Big Sky Montana Enduro

What do you do when the race you went to Montana for gets canceled? Here is what Nik Nestoroff does.

Big Sky Enduro Round 2

KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track for a practice run at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.
KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track for a practice run at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.
KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton on track for a practice run at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.

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 to ride 8 grueling stages throughout the Montana Mountains. They would be climbing over 5,500ft day 1 and 1,500ft day 2. The 8 different tracks were 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.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.
KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.

Day 1 would start out with the first 4 stages; stage 1 was one of the longer and more 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 suffering a mild concussion which would force her to pull out of the remainder of the race and completely. Nik Nestoroff would carry on to stage 2 with the climb being difficult 1,200ft climb 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. Nik’s consistency with during the day 1 stages would place him in 9th place going into Sunday’s day 2 stages.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track for a practice run at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.
KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track for a practice run at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.

Day 2 would be an exciting day for Nik with the tracks being more downhill oriented. He would fire off his first stage of the day with 7th place. Only 3 stages left, and Nik was really giving it his all to pull back time. Stage 6 would also be a great stage for him with a 4th place finish, and only 2 stages. All of 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. The final stage would be the highlight of Nik’s weekend with a 2nd place stage finish. This was impressive as it was the most challenging and technical stage of the event. With all the times combined Nik would complete the race with an impressive 8th place overall.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track for a practice run at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.
KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track for a practice run at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.

Nik stated “It was a very successful weekend of learning more about Enduro Racing. You have to keep consistent and it’s a fine line of pushing too hard or not enough.”

KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track for a practice run at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.
KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track for a practice run at the 2nd round of the Big Sky Montana Enduro series.

The team’s 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 Acres 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.