It's been about five days of madness, but with the U.S. Freeskiing Nationals concluding here at Snowbird, I've finally got a chance to breathe and tell the Powdermag.com readers all about it.

After spending a couple of days recovering from the whirlwind tour in Vegas, Gabe and I spent some time soaking up the more relaxed culture of Utah. Relaxed is, of course, a relative term -- when you consider the insanity that went on today in the final round of competition on North Baldy.

Enak Gavaggio trounced the field in skiercross on Thursday and Friday, providing a great show that only foreshadowed the huckfest to come during the weekend.

Both days of the big mountain competition saw absolutely perfect conditions. Bluebird skies prevailed, while evenly cool temperatures kept competitors comfortable and snow conditions excellent. Perfect visibility and great snow came together to encourage the freeskiing community to go big.

Tour leaders, including Guerlain Chicherit, Pierre Yves-LeBlanc, and Hugo Harrisson hucked huge and left the crowd in awe. All told, the competition couldn't have come off any better -- minimal injuries and pro-level freeskiing meant this weekend is destined to be one of the highlights of the year.

I'm out to Europe for a few days skiing with the Francais, and Gabe is rolling the Tour out to Colorado. He'll be the point man for online coverage for a couple of weeks until I can rejoin everyone for more fun in California. See ya next time! --J.R.