Sylvan Ellefson Breaks Away to Victory in the 2011 Boulder Mountain Tour


February 6th, 2011

Sylvan Ellefson slides to victory in the 2011 Boulder Mountain Tour. Photo: Chis Hall.

Sylvan Ellefson, member of the Vail Ski and Snowboard Club and Fischer athlete made a daring breakaway move with 7 kilometers to go and outlasted Leif Zimmerman to the finish line.  Skiing strong the whole race, Ellefson took all three sprint preems on the course and set a fast pace for the lead pack.

2011 Boulder Mountain Tour podium. Photo: Chis Hall.

“I really felt good today,” said Ellefson.  “My skis were great and after the last preem, I had a gap of about 15 meters, so I punched it.  The last 2K were pretty tough and I knew that Leif, Bryan, Billy and the rest were chasing hard, but when I came around the corner into the finishing straight, I was really psyched to have held everyone off and cross the line first.”

The race unfolded with a pack of 10 to 12 skiers all the way through Baker Creek.  By the time the lead pack hit the final sprint preem at the bottom of Phantom Hill, the pack was down to 9, but soon broke apart after the move by Ellefson.  Both Zimmerman and Bryan Fletcher chased hard and were gaining back some time, but the gap was too big and Sylvan was able to coast across the line in 1:06:43, a very fast time considering the weather and snow conditions leading up to the race.

Complete Results can be found here at the following link, http://www.bouldermountaintour.com/results.asp

Sylvan Ellefson celebrates after his victory in the 2011 Boulder Mountain Tour. Photo: Chis Hall.