ALPINE U16 UPDATE:
The challenges of Little Cottonwood Canyon have begun, however, that has not stopped the U16 group from having some great powder days, some great training, and some great racing this past month. Holiday Camp was a huge success with a lot of good quality training which greatly helped our group as they started in their first Regional Championship qualifiers on their home hill.

In good Snowbird fashion it of course waited to snow just as the series began. That however did not keep Alta Brower from moving up 17 places and August Menell from moving up 15 and Evan Easley moving up 13 places in the snowy GS. Nearly all of our U16s had good or great SL races. In the girl’s races, Alta Brower moved up 10 and 12 places while Elizabeth Mackay, Georgia Mikell, and Blake Larsen all moved up a minimum of 6 spots. The boys had some equally good results with August Menell moving up 16 places and Everet Easley moving up 11.

It was Halle Hipple who stole the show with a 7th place finish in the GS and going from 52nd to 15th in the first SL and 52nd to 7th in the 2nd SL. Congratulations to Halle for winning the cowbell of the month for January.

With 13 of our 18 skiers earning World Cup points in their quest for champs in Alaska it was a great series for us!

Up next the U16s will head to Jackson Hole to race 3 Super G’s at the end of the month. Should be a fun and exciting series as well.  More soon and more cowbell!!!

~ Fritz Wood
U16 Head Coach

DEVO TEAM UPDATE:

Devos is off to a great start! We have enjoyed the powder weekends January has provided. This weekend we will be preparing for next weekend’s Cookie Cup! Come on out and watch these new team members rip up Bryce’s Run on January 27 & 28.

ALPINE U14 UPDATE:

Snowbird’s Team U14 came back from cold temperatures and really impressive results in Jackson for our first qualifier. With falling snow and wind blowing sideways, the Snowbird athletes were well prepared for this event. Athletes did an incredible job cheering each other on, carrying coats for each other, and slipping snow out of the track for each other. Parents did a great job supporting the coaching staff with lunches, and offering to help in any way. Even with the most impressive results I have seen on this team with the U14’s, it was the way our team worked together that made me the most proud.

Snowbird athletes stood on every single podium this weekend! Elizabeth Eden was 2nd in the GS, 4th in the first SL, and 3rd in the second SL qualifier. Axl Dain had a fourth-place finish in the GS and a victory in the second SL race. Cedric Sullivan finished 3rd in the GS, 3rd in the first SL, and 2nd in the second day of SL.

Other impressive finishes for the weekend include a 6th and 7th place finish in SL for Cedar Knight, 8th and 10th for Vonn Kunigenas, 13th for Heidi Baudendistel, 11th for Arlo Hochman, 12th for Axl (even with a hike!), 9th place for Kyla Horsley. In the GS, our boys also finished 9th- Cedar Knight- 11th- Vonn Kunigenas, 12th- Arlo Hochman, 13th- Jack Webster– the boys are stacked!

As each run scores points towards championship qualification this year, Hannah MacReynolds and Zachary Carnett both had impressive runs finishing 10th on a run. Our goal going into this race was for each athlete to put down their fastest training runs on race day. As Coach Chip Knight said in one of our meetings, these athletes far exceeded that expectation!

Speci

Special shoutout goes to Cedric Sullivan! His results this weekend won him the Overall for this series. As a first-year U14, this is an incredible accomplishment. Cedric has a knack for the fall-line, and has really fast feet. His ability to shorten his arc and get off the ski quickly will give him a lot of success in the future. Way to go Cedric!

– Ben Reeder
U14 Head Coach

JFAST TEAM UPDATE:

The U10, U12, and U14 JFAST crew had their first south series race this week at Snowbird. The series was two GS’s and started with girls racing on Wednesday followed by the boys on Thursday. In Wednesday’s race, athletes dealt with intermittent blizzard-like conditions, biting winds, and 9 inches of new snow. Thursday’s race began with a canyon closure, and because of all the new snow, course conditions resembled that of a luge course. Overall it was a typical race in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Despite these difficult conditions, SBSEF athletes skied remarkably well.

U10 podiumGirls – Elka 

Kirner 4th, 5th Olive Brower 5th
Boys – Forest Knight 3rd Chace Kunigenas 4th, 3rd

U12 Podium
Girls – Farah Kaukab 5th, 4th
Boys – Quinn Webster 1st

A Jfast shout-out goes to Will Fallis and Emma Johnson. Both athletes skied outstanding this week. Will is an SBSEF freeride athlete who has decided to try his hand at racing this year. In his first race series, Will ended up in 15th in the first race and 22nd in the second. Emma was just off the podium in both races, earning a pair 6th places. These two athletes have been working hard and extremely focused during training which has led to some impressive results.

The next South Series race, two slaloms, is scheduled for February 3-4 at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City. A race announcement should be out soon.

~ Bo Maciejko
Alpine Director & Jfast Head Coach

FIS TEAM UPDATE:
The FIS Team has had their competition schedule pivot and change for every event thus far. Our home FIS race was canceled, and will most likely be rescheduled up North.
They are excited about training on the new West Peak at the UOP. More updates to come when they get a few more race starts!
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