KHS Pro MTB’s Kailey Skelton is a the fastest woman Downhiller in the nation…again!! Kailey defended her title by winning the US National Championship this past weekend in Winter Park Colorado. Race recap coming soon.
Check out KHS Pro MTB riders Kailey Skelton and Nik Nestoroff’s YouTube Channel! they take you on their day to day life and you get to see what two top level mountain pro riders do every day.
check them out HERE
Sea Otter Classic 2022 is back in full swing with a massive international field of racers and vendors attending! It was absolutely excellent to see everyone enjoying the festival that has been such a notable iconic event for many decades. Team KHS Pro MTB would be in full effect racing Enduro, Dual Slalom and Downhill!
It would be Nik Nestoroff firing off Pro men’s Enduro for his first Sea Otter Enduro of his career. He was very excited that two out of the four stages would come with experience being stages on DH and Slalom. The other two stages would be grueling physical stages that would almost be closer to XC racing than Enduro, but with the mix of all the stages and Nik’s experience he would come out with an amazing top 3 finish against some of the world’s best athletes.
Nate Kitchen would be holding down our Junior Pro division in Dual Slalom who would be representing us in our next event. After qualifying in the number one position out of a stacked field of the best Slalom juniors in the states he would battle his way all the way through all 32 athletes to tear the number one spot and a Sea Otter title!
With everyone already accomplishing massive results and not even the weekend officially here it would finally be time for Pro Women’s and Men’s Dual Slalom to take place. After the qualifying dust would settle it would be Kailey Skelton in the top 15 and both Steven Walton & Nik Nestoroff would be sitting in the top 20. The athletes would be going straight from qualifying into the final rounds of 32. Kailey Skelton would battle her first ever Dual Slalom appearance that would lead her to a top 16 finish. Nik & Steven would have high hopes since they were bringing confidence from 2018 when they both finished on the podium. Unfortunately, with some small mistakes and crashes they would both be out of the battle in their first rounds.
Heading into Sunday’s Downhill finals it would be the Pro’s firing off first. Kailey Skelton would give it her all to come across the line and finish in a solid 6th place. In the Pro men’s category, it would be Nik finishing in 17th position and Steven in 20th against the best racers in the world. The highlight of the day would be Nate Kitchen who would dominate the field in Junior Pro’s and take the big win!
Overall the team had accomplished amazing achievements with two major titles in the junior division one Pro podium in Enduro and multiple top 20 finishes. It is great to see the team always making an impact on the MTB community and doing a great job role modeling the next generation! KHS Pro MTB wants to thank all our sponsors, friends and family for the continuous support. The team has one week off before the head to the Pacific Northwest to compete in Port Angeles.
Fontana, California would be hosting round two of the Southridge Winter series. Success was continued with our third race of the season. The race team would start off Saturday with three stages of Enduro which would keep all athletes on their toes. They would have to manage each race and have no mistakes to get the lowest time to win.
It would be Nik Nestoroff who would win his second Enduro Regional race of the year, keeping his race machine ahead of all the other competitors. Steven Walton would be hot on his heels with a solid second-place finish. All the athletes have really been enjoying their new KHS Bicycles 6600 Enduro machine which is new to our fleet.
Sunday would move onto the downhill racing event; it would be another demanding physical track. Not only with many physical and mental obstacles to overcome it was quite short, so times would be tight.
To continue her third win in a row, Kailey Skelton took a large win in the Pro Women’s Downhill division.
Nate Kitchen, our junior expert rider, would come in a solid third place, racing some of the fastest junior racers in the West Coast.
In the men’s division it would be Nik Nestoroff who would keep the 2022 win streak alive now claiming both Fontana’s and the Nevada State championship! Another solid podium for Steven Walton and continuous success for the whole team!
After three straight demanding weekends of racing the team finally would have a couple weeks off to continue the preparation for the big nationals and international events. We always want to thank all our family, friends and sponsors who continuously help us achieve our goals and most of all have fun at the races.
Unbelievable weekend at the Nevada state Championship race in Boulder City, Nevada hosted by Bootleg Canyon Mountain bike park. Bootleg Canyon has been on the map since the mid-80s and has always seen some of the best World Cup riders like Sam Hill and Steve Peat! It’s a one-of-a-kind terrain that is very rocky, loose and gravelly. It takes a very highly skilled athlete to navigate the treacherous terrain of Bootleg from top to bottom and put in a solid race run.
Friday was the first day of practice/training. It was no walk in the park, unfortunately weather conditions with over 45 mph winds that would make it very difficult for all the athletes to get down the hill. Everyone was trying their best to maintain lines and navigate the course. Saturday would be a better day of weather for the team. With bluebird skies and a high of 60° weather, they were finally able to have a great day at practice and dial all their line selections in for the finals come Sunday. Also, with Saturday highlights the Enduro category which would be held down by our athlete Naish Ulmer, he would put in a solid three stages with some of the best racers in the West Coast competing. Naish finished a solid six place in the pro men’s Enduro field representing our grassroots program at a higher level.
Sunday’s final Downhill event would start off with a super huge result from our newly signed athlete representing us in the Junior Pro division. At only 16 years of age, Nate Kitchen would take the win over a nine second gap. He was competing against some of the best junior riders in the business with factory riders from GT Racing and other top brands. We were very proud of Nate’s State championship accomplishments.
To keep the ball rolling it would be the professional women’s Downhill category with Kailey Skelton to come down last, which would create a lot of pressure on herself. Kailey was used to that kind of high-pressure situation and would come blazing across the line with a +30 second lead in front of her competitors. Kailey would also take the Nevada state championship in the pro women’s category, to add another title to her trophy set.
Last but not least would be Nik Nestoroff and Steven Walton representing the KHS Pro MTB team in the Downhill men’s professional category. They both had their work cut out for them competing against some of the best American Downhill racers in the business. With a very physically long demanding track it would be Nik Nestoroff who would claim first place by a 4 second margin. It would also be his fourth consecutive Nevada state championships, since Logan Binggeli back in 2015. That would make it KHS Bicycles 8th consecutive NV, State Championship. Steven Walton was still warming up to the season and under the weather with a cold, he would come in a solid fourth place to round out an amazing weekend with all competitors of the team on the podium.
Bootleg Canyon has always treated the KHS Pro MTB team very great, and we always appreciate all the respect we get from all the fans, family and locals. We want to thank all our sponsors who continuously dedicate their time and effort into keeping the team supplied with the best product in the market. We understand times are very tough and product is limited, we are always grateful to have some of the best equipment to support us through these professional races. Next week we will be at round two of the Southridge Winter Series in Fontana, California. We plan to keep the ball rolling and continue on the success!
