Industry News
Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah (March 30, 2024) – Red Bull Cascade, the celebrated freeski competition from the mind of the legendary Bobby Brown, concluded on Saturday, March 30 after two days of epic lines by 16 of the world’s most renowned skiers. The bracket-style contest between four teams saw a collection of elite men and women put down their best top-to-bottom runs on a course designed to challenge every discipline of skier.
In the end, Team Mando took home the top prize thanks to stellar performances from Brown, Jedson Blue Waters, Colby Stevenson and Rell Harwood. Siblings Birk and Svea Irving took home the Rider’s Choice Awards as the top skiers over the course of the two days, respectively.
“These past few days of the contest have seen some of the most creative skiing of the season,” said event visionary Bobby Brown. “We were thrilled to be back with our second edition of the event this year, and Birk and Svea truly put down runs that complemented their styles and took advantage of the course design.”
The athletes competed on a course designed by Brown and brought to hucking-heaven life by a team of renowned park builders, led by Charles Beckinsale. Both man-made and natural elements were in abundance on Solitude’s famed slopes, encouraging competitors to reach deep into their bag of tricks to put together the sendiest runs they could.
Each run was judged on a points system based on Creativity, Speed, Choice of Line, Difficulty, and Energy (Style/Flair). The goal was to rack up the most points on the “CSCDE” system, with a total of 50 points possible per run.
Red Bull Cascade Final ResultsFirst Place – Mando
Bobby Brown
Jedson Blue Waters
Colby Stevenson
Rell Harwood
Second Place – Center Punch
Jay Riccomini
Cody LaPlante
Ben Smith
Birk Irving
Third Place – Overshoot
Marin Hamill
Aaron Blunck
Konnor Ralph
Tanner Blakely
Brown created Red Bull Cascade after recognizing that there was a gap in today’s ski competitions. He spent most of his life pushing the envelope with technical tricks in slopestyle and big air, but transitioning to film segments and backcountry riding opened his eyes to the creativity and progression that can come out of a totally blank slate.
Sensing a disconnect between the contest circuit and backcountry riding, he dreamed of a format that could blend both styles and find the best all-around skier. The three-day event, which consisted of one practice day and two contest days, brought out the world’s best male and female skiers to compete on a unique course that blended natural elements with manmade features.
“This was truly such a special event. Having so many diverse athletes from so many backgrounds, and to do it in a team format where we can put together a plan as one team is something that is totally unique to this event and I really am just so grateful to Bobby for bringing us all together” says Svea Irving, one of the two Riders Choice winners.
