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Story by Gary Mueller But as the world’s top skiers fell one after another to Blouw throughout the day, the crowd began to sense he might be able to actually beat the World Champ. And beat him he did, as Blouw won two out of three times down the stretch to win the National Championship and pull off the biggest upset in Footstock history.
As the skiers arrived at the site Saturday morning, they found the conditions were better suited for duck hunting than for barefooting. Overcast and only 48 degrees, a steady north wind wreaked havoc on the one-on-one, double elimination competition, making the step-off area, at times, look more like a demolition derby than a world class barefoot championship. Dozens of veteran skiers struggled with their step-offs, as top-seeded barefooters like JJ Link, and current World Overall Women’s Champion, Elaine Heller received early losses in the Open Division after uncharacteristically short runs in the cold and rough water conditions. The biggest upset of the day however came when tiny 12-year old Nick Ruchti beat the fifth-seeded skier, John DeBelak, after DeBelak caught a toe. “I just wasn’t paying attention to the waves in front of me,” explained a stunned DeBelak. “I was thinking ahead to the far turn and it cost me.” Besides the brutal north wind, the cold also caught many of the competitors off guard.
DeVilliers was just one of a dozen world class barefooters from warm weather climates who donned every piece of clothing possible to stay warm. “This is the coldest and roughest, I have seen it here in 10 years,” described Tournament Organizer, Gary Mueller. “There were a lot of missed step-offs and extremely short runs. The first eight didn’t happen until 2:30 in the afternoon Saturday-which is a record.” The day came to a blustery end with the crowning of the Senior Division champion Saturday night, as Jon DeBelak outlasted Ron Blouw and Rob Christiansen to take home his second straight title.
The conditions Sunday, however, couldn’t have been more different. With the sun blazing, and not a breath of wind, the famed mile and a half course turned to glass, making long runs the order of the day. Favorites Pete Fleck, Lucas Twelmyer, Josh Bruns, Jon DeBelak, Chad Mietz, and JJ Link all skied more than a dozen eights each throughout the day to finish in the final eight.
Of course, the championship didn’t come easy. After stunning the crowd by knocking out defending champ, St Onge in the semi-finals with one of the longest runs of the day, an undefeated Blouw lost to St Onge in the first of two championship runs, setting up a run-off to decide the National Endurance title. A run-off that Blouw won easily, as an exhausted St Onge fell in the boat waves after going only an eight and a half. The day was also highlighted by the strong showing of several local skiers. Greg Fatla, Jacob Weber and Joe Heilman all put in big runs to finish in the Sweet Sixteen. While Bucky Dailey and Gary Mueller put in consistently solid performances rounding out the top 25. The Juniors and Women’s Divisions also crowned new champions on Sunday as Pierce Pluemer and Elaine Heller took their respective titles. Overall 135 skiers from 8 states and 2 countries competed at Footstock and over 235 runs were pulled, making it the largest and busiest two-day barefoot tournament in the world. “It was an amazing championship,” described Tournament Director, Jacob Weber. “Even with the challenges of the weather and the bad economy, we had a huge turnout. There was some great drama for the fans down the stretch. And overall, the tournament couldn’t have run smoother. The volunteers from the community and the Crandon Water Shows did a fantastic job. And they proved again why Footstock is the greatest barefoot competition in the world.” Official Results
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Crandon,
Wisconsin – At the start of the day Sunday, nobody would have ever predicted
the final pairing at Footstock would be little known upstart, Ron Bl
The
upset was just one of many surprises that marked the weekend’s two-day
championship and made it one of the most memorable ever. The biggest
surprise of the weekend, however, came in the form of the weather.
“This
is as cold as it gets in the winter where I am from,” described South
African World Team skier, Andre DeVilliers, who was still suffering from jet
lag at the start of the competition. “We would never barefoot on a day like
this back at home.”
