Big Sky Montana Round 2 of the Big Mountain Enduro Series brought some of the best enduro racers from the world (Richie Rude, Cody Kelley). The racers would have 8 grouling stages throughout the Montana Mountains. They would be climbing over 5500ft day 1 and 1500ft day 2. The 8 different tracks were very unique with all different types of conditions. From steep shoots, rock gardens, and natural fresh cut sections the 8 stages truly brought everything to the table condition wise.
Day 1 would start out with the first 4 stages. Stage 1 was one of the more longer and physical tracks. Nik Nestoroff would drop into stage 1 and end up 14th place. Kailey Skelton would unfortunately have a massive crash in her stage 1 run and suffer a mild concussion which would cause her to pull out of the remainder of the race and stages. Nik Nestoroff would carry on to stage 2 with the climb being roughly 1200ft at a high altitude. After stage 2 he would pull some time back and move himself into 12th place going into stage 3. Stage 3 and 4 were also very physical tracks with times being over 5 minutes long. Niks consistency with day 1 stages would end him in 9th place going into Sunday’s day 2 stages.
Day 2 would be an exciting day for Nik because the tracks were more downhill oriented. He would fire off his first stage of the day with 7th place. With only 3 stages left, Nik was really giving it his all to pull back time. Stage 6 would be a great stage for him with a 4th place finish, and only 2 stages left the racers were really feeling the physicality on top of the long endurance days. Nik would go into stage 7 with a 5th place finish and on the final stage would be the highlight of the weekend with Nik finishing 2nd and this was impressive as it was the most challenging and technical stage. With all the times combined Nik would complete the race with an impressive 8th place overall.
Nik stated “It was a very successful weekend of learning more about Enduro Racing. You have to keep consistent and a it’s a fine line of pushing too hard or not enough.”
The teams next stop will be Nik and Kailey in Whitefish, ID for a Northwest Downhill Cup Race, and Steven Walton will be competing in the Strait Acers Slalom Race in Big Bear, CA. The following weekend August 3-8 the team will all be meeting up in Mountain Creek, NJ for round 2 of the National Downhill GRT Series.
See you out on the trails!
Cheers,
KHS Pro MTB