Mogul Enduro kicks off freestyle season
50 young competitors square off in the powder at DMR

Riley Henderson looks for his landing at the Durango Orthopedics Mogul Enduro on Sunday at DMR./Photo courtesy Thru the Lens Photography.

Freestyle competition returned to Durango Mountain Resort in high fashion last Sunday. Under snowy skies, 50 competitors hit the bumps for the Durango Orthopedics Mogul Enduro competition. The Mogul Enduro event was the tour opener of the Southwest Freestyle Tour. More than 6 feet of snow in seven days made the Upper Bull Run mogul course soft and fun for the competitors. Two runs for each competitor were scored on the quality and quantity of turns and quality and difficulty of aerial maneuvers. The best run counted for the final score.

The Mogul Enduro gave young developmental skiers from the Durango Freestyle Team and Telluride Ski & Snowboard Club an opportunity to gain competitive experience in mogul skiing. Competitors included boys and girls ranging in age from 6 to 16.

"This tour has been very successful in preparing our athletes for the Rocky Mountain Divisional Championships each year," said Kirk Rawles, Durango Freestyle Team head coach. "Rather than having to travel all over the state to compete, our two clubs use these events to gain the necessary experience for our skiers without the added burden of travel and expense."

On Sunday, Durango's Jocelyn Zemach skied home with the J6 girl's title. Telluride's Jesse Solomon beat out teammate Keaton McCargo and Ellen Southworth of Durango for the J5 title. Another Telluride skier, Devin McCarthy, took first place honors over Jenna Mulligan of Durango in the J4 bracket. Durangoan Jamie Nelson posted the top girls score of the day by ousting teammates Sarah Kunz and Delia Bolster.

The boys J7s saw 6-year-old Benji Mickel of the Durango team leading the way while 7-year-old teammate Nolan Stowers took top honors for the J6s. The J5 title went to Garrett Jung of Bayfield who topped Telluride's Nikki Jones with Durango's Hank Stowers finishing a strong third. Telluride's Ryan Parkinson took home J4 gold with Bayfield's Derek Macguffie and Riley Henderson from Durango in second and third, respectively. The hotly contested J3 title went to Durango's Sam Gosney who posted the top score of all skiers for the day. Telluride's Hunter Gleason finished in a close second with Durango's Ben Southworth in third.

The Southwest Freestyle Tour makes its next stop in Telluride on Feb. 12-13 for the Boot Doctors BumpBash. The BumpBash will include a moguls competition Saturday and an aerial competition Sunday.

The year will culminate with the Rocky Mountain Divisional championships held in Steamboat Springs on March 12-13.