Category: Mountain (Team)

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FOX US OPEN OF MOUNTAIN BIKING

Steven Walton at the 2023 FOX US OPEN of MOUNTAIN BIKING
Steven Walton at the 2023 FOX US OPEN of MOUNTAIN BIKING

The 2023 Fox US Open of MTB at Killington, VT is in the books! The race organizers did a great job putting together the most prestigious event in American Mountain Biking. Thank you, Clay Harper and Crew!

This was definitely a unique race for me, being the only KHS Pro MTB Team Racer in Vermont, with KHS Pro MTB Team Racer Nate Kitchen being sidelined with two broken arms due to a practice crash at his home and Shane Leslie racing the EDR Enduro in France. I enjoyed racing the 2023 US Open of Mountain Biking in Killington. With huge roots and slippery rocks scattered throughout the course, it made the race quite challenging. I was stoked to finish 5th in the Open E-Bike Enduro class against some stacked competition. Not my best result, but I’m happy to finish the season with all E-Bike results in the Top-5. Consistency is key.

I would like to give a huge thanks to KHS Bicycles and everyone else who supported the program! The entire team will be heading into the off-season to start preparations for 2024. We will be working hard throughout the Fall and Winter and have some exciting non-racing video content coming out. See you on the trails!

Cheers, 

Steven Walton – Pro Athlete – KHS Pro MTB Team Racer

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Big Bear, CA Gravity Fest / Strait Acres Slalom Event

The festival would take place in the Big Bear, California San Bernardino Mountain Range, which is known for some of the best mountain biking in North America. Shane Leslie would be competing in the Pro men’s Enduro category with some tough competition ahead. Shane would overcome all the presented stages and take the overall victory.

KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie in Big Bear California at the Strait Acres, Gravity Fest.
KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie in Big Bear California at the Strait Acres, Gravity Fest.

It was great to see Shane on the top spot of the podium and gather some more confidence heading into the back half of the season with some EWS rounds left on his schedule. The main highlight of the weekend was the Dual Slalom which brought some of the best racers around the world to compete for the top spots. It would be our Jr Pro Nate Kitchen who would be stepping up to the premier class and Steven Walton both athletes would be among the best to duel it out for the pristine Strait Acres event. Friday would be Slalom qualifying with everything trying to make the night show which was only the top 16.

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton in Big Bear California at the Strait Acres, Gravity Fest.
KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton in Big Bear California at the Strait Acres, Gravity Fest.Strait Acres, Big Bear Lake, California

Steven Walton would give it his best attempts to get in the final rounds, but would barely fall short at the end of the day qualifying 18th. Nate Kitchen would take his skills among the best…
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Final Big Mountain Enduro, Big Sky, Montana

“Big Sky was epic this year with some wild conditions in the mud. Day 1 was going well sitting just outside the top 5 until a big slide out at the end of stage 4. Day 2 went much better with a couple top 5 stage results and moving back up a bit on the overall. Can’t wait to keep building into the Morzine EDR next month.”
-Shane Leslie
KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie on track at the BME in Big Sky Montana.
KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie on track at the BME in Big Sky Montana.
“That’s a wrap on the 2023 Big Mountain Enduro! I’m extremely stoked to end the series with a hard fought win and claim the E-Bike Overall Title! Myself and 2nd place were swapping stage wins all weekend and after 8 stages of racing in the tough muddy conditions only 1.5 seconds separated us.
KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton on the podium in first place at the BME in Big Sky Montana.
KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton on the podium in first place at the BME in Big Sky Montana.
Thrilled with how my KHS 6555+ performed this weekend and super impressed with the durability of the bike and components throughout the entire season.  We have a few more races coming up before the close of the year that I’m looking forward to and I’m already excited to start working towards more great E-Bike results at next year’s Big Mountain Enduro Series! Huge thank you to everyone at KHS, our team sponsors, our great distributors, and everyone else who supports us! This wouldn’t be…
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BME Rd. 4 Brian Head, UT

Round four of the Big Mountain Enduro series was hosted this past weekend over the Utah holiday of Pioneer Day.

The BME was hosted at the famous Brian Head, Utah ski resort located 50 miles North of Zions national park, this event would be hosting the best North American Enduro riders to compete on the 2023 Enduro circuit. It would be our one and only pro male Shane Leslie that would be holding it down for the team this coming weekend.

KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie at round 4 of the Bike Mountain Enduro tour at Brian Head Utah.
KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie at round 4 of the Bike Mountain Enduro tour at Brian Head Utah.

Brian head is known for its long aggressive stages. It is approximately 9000 feet in elevation which is equivalent to 15% more oxygen than your normal 21%. They would be competing in a total of eight stages over gnarly, rough loose terrain. There would be four stages hosted on Saturday and the other final four hosted on Sunday. Shane will arrive Thursday afternoon to complete his practice along with Friday was also a training day to navigate all the lines and figure out the best choices for all eight stages.

KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie at round 4 of the Bike Mountain Enduro tour at Brian Head Utah.
KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie at round 4 of the Bike Mountain Enduro tour at Brian Head Utah.

Saturday would come quickly with some stages, being backcountry and others being in the bike park, Shane would power through the day with a…
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2023 US National Championships

The 2023 USA National Championships was hosted this past weekend at the new Ride Rock Venue located in the amazing mountains of North Carolina. The week’s weather would be a drastic roller coaster ride from dry to wet conditions ever changing. We had the best athletes from America competing for the top spots in multiple categories. It would be Nathan Kitchen who would be competing in Jr. Pro DH and Slalom, Kailey Skelton would be backing up 2021 – 2022 DH National titles and Steven Walton would be holding it down for the Pro men’s DH category. Friday’s DS was a mudder to start to finish. Rain soaked the track and the riders early in the day pushing back the start of racing a few hours. Hats off to the track crew who absolutely worked a miracle to get the rain rutted track in shape for seeding and finals.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nate Kitchen on the track at the US National Championships.
KHS Pro MTB rider Nate Kitchen on the track at the US National Championships.

The day would end with Nathan winning his 1st DS National Championship! Sunday’s downhill track recovered from the heavy rains of Saturday and racing finish times dropped! Saturday would be a full day of qualifying for all team members with very wet track conditions. Everyone would have solid qualifying runs with everyone’s mind on Sunday’s finals and weather looking completely different.  Sunday would bring high pressure for everyone gunning for the top spots. It would be Nathan Kitchen who would improve his qualifying run and get back on the podium in 3rd. Kailey Skelton would push hard as possible but unfortunately just fall short into 2nd place and Steven Walton would…
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