March Alpine Update

ALPINE U16 UPDATE:

As the snow flies so do the U16 Alpine athletes!  It’s always a fun and exciting time of the season when we race our last of the qualifying races, this year it just happened to be on the wicked “Big Hill” of the UOP.

Fortunately the U16 team got a number of days of SG on the Big Hill prior to our last showdown which proved to be invaluable in terms of building confidence. Throughout the week the Big Hill showed just how difficult and demanding it truly is as both genders had few athletes making big leaps in start vs finish positions, thus a move of 5 or more was considered good.

The series started off with the ladies, who unfortunately had the task of setting up approx 200 rolls of B net prior to their training run.  Mia Pagano had three sold races, moving up 5 in all of them.  Blake Larsen had a great third race going from 37 to 30th, Georgia Mikell had a big weekend where she moved up 9 places in two of the races and 10 places in the other, and Halle Hipple once again found herself upon the podium with a 4th and and a 2nd as well as a big crash!

The sun was out for the guys races and it could not have been better Super G racing conditions.  Calvin Cui led the charge on the first race with an awesome 16th place and followed it the next race with a 21st.  Sebe Baudendistel had a good first race where he moved up 12 places while August Mennell had three good races where he moved up 9 places twice and 7 places in the other.  The Easley’s continued their brotherly battle finishing no fewer than 2 and and no more than 4 places apart with Everet moving up 7 places in the first race and Evan moving up 6 in the third.  The biggest leap of our team and maybe even of the entire men’s field goes to Will Butterworth who proved to himself he can indeed ski among the faster IMD boys by going from 36th to 22nd for a move of 14 place in the last race!

After all the qualifying series this season Halle Hipple, Quinn Costello, Molly Jarvie, Fletcher Paulman, Devon Harman, and Calvin Cui have skied their way onto the 2024 U16 IMD Championship team where they will compete among the best skiers in the west at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood Alaska March 18th-22nd.

Headed to Big Sky and Bridger Bowl, MT for the Tri Divisional Championship March 21st-24th are Blake Larsen, Alta Brower, MIa Pagano, Sebe Baudendistel, Will Butterworth, Everet Easley, and August Menell.  With the way this group of Tri Div skiers has been skiing there is no question they can be among the fattest skiers there!

Once both teams are back from their championship series we have one final push of training before the quest for the Snow Cup, April 6th-9th.

Cowbell of the month rings to Mia Pagano and August Mennell for being the only two who moved up in all 3 of the SG races on the Big Hill!!!

ALPINE FIS UPDATE:

With 50 degree temps expected in Gad Valley it’s starting to feel like spring is back at the Bird.  Seems like the groundhog had good intuition this year. And as we approach the end of March, it is hard to believe that the end to another season is right around the corner.

As Bridger mentioned, it’s championship season…. The time when we find out if all that effort, during 5 months of blood sweat and curses at dryland, or the late nights catching up on homework, or the early mornings where you stripped down every run even though there was no timing, was worth it or not… Just kidding.

Don’t get me wrong, qualifying for a championship event like U18’s or the U.S. National Championships is a cool achievement and something we generally all shoot for as a marker for success. But not to be a bummer, the unsatisfying reality at the FIS level is, most who compete at this level will not qualify for one of these events. So, what have we gained by participating in this spo

rt if after our first, or third or fifth season of FIS racing has culminated in placing X at a u18’s or U.S. Nationals?

The cheeky answer is: SO Much! This season I have seen so much growth from the athletes in our group, as skiers, yes, but as people, even more so. I’ve seen them work together as a team, respected each other and their coaches, supported each other in s

uccess and in failure, and pushed up against and past their own fears and boundaries this season.

 So, while I am proud that we had Gus Dain represent SBSEF at U18’s and the incredible effort to do so, or Avery Costello for snagging her first FIS Podium at Western Region Jr. Champs, it’s been the little wins along the way this season that in my view have been much more rewarding!

~ Brennan Rubie
Head FIS Coach

ALPINE JFAST UPDATE:

SBSEF qualified a team of 24 athletes for the Intermountain U12 Championships last weekend. The event (GS, SL, PSL) was hosted at Tamarack Resort in McCall, Idaho (March 15-17). The event was a highlight of the season so far for these SBSEF Athletes.

Here are some of the highlights from the weekend:

Girls:

• Nora Comey 9th GS, 4th SL, 1st PSL
• Elka Kirner 7th GS (U10), 10th PSL (U10)
• Olive Brower 9th GS (U10)
• Violet Loefler 6th SL (U10)
• Abbie Young 7th SL (U10) 9th PSL (U10)

Boys:

• Quinn Webster 2nd GS, 1st SL, 2nd PSL, Overall Men’s Winner
• Gage Swanwick 4th SL – unbelievable second run
• Forest Knight 2nd GS (U10)
• Chace Kunigenas 2nd PSL (U10)
• Gavin Kavanaugh 3rd GS (U10),  4th SL (U10), 7th (PSL)

A couple of team shoutouts are in order. First, Farah Kakaub sadly was unable to join us as she suffered a concussion during training the week prior. She was deeply missed at the race. Secondly, Chace Kunigenas had a stellar first run of slalom, but had straddled a gate that was not caught by race officials. Chace had the integrity and sportsmanship to put himself on the disqualification list. This speaks volumes about Chace’s character, and we as a team could not be more proud of him.

March so far has been outstanding for SBSEF athletes, but we are not done yet. Next weekend (March 23, 24) The SBSEF finals team heads to Sundance for a GS and an SL. The following weekend the Second year U12’s will take on the U14’s at the Grand Targhee Spring Fling (March 29 – 31) and the rest of the group will take on the Devo and Freeride crew at the Good Vibes only freeride comp (March 30th).

~ Bo Maciejko
SBSEF Alpine Director, Head Jfast Coach

ALPINE DEVO UPDATE:

It’s hard to believe we are approaching the end of another season. In March Devos work on Freeride and the athletes love it.  We end our Freeride block with our Good Vibes Only Freeride Comp in Rasta chutes on March 30th and 31st.  We have been working on Technique, Control, Fluidity, Line Choice, Style and Energy.  With the awesome snow this past month, many Devos are experiencing hiking Baldy or getting into Get Serious Chutes for the first time.  We work hard in January and February and play hard in March!

YSL Finals were at Snowbasin on March 9th and 10th.  Slalom was on Saturday and GS on Sunday.  Finals are always a good time.  It’s awesome to see the excitement and the athletes giving it their best.  Some of our results are below:

• Sam Norton U10  won the overall trophy for the Boys.  He placed 2nd in Slalom and 1st in GS
• Lukas Sopko U10 12th place in Slalom and 3rd in GS
• Gus Phillips U8 3rd place in Slalom and 11th in GS
• Carston Amundsen  U12 on top of the podium with 1st place in Slalom
• Easton Amundsen U10 7th place in Slalom
• Max Phillips U109th place in Slalom and 11th in GS
• Annabelle Kennedy U8 9th place in GS
• Persesephone Scoville U12 7th place in GS

All our YSL athletes did a great job and the majority of them talked to their coaches and made adjustments for the second run and improved their time. (Same course 1st & 2nd Run)

Coming up for the Devos:

• The Good Vibes Only Freeride Comp on March 30-31
• The Great Devo Scavenger Hunt April 13
• Team Awards April 13 (after the Family Duals and BBQ)