Our Freeride teams concluded a successful season with the Junior Freeride Championships at Kicking Horse, British Columbia, earlier in the month. The top 45 girls and top 60 boys in each age group, equivalent to roughly 8% of the registered athletes in region 2,  which includes all of North and South America, were invited to compete in the championship event. We had 3 U19 athletes and 7 U15 athletes qualify and compete at championships this year, which is a significant increase over previous seasons. This was a first-time championships experience for the majority of the athletes, and everyone had a great week and learned a lot about competing at the highest level of the sport. The highlight of the competition was graduating senior Lucas B showing excellent skiing and creative line choices in both his qualifying and finals runs, earning a 15th-place finish in the highly competitive U19 boys field. Congratulations, Lucas, on a great junior freeride career,  and we’re looking forward to following along as you move into adult competition. 

Also of note, former SBSEF athlete Hannah Baldwin qualified for the Freeride World Tour this season. Congratulations, Hannah, and we’re looking forward to watching you compete and represent Little Cottonwood Canyon on freeride’s biggest stage next winter. 

New this season, the Intermountain Regional Championships at Solitude was a great season finale competition, and gave many new athletes their first 2-run format competition experience. We had over 40 SBSEF athletes compete between both age groups, with many outstanding performances. Highlights are below. 

  • U12 Girls: Lucy P 4th 
  • U12 Boys: Crew W 2nd, Mars B 4th
  • U15 Girls: Sabrina H 3rd, Linnea S 5th
  • U15 Boys: Gavin S 2nd, Divy S  5th
  • U19 Girls: Samantha R 1st, Josie H 3rd, Brooke C 4th, Ruby C 5th
  • U19 Boys: Sebastian F 4th, Canyon W 5th

Congratulations to all SBSEF athletes on a great season of training and competition. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication this season and for maintaining a positive attitude and great morale despite the less-than-ideal snow conditions. 

Finally, a huge thank you goes out to our parents coordinators, Margaret Baldwin, Kristy Whiteside, Nicole Nell, and Mark Nell. Thank you for all your hard work supporting the coaches and athletes this season. We would also like to thank every parent for their support of our program and coaches this season. We appreciate you all. 

~ Davin Grapentine, Freeride Director

Posted in Freeride