By Kipp Kirol ON3P Ski Company
BEARTOOTH PASS – On June 8, Beartooth Basin’s big-mountain/slopestyle competition will draw competitors from around the region and the country.
Located between Cooke City and Red Lodge near Beartooth Pass, Beartooth Basin has two high-speed poma lifts accessing steeps, chutes, cornices and a terrain park. Summer Session competitors will take top-to-bottom runs and be judged on style, technique, amplitude and consistency.
Lead sponsor, ON3P Ski Company, is working with Beartooth Basin to build a terrain park and competition course for the session. The event, terrain park and ski area will be open to the public, as well as to professional riders and photographers.
Formerly Red Lodge International Summer Ski Camp, the small ski area first opened in the 1960s as a venue for summer ski-race training. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, it saw a newschool influx, with big names such as Glen Plake, Tanner Hall and Wiley Miller making appearances. Prominent production companies including Teton Gravity Research, Team 13 and Toy Soldier Productions have featured footage from the ski area in their films.
Last year’s competition brought approximately 100 skier visits and 40 competitors from around North America. Writers from Teton Gravity Research, Skiing magazine, Bomb Snow magazine and the Big Sky Weekly covered the event.
In addition to lift-accessible summer skiing, the surrounding area has backcountry access, including daylong tours, boot packs, and car-shuttle laps.
The Third Annual Beartooth Summer Session is scheduled for June 5-9 at Beartooth Basin Ski Area and in the surrounding backcountry. Find more at beartoothsummersession.com.
