Clauson Classic 2017 Recap
The Annual Clauson Classic at Silverton Mountain for 2017 was a great display of working hard, having fun, and helping others. Plenty of great folks signed up to see how many times they could hike to Billboard and Tiger Claw while supporting the Silverton Winter Sports Club.
The winner, with a total of five laps to the Billboard plus five bonus points, was Brian Johnson of Aspen, Colorado. Brian is a former Ski Patroller at Aspen Snowmass, and consistently ranks highly in mountain endurance events throughout the region.
In second place, and the first place female finisher, was Morgan Fortin of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Morgan is an up-and-coming star of the junior SkiMo race world, and with 3 Billboard laps, she is hot on the heals of the best women who have ever participated in the Clauson Classic.
Top 4 Finishers:
- Brian Johnson, Aspen, 5 billboard laps + 5 bonus points, total 55
- Morgan Fortin, Albuquerque, 3 billboards + 8 bonus points, total 38
- Stoney Molina, Silverton, 2 billboards + 1 tiger claw + 12 bonus points, total 36
- Megan McGrath, Silverton, 2 billboards + 1 tiger claw + 10 bonus points, total 34
In addition to winning the overall race, Brian Johnson earned the coveted Spirit Award from The North Face and Montanya Distillers for his super positive attitude, smiles, excitement about skiing with his son, background as a ski patroller, and his dedicated desire to go harder than anyone else.
Arguably the most important thing done at the Clauson Classic is sign up bone marrow donors with BeTheMatch.org. We had over 14 people sign up to help potentially donate bone marrow and save lives. If John had lived long enough, his only hope for survival would have been with a bone marrow transplant. You can still sign up online to be a donor.
Finally, all proceeds went to the Silverton Winter Sports Club, helping get the town of Silverton’s kids out on the slopes in a variety of ways.
Big thanks to Silverton Mountain’s partners, as well as Montanya Distillers, Cafe Mobius in Silverton, Mouse’s Chocolate & Coffee in Ouray, and the always amazing Venture Snowboards in Silverton.
We hope you’ll join us next year for the 2018 Clauson Classic, and don’t forget: BE LIKE JOHN!