“I knew I had to come bring everything I have, plus some,” Colten said moments after securing the gold. “For a few months I’ve been training as hard as I could, and I knew I had to come out here and stomp the best run of my life, and that’s just what I did. I’ve never rode so good in my life. I’m so pumped right now I can’t even breathe.”
Many fans at Buttermilk were surprised to see Colten competing in finals at all after a big fall in his second run during Heat 1 of the elimination round: Moore let go of a double grab in mid-air and came crashing into the landing away from his sled, ducking his head and flipping onto his back just in time to prevent a serious injury, a testament to the aerial awareness he’s developed while training over a foam pit and in more than a decade of experience as an ATV quad rider. He walked away from the crash and came riding into finals as if it had never happened.