Video & Race Report: Eastern States Cup DH #4 – Mount Snow, VT

Round 4 of the Maxxis ESC Intense DH series bring us to the Green Mountain state for a grass track thriller. Home to many classic DH races over the years, Mount Snow has the goods to entertain everyone from first timers to hardened downhill veterans. If speed is what you’re looking for, this is the track for you. Point it downhill and go as fast as your bike will let you, but you’ll have to master your braking points to survive the tricky turns. The Pro classes were stacked, with a first time winner on the female side and an onslaught of blazing fast Canadians on the male side. Keep scrolling to see who claimed the medals in each class.

Mount Snow is as classic a DH venue as we have in New England and brings out a good mix of veteran racers, giving the pits an old school feel.

There’s a lot of grass turns on this track but the fastest section is the straight away before the finish line, where our speed trap is set up.

Plenty of opportunities to get loose out there this weekend. We’ve got a new upper ski trail section this year that will bring back memories of the old NORBA days to some.

Josh Poirier slapping berms in seeding.

The 2nd Annual Scott Huntley memorial lap went down Saturday afternoon at 4:01. A slick track kept things loose, just how Scott would have wanted it.

Mistakes were made by Cooper Pleva in seeding but he rode it out just fine.

Chaingang Racing back in action for the weekend’s festivities, happy 69th race start to Jared Wood.

Sunday morning started off foggy in the upper elevations…

…but eventually burned off as we enjoyed blue skies and great vibes on race day.

Despite soaking rains Saturday afternoon, the course dried out quite nicely.

14U racer Silas Sharrow prepares for battle.

Eli Hickey dropping in for his 50th race, he’d lock down seventh place in the Amateur 19-29 class then go aim the gun for our speed trap.

Marcos Lira was a man on a mission. He came out of the gate swinging and lead the first split, ending the day in P2 just 3.49s off the Masters 50+ win.

7.45s separated Josh Lemoine from the rest of the Amateur 30-39 class as he takes his second win in a row.

50+ Masters winner Charles Morin has won four out of the seven times he’s raced a Maxxis ESC event at Mount Snow. The crazy part is the last time he raced here was 2011.

Second place for Amateur 19-29 racer Nicholas Rubino as he darts under Grand Summit Express lift.

The 8U Brat class always keeps it fast and fun, Chase Ulmer took the top spot this week by a sizeable margin of 28 seconds.

Parts of this track are like a drag strip, you can go as fast as you want.

First race with the Expert 40+ class and Mike Hoffarth is on the box with second place.

Expert 19-29 winner Cole Casey holds it wide open through the corner before entering the woods again.

Ty Davis blasts out of the final woods section, he was able to lock down the fastest speed trap of the weekend and sixth place for his best Pro result to date.

Keeping it low on the fast line, Cooper Mead squeaked out his first Expert 16U win by just 0.15s seconds.

Sitota LaRocque keeps it pinned at the bottom of the course, earning her second Expert Female win of the season.

Emma Jarl has become a regular on the Pro women’s class podium, P3 this weekend among some fast ladies.

Despite leading the final split, Abby Ronca would land just 1.19s short of the Pro win.

It’s hard to believe Mary Jane Kissinger was racing the 12U class just a few years ago and this weekend she earned her first Pro win, it certainly won’t be her last. The next generation of Pro racers is here and they’re flying!

Pro Women: 4th – Emmanuelle Boudreau, 2nd – Abby Ronca, 1st – Mary Jane Kissinger, 3rd – Emma Jarl, 5th – Alexandra Galarneau

Dylan Conte did his best to battle the lightning fast Canadians, but would end up rounding out the Pro men’s class top three.

Benjamin Després-Morin lead the first split but lost some time once the course became more technical, crossing the finish line in second place for the Pro Men.

The Pro men’s class was absolutely stacked this weekend but last man down the hill Hugo Langevin got the job done, taking the win by 3.07s with a 2:03, fourteen seconds faster than Saturday’s soggy seeding run.

Hugo Langevin tucking to the finish, about to be $600 richer.

Pro Men: 4th – Will Goody, 2nd – Benjamin Després-Morin, 1st – Hugo Langevin, 3rd – Dylan Conte, 5th – Kory Nagy

Thanks for a killer weekend, Mount Snow! We’re right back at it this coming weekend as we roll north to Killington for our second Thule Showdown of the season. Don’t miss it!

Words and photos: Andrew Santoro
Video: Seth Merritt

Full Results
Easternstatescup.com

2025 MAXXIS ESC SCHEDULE

INTENSE CYCLES DOWNHILL SERIES
May 4 Powder Ridge, CT
June 15 Mountain Creek, NJ
June 22 Jiminy Peak, MA
July 13 Mount Snow, VT
July 20 Killington, VT
Aug 10 Thunder Mountain, MA
Sept 14 Blue Mountain, PA
Sept 21 Powder Ridge, CT
Oct 26 Jiminy Peak, MA Finals

STAN’S ENDURO SERIES
May 18 Powder Ridge, CT
June 1 Arrowhead, NH
June 22 Jiminy Peak, MA
July 20 Killington, VT
July 27 Monteau, NH
Aug 10 Thunder Mountain, MA
Aug 24 Burke, VT
Sept 21 Powder Ridge, CT
Oct 12 Arrowhead, NH Finals

THULE SHOWDOWN SERIES
June 22 Jiminy Peak, MA
July 20 Killington, VT
Aug 10 Thunder Mountain, MA
Sept 21 Powder Ridge, CT

CANNONDALE EBIKE SERIES
May 18 Powder Ridge, CT
June 1 Arrowhead, NH
July 27 Monteau, NH
Aug 10 Thunder Mountain, MA
Sept 21 Powder Ridge, CT
Oct 12 Arrowhead, NH