The 2008 Squaw Valley USA Freeskiing Open has come to a close after mediocre- at-best snow conditions haunted skiers all week. After a few days of spring like conditions, strong winds and low temperatures rolled into Squaw and froze the whole mountain over with a brutal layer of ice. As rough as the conditions were, they did not prevent the athletes from coming out and throwing down.

Elyse Saugstad continued her strong skiing this year to reach the top step of the podium for SCOTT USA. Her super strong, fast skiing style has been placing her on top of the podium all year long in World Freeride tour stops as well as at US Freeskiing competitions. Elyse was joined on the podium by SCOTT team rider Tanya Christensen, who finished third. It was a great showing for the SCOTT ladies team and none of the girls let the sub-par conditions slow them down.

On the guys side of things, many SCOTT athletes skied great as well. Chris Tatsuno, Aaron Estrada, Clif Bennett, Will Cardamone, and many others skied really strong. When it came down to it, young gun Bryce Newcomb skiied well both days. Bryce led going into the super finals by skiing strong, fast, and “sending” anything that got in his way. When all was said and done, Bryce finished in third place and also won the Young Gun Award for being the best skier under 21 in the competition. Not a bad day for the 20 year-old Sun Valley native. Next stop on the circuit will be Crested Butte. We’ll see you there!