Mountain Games Athlete Team member wins second dual slalom title in Minturn

Dani Johnson returned to the top step of the dual slalom podium on Saturday.

The GoPro Mountain Games Athlete Team member came back from a first-round crash to unseat Friday’s top qualifier, Sophie Allen, and win the fourth-annual event for the second time.

“Today was really good,” said Johnson, who won the inaugural event in 2022, was third in 2023 and finished with the silver last year. “I knew it was going to be a battle, but you kind of just have to believe in yourself. It’s a ‘why not me’ moment. And so, I said it’s my day.”

“This is always one of my favorite races for the year — it was a super great day out there,” said Allen, the bronze medalist from a year ago. “The dirt was honestly not as bad as I thought it would be.”

Overnight rain made for perfection conditions during the amateur finals and pro practice session. Storms stayed away and the sun dried up the dirt as the afternoon wore on. Riders completed a run on both sides of the track in each round, with the fastest combined time advancing. Johnson wiped out on a high loose turn during her first-round run, which she completed by herself because she was the second-fastest qualifier.

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“That was a little rattling, so we had to quickly pull it together and just do the job,” she said. In the first run of the final, Johnson gapped Allen on the rhythm rollers at the bottom of the course to take a 0.48-second lead into the second lap.

“You kind of want to defend your lead but at the same time you don’t want it to be close enough that you question it,” Johnson said of her mindset as she climbed back up to the top one last time. “So, I was going to fight just as hard as the first round.”

While Allen was able to pull even at the bottom during the last run, Johnson’s power coming over the final gradual rise was too much.

“I can’t complain,” Allen said. “Had some really clean runs. Made a little bit of mistakes in the final — wish I got the little rhythm section at the end better, but I’m really stoked. I lost to someone I love to race against and it was still so close.”

On the men’s side, it wasn’t so close.

Denver rider Kenny Gustafson — who posted the fastest qualifier by almost three seconds — was untouchable over the two-day event. The former BMX pro used his powerful burst of speed and bump riding skills to put up a 1.07-second gap on Eagle’s Alexander Blanar in the first of two final runs. Gustafson didn’t leave anything to chance in the second trip down the Minturn Bike Park course, scorching the gradually drying dust to claim his first Mountain Games crown.

“I’ve had great qualifying results the past couple years and then come finals day, not performed well, so happy to qualify well yesterday and take it to the finish today,” said Gustafson, who came up on Sunday to nail down his approach. Feeling the conditions change, he opted to let a little air out of his tires prior to the semifinals.

“From the first lap of finals to the last was completely different conditions,” he said.

Grant Lampson of Grand Junction rounded out the podium as Mikey Haderer — who was doing double duty as the race’s public address announcer — settled for fourth after an unfortunate mechanical. Avon’s Gavin Goike placed eighth and Minturn rider Van Cregon took 11th. Celia Ferguson was the top local in the women’s pro division, coming in sixth. Eagle County riders picked up more podiums in the amateur event, which was moved up to a 9:45 a.m. start due to weather forecasts.

Adam Schrader and Blaise Underhill went 1-2 in the boys U10 while Ani Macomber took the girls crown. Kate Dunn-Massey and Sarah Evans nabbed the top-2 spots in the women’s 19-and-over category while Vail’s Shannon Crockford and Douglas Johnson grabbed respective first and third-place finishes in the sport men 30-49 categories.

The action at the Minturn Bike Park wrapped up Friday evening with the jump jam.

Johnson and Allen will be seeing each other in the near future. Both are slated to compete at the Crankworx Whistler stop of the World Tour in August. Meanwhile, Gustafson is prepping for the national dual and downhill championships as well as the pump track world championships in Switzerland in September. All three athletes hope to return to Minturn next year.

“It’s fun having this event so close to home,” Gustafson said.

“Super fun racing with all my friends; every year it’s like a little reunion,” added Allen. “I hope this event keeps going because it’s such a good time and a great track. Everyone has such good vibes.”