Big Mountain Enduro Rd 5, Brian Head, UT.

KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton on the trail at the fifth stop of the Big Mountain enduro series at Brian Head resort in Utah.

“Wow, what a weekend! I have always enjoyed racing at Brian Head with BME. Day 1 was a long one, with an early wake up call to start the pedal to stage 1 followed by 3 more stages out in the backcountry. The stages were brutal, a combination of pedaling and rocky terrain all at 11,000 ft of elevation. I was able to take a stage win on stage 2 and was sitting in second just 8 seconds behind 1st. Later that day, I raced the Big Mountain Downhill. After rain and lighting delayed the start, I was happy to get 2nd and carry some momentum into day 2 of racing for the enduro!

KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton on the trail at the fifth stop of the Big Mountain enduro series at Brian Head resort in Utah.
KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton on the trail at the fifth stop of the Big Mountain enduro series at Brian Head resort in Utah.

Day 2 we got to stay in the bike park for the remaining 3 stages which I was excited about but knew I had to push hard to make up the time. After stage 6, Porsha and I were pretty much tied going into the last stage. I gave it everything I had and was able to win the stage by .4 seconds and get the win overall!I came into this weekend with the goal to have fun and ride like I know how to ride and it paid off! I’m so stoked to take the win after 7 stages and super tight racing in the enduro! The team has been working hard this year to get to this point and I feel proud to be able to share it with everyone involved!

– Isabella Naughton 

KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton takes first in Women's enduro at the fifth stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series at Brian Head Resort in Utah.
KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton takes first in Women’s enduro at the fifth stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series at Brian Head Resort in Utah.

Big Mountain Enduro #3, Brian Head Utah

KHS PRo MTB rider Kailey Skelton places fourth at the 3 stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series in Brian Head, Utah.

Round three of the Big Mountain Enduro series fired off at Brian Head, Utah with over seven grueling stages at the high altitudes of 10,000 feet with very rocky terrain. It would be Kailey Skelton and Nik Nestoroff holding down the pro men and women’s Enduro categories.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track in Brian Head, Utah for the 3rd stop of the BME series.
KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff on track in Brian Head, Utah for the 3rd stop of the BME series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian Head resort is very famous for their long rocky descents with high-speed technical sections and they’re very loose terrain. Thursday and Friday would be practice. Each athlete would be testing their limits on the loose terrain to find the best and fastest lines. Both Nik and Kailey were feeling good in the high-altitude Rocky Mountains. The first day of racing would be conducted on Saturday with only two stages being held. Those stages were the backcountry stages known as the longer grueling and more taxing stages with long stage transfers and over 5K of climbing. Kailey would wrap her day up with a solid third place overall finish going into Sunday’s finals and Nik Nestoroff would be fighting off some mechanicals he sustained throughout the week but would maintain a solid seventh position against the best American athletes in the Enduro race series.

KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton on track in Brian Head, Utah for the 3rd stop of the BME series.
KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton on track in Brian Head, Utah for the 3rd stop of the BME series.

Sunday’s finals would come quickly, both athletes would be trying their best to recover from those two grueling backcountry stages which took high demand on the physical body and mental status. With Sundays five stages to go that was still a lot of racing even under lift access circumstances. The athletes would be pushing their limits and it would be vital to maintain a steady pace without crashing to keep chipping away at the top times. Kailey would be sitting in top three position on her final last stage when she unfortunately had a pretty big crash and sustained no injuries but with slot her back-and-forth position. This was Kailey ‘s second Enduro national race in her career, which was still very impressive, grabbing a podium position on the national Enduro series level. Nik Nestoroff has been racing for over 16 weeks straight and was definitely feeling the grueling race schedule with back-to-back events and thousands of miles of traveling. Nik would maintain a solid seven position and hold onto that top five overall position going into the final BME of the year which will be held mid-September at Mount Bachelor. The team will have roughly 2 to 3 weeks off before heading off to Killington, Vermont for the U.S. Open and Nik Nestoroff will be holding down the final Big Mountain Enduro in Mount Bachelor to try and claim the Big Mountain Enduro series title. Steven Walton and Nathan Kitchen are both on the mend and will be all healed up and ready to go for the U.S. Open in Killington Vermont. The team and athletes would like to thank all of our sponsors, family, friends, and fans for all the continuous support! Hope everyone is enjoying the summer, once again thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter and support the team.

KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton places fourth at the 3 stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series in Brian Head, Utah.
KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton places fourth at the 3 stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series in Brian Head, Utah.