Alpine February Update
Devo Team:
Devos had a fantastic January!
While we typically count on plenty of powder days this time of year, the lighter snowfall gave us a great opportunity to really dial in our fundamentals. The athletes made the most of every session, putting in focused work on Stance & Balance, Edging, and Pressure. It was awesome to see their progress and enthusiasm from week to week.
The clear favorite drill for January? Whirly Birds! The kids couldn’t get enough of it, and it paid off with improved balance, and edge awareness.
Our race focus this month was Giant Slalom (GS), and we wrapped up January with the athletes favorite Cookie Cup on the final weekend. The energy was high, and the skiing was impressive across the board!
Our fastest Cookie Cup racers were:
- Girls: Annabelle K, Olivia R, Priya G, Seneca W
- Boys: Mikk E, Harvey V, Leo D, Luke L
The Devo YSL team had a GS race at Brighton and below are the medal winners:
- U8 Girls: Rori M (1st), Skye W (3rd), Lucy P (4th)
- U10 Girls: Annabelle K (2nd), Priya G (10th)
- U8 Boys: Leo P (8th)
- U10 Boys: Mikk E (2nd), Kenta R (6th)
Great job to all our Devos athletes for their hard work and improvement this month. We’re excited to carry this momentum into February!
~ Jason Stone, Head Devo Coach
U10 JFAST:
JFAST has been hard at work the last couple of weeks! We had a fantastic weekend at Brighton for the YSL race at the end of January, featuring a one-day Giant Slalom event and our U10 athletes truly shined!
Every racer skied with focus, and confidence and we’re proud of how much improvement we’re seeing across the group. Several JFAST athletes earned top-10 finishes, highlighted by an outstanding 1st place finish in the U10 boys division by Bond Antablin. We also had two more U10 boys ski their way into 5th and 10th place, a huge accomplishment in a competitive field. Along with that, we had a U10 girl finish in the top 10 as well, and a highlight of Penny Brower finishing in 2nd place for the U12 girls!!
Beyond the results, what stood out most was the effort, and positive attitudes our athletes brought to race day. The training the group has been putting in each week is clearly paying off, and it was great to see their hard work come together on race day!
As we head into the heart of the race season, the team has been training hard and building momentum. We’re excited to carry this energy into our next race at UOP this weekend!
~ Chloe Lavlle, Head U10 Jfast Coach
U12 JFAST February Update:
While the winter season may have gotten off to a leisurely start, our JFAST athletes have been making up for lost time with an action-packed February! Despite the lingering high pressure, our team has turned the lack of fresh powder into a golden opportunity for high-intensity training.
Dominating the South Series The competition season kicked off with a bang in late January at the Utah Olympic Park (UOP). Our SBSEF athletes truly rose to the occasion, delivering a flurry of podium finishes across the board. We kept that momentum rolling right into the Snowbird GS events two weeks later, where the team continued to showcase their hard work and speed.
Congratulations to all podium finishers at the 1st two south series races.
UOP Slaloms
- U12 Girls: Tate A (1st), Abbie Y (3rd), Olive B (4th & 5th), Violet L (5th), Elka K (4th)
- U10 Boys: Oliver D (5th)
- U12 Boys: Chace K (Double Gold! 1st & 1st), Callum A (3rd & 5th), Bodhi S (5th & 3rd)
Snowbird GS
- U12 Girls: Tate A (1st), Abbie Y (3rd & 1st), Olive B (4th)
- U10 Boys: Wyatt F (4th), Niam S (3rd)
- U12 Boys: Lukas S (2nd & 5th), Cro C (5th)
More Than Just Gates: At JFAST, we pride ourselves on building “all-around” skiers, and some of our athletes are taking that mission to heart! A massive “hat tip” to Jett F for winning the IFSA U12 Freeride competition at Snowbird, and to the powerhouse sibling duo Hank and Kai H for their impressive podium results in slopestyle this winter.
Athlete Spotlight: Tagg N Finally, we want to give a special shout-out to one of our newest JFAST members, Tagg N. Tagg has been putting in the work, and the results are speaking for themselves! The coaching staff was incredibly impressed by his confidence and grit during the Snowbird GS races. His focus during training translates into huge strides on the course. Keep it up, Tagg!
~ Bo Maciejko, Head Jfast Coach & Alpine Director
U14 Team:
Team U14 had an incredible SG training block over the last 3 weeks- that included 3 SG races in Jackson for 2nd year U14’s, and Speed Camp in the same venue for first year U14’s. Quinn W. led the way at the races with 3 podium finishes! Norah C. Eva W. and Ledger E. each had top 15 finishes within the U14 group. At Speed Camp, Snowbird had 21 first year U14’s learning to jump and working through terrain built to build skills. We had 3 athletes who won awards for being the most improved within their groups. Brothers Ryler and Colt P., along with Norah B. each got a coveted IMD hat for the progress that they made in camp.
This set us up for our SG qualifying races in Tamarack where our girls did exceptionally well! Norah C. Alba C. and Eva W. each had top 30 finishes in soft, spring like conditions. Unfortunately for the boys, wet snow ensued- and the SG races were cancelled after a foot of new snow. We will look towards an opportunity to reschedule the SG for the boys, while we train for our last qualifying event in Park City.
Our February Skier of the Month goes to Norah C.! With a top 5 finish within U14’s in the Jackson SG’s, Norah finished with an impressive 2nd, 4th and 13th at our qualifier in Tamarack! This sets Norah up well for our Championship events. Norah loves to go fast! Congratulations Norah!
~ Ben Reeder, Head U14 Coach
U16 Team:
Team U16 is ready and excited for all that February has brought us. Despite the challenges presented by low snow conditions, the team has maximized the available opportunities for training at home, as well as leveraged the collaboration among members of the SBSEF team.
In mid-January, Axl D and Cedar K traveled with Ali to Sunday River, Maine, and Burke Mountain, Vermont, for the U16 NPS project. This provided a valuable opportunity to observe the athletic development approaches and long-term success strategies employed by other top U16 athletes across the country.
Concurrently with their travel to the East, the team competed in the Wes Baron Memorial SG races in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. A notable achievement was Jack W’s third-place finish in the first SG race.
Due to the current winter, the Western Region Soldier Mountain SG camp has been canceled, and the IMD SG qualifiers have been rescheduled to the Laura Flood series. We are exceptionally appreciative of the extended training block at home, which allows for a strategic pause to implement changes in our skiing technique, aimed at optimizing performance for the remainder of the season.
~ Ali Spencer, Head U16 Coach
FIS Team:
Hard to believe we have moved into the 2nd half of the season. With all the challenges due to conditions around the West, the FIS group has had a really productive and full 2025-2026 winter thus far. Being flexible and not planning too far ahead has been key. Although plans have changed some, our group has had 17 races in both Elite and Devo series and still have had time to train. The lack of snow at home has helped create fantastic training conditions at both Snowbird and the UOP. The last 2 weeks of January gave us an outstanding training block in SL, GS, SG and DH. This allowed us to head out to the Mammoth Speed Series (DH/SG) feeling much more confident. All our athletes returned with a new appreciation for speed (Some had never run Downhill before) and valuable insight into gliding and terrain. Talise Larsh also returned with her first FIS podium (3rd in SG)! We are looking forward to our next series which is at Snowbird and the UOP next week.
– Kevin Chaffee, Head FIS Coach
Masters:
The Masters group has really turned into a very visible part of the SBSEF U18+ program. The group has grown substantially during the season. Not just in numbers, but passion and enthusiasm. It is great to see the willingness to learn, to improve, and to help out in setting up our sessions. Some of the participants aren’t even interested in actually racing, they just are using race training to get better at skiing, and it’s working. Of course, we also have some very accomplished and internationally ranked masters like Richard Slabinski (Slabby) who is “all in” and headed to Europe to do some racing later this month. Whatever the ability level and commitment level, It is a group that is there for the love of the game.
~ Kevin Chaffee