North American Enduro Tour # 2 Snowmass BME

Snowmass is 104 miles from my home in Keystone Colorado. I have been racing there on and off for years with the now defunct, Mountain States Cup. Aspen's natural beauty never gets old and has kept me coming back, year after year. The hospitality in Snowmass is second to none, and I have always felt welcome here. 

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This was the second stop of the NAET tour and stop one of the Big Mountain Enduro Series. The two day event had  seven stages, totaling over 9000ft of descending. Sounds like fun, right? The tracks were classic pedal-heavy Snowmass single track through the aspens, with some jumps and a real DH track thrown in to keep us from racing hardtails. Lots of hard turns and sprinting. As it turns out, if you blow every hard turn, you have to work even harder in the pedaly bits. Finding that balance was the key to success. 

Stage 2 start. Photo: Nick Ontiveros

Yup, its completely safe, traveling in excess of thirty miles per hour through the woods wearing nothing but a styrofoam hat. Just ask Mason Bond. What could go wrong? 

Mr. Bond is single and ready to mingle

Stage 6 was my favorite of the weekend. It had a bit of everything, including some unmaintained bike- parkish sections at the top. Babyheads and blown out berms! My favorite. Day two's tracks provided some contrast to the pedal heavy courses of day one, making for a well rounded weekend. This video is the upper part of stage six.

snowmass stage 6 upper from nate hills on Vimeo.

It's always nice to be surrounded by good company. Representing Yeti Cycles  at the races as ambassadors, national team members, and employees, we are a unique group. At the end of the day, we all share the same passion for riding bikes and wouldn't trade this lifestyle for anything. Everyone pictured below is a straight-up pinner.

If you don't ride a Yeti, you can't be in this picture.

Racing is hard. When you consider what the photographers have to do to get pictures of these events, racing seems......easier? Chasing us around in the mountains carrying a 50 pound pack is no joke. I mean, I was carrying a multi-tool and some space food, man am I tired! 

Devon Balet is a boss and has an amazing photo essay for you to drool over up on Pinkbike. Check it here.

Photo: Devon Balet

#oldmanwest is a living legend. If you don't know Mike, you don't race mountain bikes in Colorado. He has been crushing fools in every discipline known to cycling for a very long time. His 40th birthday is in a week, and he is still a threat in any race he enters. Always an honor to stand on the podium with this guy. He also knows how to handle himself on a zamboni.

Westy testing out the 2016 Yeti team Zamboni. It takes a while to get to the race, but everything sure is clean!

Quick edit from Forrest and Justin. These guys worked their asses off all weekend to make this eye candy happen.

Big Mountain Enduro: Snowmass, CO - 2014 Race #1 from Big Mountain Enduro on Vimeo.

The BME crew built a sweet jump at the bottom of the mountain to finish the DH track with a proper huck. As it should be. These grooms were taking video of us sending the jump. When I saw homies' kit, I couldn't resist taking a picture of him. Does your shirt match your shoes? Didn't think so...  #dialed

carnivore

Every track should end with a jump. This is mountain biking after all! Photo: Brandon Ontiveros

After almost an hour of racing over two days, Kyle got me by 12 seconds, forcing me to settle for second. I hate to loose, but it is nice to see some up and coming "kids" bringing some fresh air to our sport. This is mandatory for growth of our discipline. The men standing to the right and left of Mr. Warner are almost twice his age.... Good mix on the box. Never count #oldmanwest out, he is a badass! Great racing gentlemen. 

First loser! Cheers Warner!

Just for the record, I am going to call out Independence Pass as a top five all-time road. I am not referring to cycling here, which is world class of course, I am referring to driving my Subaru at the limit with all of my crap in it. Sporty, to say the least. Next stop, BME Durango.......