Andrew Pollard is a skier from Alta, Utah. He had the good luck to grow up skiing the powder of the Wasatch. Through all his formative years he grew up skiing on the SBSEF Freeride team at Alta and Snowbird. These mountains and this program gave him the skills to follow his dream of competing in freeride internationally on the Freeride World Tour.  Although the competition skiing takes up a lot of his winter, his highlight every season when he gets to spend time at home and coach the kids on the ski team now.

"It is the coolest experience ever to get to share what I have learned in the mountains and from my coaches and be able to pass it on to the next generation. The amazing athletes that I get to coach inspire me to be the best athlete I can be. Seeing the athletes progress throughout the season, is way more rewarding than any result."

Born and raised in Sandy, Utah I grew up with the mountains and like many with this upbringing, I quickly gained a deep love for skiing. I eventually joined the AltaBird Freeride team at 12, growing up with and traveling the west to compete with the team until I was 18 on the JFT, and IFSA Jr. Series until I moved on to filming, photoshoots, and the Freeride World Qualifiers to continue my ski career.

The SBSEF coaches I work with now were some of the coaches I worked with then, a young kid who was afraid of tree skiing, those coaches made me the skier and the person I am today.

Grateful for the opportunity to be that coach for these athletes and show them what the mountains, community, and sport can do for their lives. Giving back to the community that raised me means the world.

Syd Ricketts grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her parents instilled an intense love for the outdoors at an early age, going skiing, rafting, biking, etc from the age of 3 years old. Sydney found her true love and calling when she started skiing for the AltaBird Freeride team as a teenager, and from there she continued on to the Freeride World Qualifiers Tour, placing in the top 10 overall every year. Currently, she is moving on from the competition side and giving back to the Freeride community by coaching the next generation of skiers while continuing to follow her own dreams of making it as a professional in the ski industry.

Will Dujardin is getting into his 4th year with the AltaBird Freeride Program after 11 years coaching junior freeride in Crested Butte, CO.  Will incorporates 9 years of competition experience on the Freeskiing World Tour, Subaru Freeride Series, and Freeride World Qualifier Series into coaching the next generations of competitive athletes and lifelong skiers and riders.  While competitive accolades are nice and provide good benchmarks to measure progression, Will recognizes that junior freeride offers many pathways to success in skiing and riding, whether professionally or otherwise, for the rest of our lives.  Will would look to the storied success of the AltaBird program to emulate back in CB and now looks forward to carrying on the spirit of freeride at AltaBird here in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Chuck Loeffler grew up in Denver Co with skier parents who raised him and his sister on skis. He started competing in Freestyle Mogul skiing at age 12. After high school, he lived in Winter Park, Breckenridge, and then Telluride. During that time he earned a NorAm spot and then left to compete on the Pro Mogul tour for 2.5 years. After a couple of knee surgeries, he moved to Salt Lake City to ski Little Cottonwood Canyon and for the next decade spent 4 months a year skiing and the other 8 months on the Pacific Ocean commercial fishing and crabbing. During that time he started competing in Big Mountain Freeskiing and earned a spot on the world tour for a few years. Towards the end of his competition days, he was a judge on the world tour. He also started coaching the new Snowbird Freeride team with Rob Greener and coached for the next 9 years. He took 3 years off to raise his 2 kids at home. In that time he was an occasional judge on the Jr Freeride tour. This year will be his 4th year back coaching the AltaBird Freeride team. Now his kids are 8 and 10 and ski on the SBSEF Transition and JFast race teams. Random fact, Chuck is a huge archery nerd who has been building bows and arrows for decades and holds 4 world records in the Primitive class of flight archery (distance) shooting bows and arrows he made.

I grew up in Truckee, CA, and competed in Jr Freeride events both Regionally and Nationally. I did well in these events but more importantly, had fun and made lifelong friends. I moved to Salt Lake City for college and graduated in the Summer of 2022 with a degree in Communication. While working towards my degree, I started a Freeride club at the University and made into the Freeride World Tour. I spent 3 winters on tour, earning Rookie of the Year and a few podiums overall. For the 2023-24 season, I have chosen to chase other dreams including filming and content creation as a freeride athlete, while coaching.

Henry is a lifelong skier born and raised in Salt Lake City. He has been doing freeride comps since age 16, and was an alpine racer before that. Henry has been coaching freeride between SLC, and Queenstown in New Zealand for the last 2 years, or 5 winter seasons. Henry likes to ski more than anything else in the world and is super happy snow skiing and jumping off rocks.

Howdy! I'm Sarah Gibbs and I coached with the Devo team for a fun 4 years, and now I'm having more fun with the Freeride team. My time in the Cottonwood Canyons started at birth and my time with the SBSEF crew has been more than half my life minus a few years of undergrad in Chicago. My favorite part about skiing is continuously developing new skills and techniques to go faster and have an even better time on Great Scott or Who Dunnit. My favorite part about coaching for the SBSEF team has always been breaking new ground for the skiers in their terrain ability and developing edge control and, my ultimate favorite- being a part of the athletes'  "aha" moment when some type of skill clicks. I can't wait for the upcoming season to start! 

Hey there, my name is Sarah Osterloh. I started skiing as soon as I could walk. I Grew up in Little Cottonwood Canyon, learning everything I know from my ex-ski bum dad. While I have dabbled in ski competitions, my specialty is free-skiing, finding creative lines down difficult mountain areas, and just having a good time. I tend to be a big goofball on the hill, so I always emphasize having fun to make it the best ski experience!

Hello! My Name is Oz. I am a Colorado native, have been skiing from age two, and I have yet to be bored by it - it’s my favorite thing to do. I grew up skiing in Crested Butte and was a member of the Mountain Sports Team throughout middle and high school. The network of friends I made through skiing and competing became what I call my “freeride family.” These relationships led me to Salt Lake City to continue my education and be close to skiing. I maximized my time skiing at Alta and Snowbird through college and graduated from Westminster in 2020. I believe skiing and the community that is generated create great tools for moving through life. I am very excited for the season, and I look forward to sharing the tools I’ve learned with the next generation!

I grew up in Colorado and started skiing as soon as I could walk. I joined the Winter Park Big Mountain team at age 12 and competed all over till age 18. I competed in the IFSA junior events and was able to make it to the Junior World Championships in Austria in 2018. I moved to Utah for college at the University of Utah. My first two years were getting to know the Wasatch and loving skiing here. During these years I was also able to help coach the Winter Park Team when they came for the Snowbird comps. I am currently working on filming, backcountry skiing, and competing in the Freeride World Qualifiers.

This will be my first year as a coach and I am stoked to help out and spread my knowledge. I look forward to coaching all these awesome rippers and helping them improve in their skiing while having a good time. I also look forward to working with the girls on the team and helping them gain confidence in their skiing and shredding with a girl crew.

Hello everyone! I am Rowan Harden I grew up in Park City UT where I was a former athlete on the PC freestyle team until I joined the Altabird team in high school. Some of the best times I have ever had on the mountain were with the Altabird team and I am excited to share those memories going forward as a coach. When I am not coaching I spend my time guiding rivers in  California, mountain biking, and fly fishing. I am super stoked to spend another winter with  Altabird and help athletes reach their goals.

I was born and raised in Boulder Colorado but moved out to Salt Lake almost five years ago to pursue a degree in biochemistry from the University of Utah. My parents introduced me to skiing when I was 2 and put me on the ski team when I was 6. At age 8, I switched to nordic ski racing which I continued throughout junior high. In high school, I decided to swap the uphill for more downhill and began training gates and competing in freeride. My love for freeride as a sport and community continues to grow as I expand my passion into coaching and continue competing on the Freeride World Qualifier circuit.

In addition to skiing, I grew up spending the warmer months on the river and now spend my summers guiding on various rivers throughout Oregon, Utah, California and Idaho. Other passions of mine include trail running, mountain biking and climbing.

Hi I’m Seamus I’m from Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I moved to Colorado for high school and attended the Vail ski school.  After high school, I’ve continued to be a part of ski teams by coaching since 2016.  I live for powder skiing and good times with friends and family.

Courtney Smith began skiing when she was three years old and has never stopped! She grew up spending every weekend in an RV parked at Stevens Pass WA. In her early teens she became a ski school instructor and began competing in IFSA junior competitions. Courtney attended Gonzaga University. While there, she established the Gonzaga Freeride Team and was the head coach. For the last two seasons Courtney has coached for the Stevens Pass junior Freeride team. She has also helped direct the IFSA Pacific Northwest region. Courtney currently competes in the FWQ Series and is excited to keep pushing herself as an athlete. She is a PSIA-certified instructor, IFSA level 200 coach, IFSA judge, and IFSA technical director. She looks forward to supporting the next generations of Freeriders.