the norm for the weekend. Nate Cheyne (Cat 1 Men 19-29). |
Skibowl has a reputation for steep descents and unforgiving craggy basalt. Nowhere is this more true than the pinball machine that is the rock garden on Arrow Trail — an intermittently open trail that blithely sends riders crashing about. While this gnarly exercise is reserved for the Pro/Cat 1 course, the Cat 2 crowd shares the wild ride down Cannonball.
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| Top, the Cannonball trail is a no holds barred, screaming fast, doubletrack drop from the park's summit. Damon Sedivy (Cat 1 Men 0-18 ). Left, cloud cover along the base of Mt. Hood on Friday. Right, Bunchberry or Cornus Canadensis - which completes today's botany lesson. |
Starting near the summit, Cannonball plunges down the face of the mountain for a screaming fast descent. As the turns wore down through the weekend, runs required an increasingly bold commitment to tire traction. With the highest speed section done, the Pro/Cat 1 Course headed for the Arrow Trail while the Cat 2 course split off to briefly join the Cat 3 course on Gnar-Gnar before reconnecting with the pro course on the Wood Trail.
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| Riding to the top via the first of two lift rides |
The Wood Trail dishes up steep grades on dry soil that has a habit of forming ruts and nicely exposing roots. Unlike most of the mountain, the Wood Trail is typically shrouded in darkness broken only by the occasional spot of blinding sunlight. Lucky for racers, a large chunk of race day was overcast resulting in even and legible conditions.
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| Ethan Lieb scored his second first-place win of the season on Sunday (Cat 2 Men 0-14). |
In deference to the advanced terrain, the Cat 3 course is predominantly a fireroad descent. Because of this Gnar-Gnar's flowy turns at the bottom of the mountain are the real crowd pleaser on this course. Skibowl has recently added two short new sections of singletrack to reduce the time spent on the road, but Cat 3 riders should still be comfortable bombing down dirt and gravel.
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| Ben Denison (Cat 2 Men 30-39). |
Hopefully at this point you're planning a trip to Hood to test your mettle and enjoy the rowdy trails. Fortunately, the NW Cup is headed back to Skibowl in a few weeks for round four of the NW Cup, July 10-12.
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| Cole Townsend takes a break from practicing to trim the shrubbery back (Cat 1 Men 0-18 ). Crashes were common over the weekend leading to a number of DNS/DNF in the ranks. |
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| The level exit of Cannonball didn't keep riders from carrying loads of speed into the last turn. |
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| Bob Stenson and Kyle Thomas (Pro Men). |
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| Carson Eiswald (Cat 2 Men 19-29). Eiswald finished his race run with a generous lead of 10 seconds. |
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| Zach Sedivy (Pro Men). |
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| Declan Ervin (Cat 2 Men 0-14) styling his final practice run on Friday. |
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| Morning practice run on Saturday. David Head (Cat 3 Men 40-49). |
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| Sebastian Belkin (Cat 2 Men 15-18 ). |
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| Gavin Stanton (Cat 3 Men 0-14) ripping down Gnar-Gnar. |
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| Chris Shalbot (Cat 2 Men 30-39). |
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| Declan Ervin goes down during practice after stuffing his front wheel (Cat 2 Men 0-14). |
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| Carson Eiswald (Cat 2 Men 19-29). |
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| David Overman (Cat 2 Men 40-49) and Brendan Boyer (Cat 2 Men 19-29) making the turn onto the Wood Trial. |
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| Allison Oliver (Cat 1 Women Open). |
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| Jason Eiswald (Cat 1 Men 0-18 ), Cameron Porteous, and Kasper Dean (Pro Men). |
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| Adriano Digiacinto (Pro Men). |
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| Kyle Thomas riding fast on Saturday's practice (Pro Men). This was Thomas' first NW Cup for the season. |
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| Matt Orlando and Anthony Evans (Pro Men). Orlando had his best result yet with a second place finish on Sunday. |
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| Steve Tauscheck (Cat 1 Men 19-29) crossing over for an uncommon line on Arrow Trail. |
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| Luke Strobel taking the high-line option leading into the wedge drop (Pro Men). |
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| Light like liquid pools of gold. |
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| Brad Watt (Cat 1 Men 40+) bombing and kicking up dust on Cannonball. |
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| Top, Jack Ryan waits at the summit for his practice run on race day (Cat 2 Men 0-14). |
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| Final practice run before seeding runs begin. |
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| Kjersti Christensen during seeding runs (Pro Women). Christensen's race run placed her at the top of the pro podium for the first time. |
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| Bryan Crum wrapping up the Ridge Trail (Pro Men). |
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| Bob Stenson (Pro Men). |
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| Damon Sedivy straight lining a jagged section along the Ridge Trail (Cat 1 Men 0-18 ). |
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| Luke Carroll (Pro Men). |
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| Most racers opted to take the jump to the outside on this steep exit from the Ridge Trail. Weston Potter (Pro Men). |
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| Dale Russell (Pro Men) starts the plunge into Cannonball. |
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| Kasper Dean (Pro Men). |
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| Corey Craig (Pro Men). |
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| Fastest rider of the day, Kirk McDowall charging during seeding runs (Pro Men). |
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| Luke Strobel coming out of the large embankment on Cannonball (Pro Men). |
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| Jake Grob (Pro Men). |
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| James Roberts (Cat 1 Men 19-29). |
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| Nate Cheyne skipping the sender on Cannonball. Cheyene finished the day with another first place for the season (Cat 1 Men 19-29). |
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| Kris Christensen and David French (Cat 1 Men 19-29). |
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| At Skibowl everyone rides the road, at least a little. Nicholas Dumas (Cat 1 Men 30-39). |
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| Brad Delzer (Cat 1 Men 40+). |
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| Brad Watt cleanly riding a section of Arrow Trail that saw a lot of crashes over the weekend (Cat 1 Men 40+). Watt took third in his category. |
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| Matt Macartney (Cat 1 Men 40+). |
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| Kaytlin Melvin (Cat 1 Women Open). |
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| Eyes up, camera on. Phil Lewis (Cat 2 Men 30-39). |
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| Jesse Murdock (Cat 2 Men 30-39) headed to first place. |
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| Joel Mattecheck (Cat 2 Men 19-29). |
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| A clean merge onto the pro course. This corner where the Cat 2 course joined the Pro/Cat I course ended up becoming a duffy pocket. |
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| Brett Carels (Cat 2 Men 40-49). |
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| Peter Gould and Joe Prisel putting in fast lines on the bottom of the Wood Trail (Cat 2 Men 40-49). Gould and Prisel took first and fourth. |
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| Mitch Schmidt (Cat 2 Men 40-49). |
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| Interesting fact about the trees in the Mt. Hood area - they are lousy for climbing |
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| Jack Frischkorn clearing the step-down gap under the supervision of the Rasta-Bananna (Cat 2 Men 0-14). |
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| Gavin Stanton (Cat 3 Men 0-14). |
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| Dawson Young headed to the finish for his second first-place win of the season (Cat 3 Men 0-14). |
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| Cherish Tauscheck also placed first for the second time this season (Cat 3 Women Open). |
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| Susan Walsh (Cat 3 Women Open). |
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| Nicholas Omta (Cat 3 Men 19-29). |
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| While not a traditional rainbow, an iridescent cloud hung over the Cat 3 course to add some extra color. |
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| Some runs are all flowers and rainbows... some runs aren't. Ryan Nolan (Cat 3 Men 15-18 ) and Kara Richman (Cat 3 Women 0-18 ). |
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| Dylan Brown (Cat 1 Men 0-18 ). |
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| Bailey Villalovos (Cat 1 Men 0-18 ). |
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| Ian Robinson rushing into the steeps (Cat 1 Men 0-18 ). |
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| Shelby Reilly (Pro Women). |
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| Kyle Thomas celebrated his first Father's Day with a sixth place finish (Pro Men). |
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| Adam Ransavage gently laying his bike over (Pro Men). |
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| Luke Carroll recovers, narrowly missing a tree (Pro Men). |
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| Basalt makes for good obstacles and good grandstands too. Kurtis Walton (Pro Men). |
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| Ken Faubert (Pro Men). |
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| Luke Strobel nearing the end of the rock garden on Arrow Trail. Strobel was edged out of third by a fraction of a second (Pro Men). |
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| Jake Grob taking the middle line on the wedge drop (Pro Men). |
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| Spencer Graf and Kirk McDowall (Pro Men). |
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| Sky Dunn-Sarvis, Jason Eiswald, and Austin Lancaster (Cat 1 Men 0-18 ). |
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| Shelby Reilly celebrating with the Rasta-Bannana (Pro Women). |
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| Kjersti Christensen and Shelby Reilly (Pro Women). |
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| Kirk McDowall, Matt Orlando, Spencer Graf, Luke Strobel, and Weston Potter (Pro Men). |
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| "Please come again." The NW Cup is returning to Skibowl in a few weeks, July 10-12. |
Full Results Here
MENTIONS: @olympicdirtsociety , @ericashley
Author Info:
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26 Comments
- 12 0
foreverforum260
FL (Jun 24, 2015 at 19:59)
I was hoping for a report/recap from Skibowl! Thanks for delivering! Amazing photos too, as always.
- 5 0
CaptainBLT
(Jun 25, 2015 at 6:49)
Cannonball in particular helped me discover every bolt that needed fresh loctite, and gave me two flats on Sunday - one each during practice and the race run. What a blast to just let 'er rip though!
- 3 2
coletownsend22
(Jun 25, 2015 at 7:53)
Cannonball was so loose caused my crash In my race run
- 2 0
dropitbig
(Jun 25, 2015 at 6:21)
I had to do a chainless run Sunday for cat 2 due to snapping a derailleur hanger after taking a nice lil dirt nap during practice. And me being the dumbass I am didn't have a spare
- 2 0
jmattecheck
(Jun 25, 2015 at 9:45)
Had so much fun! Last weekend was my first race and now I think I am hooked. Thanks to all nw cup and skibowl folks for putting on a great event.
- 3 0
chrismcfarland
(Jun 24, 2015 at 21:02)
Nicely done as always Eric. I hope you aren't having to shovel out dust from your camera after that race.
- 2 0
ericashley
(Jun 24, 2015 at 21:46)
I made the mistake of cleaning the back of one of my lenses — and I've got plenty of dust on my sensor. Still less dust than finals last year.
- 2 0
bighuckdaddy
(Jun 24, 2015 at 22:07)
Thanks for the recap Eric. As always, amazing pics and a great read. See you next month! Cheers!
- 2 0
ComingUpShort
(Jun 25, 2015 at 10:40)
Always a pleasure to see these post race, good to chat with you while you were working in the locker room. Cheers.
- 2 0
chrismcfarland
(Jun 24, 2015 at 22:07)
I always dread having to do a lens change on the trail with those conditions.
- 3 0
MX298
(Jun 25, 2015 at 7:37)
Thanks Eric, your recap and photos are the best.
- 3 0
delzerphat
FL (Jun 25, 2015 at 7:43)
New rear wheel, cranks and pedals needed after race run. Ski bowl...
- 3 0
Bennyd4u
(Jun 25, 2015 at 11:27)
This place gave me and a buddy fits. We learned how expensive racing can get. Between the two of us we went thru 2 new magic marys (blew holes down the center tread), derailer pulley flew out, broken shift cable, new rear wheel dinged up, and daily servicing of the bikes. Another buddy @dropitbig tore his derailer hanger in half trying to come up short on a cannonball jump.
- 1 0
dropitbig
(Jun 25, 2015 at 12:18)
i wish i wouldve got that crash on video @Bennyd4u
- 3 0
trumbullhucker55
(Jun 25, 2015 at 7:44)
wow! these photos are beautiful!! cheers @ericashley
- 1 0
Terryotomy
(Jun 25, 2015 at 16:10)
I'd say you should be out there putting in race laps EA, but it would be a waste of such a damn fine photographer... killer article, as always!
- 2 0
Mg14
(Jun 25, 2015 at 6:38)
It looks like gavin stanton is on a future of the sport style run!!
- 2 0
esstinkay
(Jun 25, 2015 at 10:20)
high fives @ericashley ! your geology has improved 
awesome report.
awesome report.- 2 0
ericashley
(Jun 25, 2015 at 12:30)
Thanks. I remembered from last year.
- 1 0
DuthieRider123
(Jun 25, 2015 at 8:07)
@jackfrischkorn your in here!
- 1 0
vinny4130
(Jun 25, 2015 at 8:11)
Couldn't make it this year but next year... I will be there!
- 1 0
heartbeatfaster
(Jun 25, 2015 at 13:34)
Phenomenal photos! Some of the best I've seen!
- 1 0
davidlovesmountainbiken
(Jun 26, 2015 at 15:59)
The size of those checks hurt.
- 1 0
NickHathhorn
(Jun 25, 2015 at 15:04)
Another killer race recap Eric!
- 1 0
bjorntsc
(Jun 25, 2015 at 9:35)
Rasta Banana!
- 2 4
juanpkumicho
(Jun 25, 2015 at 9:11)
Video or it didn't happen!!!
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