If Britney Spears were a freeskier, she'd live in Rossland, BC.

Well, uh, who knows what tickles Britney's fancy, but any skier lookin' for a good time should definitely hit Red Mountain sometime soon.

After last year's Freeskiing Challenge, rumours have been circulating around ski towns everywhere about Red Mountain... how sweet the terrain is, how deep the snow is, how empty it is... you name it. Next thing you know, most of the competitive freeskiiers in Whistler and the rest of the Pacific Northwest had packed their cars and B-lined it east for the 2003 Molson Canadian Freeskiing Championships.

We almost lost a few competitors along the pilgrimage, with at least 4 cars spinning out or crashing somewhere along the way, 1 being a total write off. But everyone made it alive... so many in fact that you'd think it was a stop on the World Tour of Freeskiing. Only difference... real prize money.

With packed powder and sunny skies, the qualifier was held on Lynx Line, right under the Motherlode chairlift. The day kicked off with a poach by a legendary 70-something year old guy who apparently skis Lynx Line every day, every run. Tryin' to make us look bad I guess. All the competitors skied hard and did their best to strut their freeskiing steez on this mellow but featured run, but only a few advanced. There were so many prequalified athletes in attendance that only the top 10 men and top 4 women made the cut to the competition. Another 5 guys were placed in the 'bubble', and would be allowed to compete if time allowed.

Day one of the competition went off on Mt Roberts; a sweet backcountry peak beside the Red Mountain resort. With its unreal amount of steeps, drops, gullies, ridges, and other terrain features to play with, Roberts makes for an awesome venue. Holding a freeskiing competition on this peak is like feeding chocolate doughnuts to a baby... the outcome is unknown, things will get outta control, and someone's gonna have a lot of fun.

All the competitors charged hard on day one, but you could tell Mt Roberts was out to punish most of the competitors. The run was so long that more than a few competitors were beggin' for Mommy towards the end of the run, but overall the level of skiing was high all day. Whistler's PY Leblanc skied a super solid line to score 1st position for day one, followed by Geoff Small from NZ and Guerlain Chicerit of France. Highlights included Daisuke Sasaki's retarded airs to flat landings, and Bob Kitchen emerging from the 5 person qualifier 'bubble' to ski a really strong line.

But then came Day 2. Hands down one of the most entertaining competitions in a long time. When Day 1 competitors Ian MacIntosh and Chris Mansbridge hooked up a microphone and some heavy metal, we knew good times were ahead. Skiers were givin'er all day, the carnage ensued, and the announcers weren't letting them off easy. Mathieu Imbert of France won DOGLOTION.com's vote for the Sillygoat Award (if there was won), by losing his ski half way down the run and continuing to rip the run on one ski, finishing with a tricky 1 ski straighline. Leif Zapf-Gilje pulled off the world's first backflip-to-phone-grab, one of those 'ya had to be there' kind of things. After losing his ski while landing a sweet backflip, Leif actually answered a call on his cell from announcer Chris Mansbridge who had called to joke about the lost ski. Doesn't get much better than that.

Moss Patterson scored the highest for Day 2, with a huge air at the top followed by some aggressive skiing and a laid out backflip at the bottom. Brett Crabtree skied the 2nd best line with fast, fluid skiing, followed by Eric Schmitz with his fast skiing and creative airs.

But nobody could catch up to Geoff Small who came 1st overall, followed by Eric Schmitz in 2nd and Moss Patterson in 3rd.

The ladies were chargin' it on Roberts as well. DOGLOTION team rider Marja Persson was leading after the first day, with AJ Cargill and Kim McKnight close behind. AJ skied a sweeeeet line on Day 2, but couldn't quite hold it together. Whistler ripper Karla Rizzuto scored 3rd for the day but it wasn't quite enough to bump her onto the podium. Lynsey Dyer of Montana skied the highest scoring line of the day, earning her 1st overall, bumping Marja to 2nd, and Kim McKnight held onto 3rd.

Pretty much everyone was stoked on the competition. The 2003 Molson Canadian Freeskiing Challenge went off without a hitch, the sun shone all week, and Mt Roberts showed us all who's boss.

But it wouldn't be a Rossland trip without a little extra curricular activity. Red Mountain is full of natural and unnatural obstacles to play with... old mining tunnels weaving through the mountain's innards, rock quarries providing an amphitheatre of double drops, and an abandoned industrial building that makes for some quality billygoating.

Meanwhile, the hilly town of Rossland is an urban playground for jibbers alike, with roofs, rails, and roadgaps just askin' to be hit. Only in Rossland can you slide rails in a stranger's yard... late at night, without permission... while that stranger casually watches you from their window above. That part might worry Britney, but it was all good with us.

Check out the VIDEO. (Sorry, video currently offline, back soon hopefully).