Freeride January Update
U19 Freeride
The U19 Freeride Team has been getting creative at Alta and Snowbird during the low-snow cycle. We consistently trained our fundamentals on piste using race or carving skis, then transitioned to freeride skis in the afternoon, finding good snow along the sides of groomers and utilizing small jumps and drops around the mountain. We even had some quality practice trying to “levitate” over all the rocks!
Our Christmas camp was a great success. We hosted mental performance training with Zack Van Leeuwen, along with avalanche safety education from the Utah Avalanche Center and Anna Marno. In total, we skied ten full days as a team. The athletes are skiing strong and progressing quickly, both technically and mentally.
We kicked off our competition season by traveling to Whitefish, Montana, for the IFSA 3-Star event. An impressive 12 out of 15 of our athletes advanced to finals. Lucas Baldwin claimed 4th place and received callouts for spinning features that no one else did. Additional nominations went to Finn Osmundson, Charlie Wilde, and Dylan Hersh for outstanding performances. Brooke Copinga was nominated for the Spirit Award for her positive attitude and leadership. She was social and welcoming, introducing herself to everyone, supporting other athletes on and off our team, and even helping roll B-net at the end of the event, despite it not being her responsibility. We look forward to traveling up to Jackson Hole for another 3 star national event as well as attending our local 2 star events later this month.
~ Griffin Rasmussen, U19 Head Coach
U15 Freeride
Despite the lack of snow and available freeride terrain the U15 team had a successful Holiday Camp. The seemingly poor conditions actually turned out to be an advantage because it allowed us to spend a significant amount of time on race skis developing our technique, setting a strong foundation for the season. Another highlight of Holiday Camp was the 3-session mental performance training by Zach Van Leeuwen from Cache Sports Performance. Our athletes learned a lot about the mental side of the sport and came away with tools to help prepare them for success in competition.
The competition phase of our season has already begun with several U15 athletes just wrapping up their first event of the season at Whitefish, Montana. U15 athletes Grace Poulsen, Dorothy Hastings, and Priscilla Hastings all had a successful competition with Grace placing 5th, Dorothy 9th, and Priscilla 14th.
We are entering a very busy competition period for the U15 team with the Snowbird 2* January 24th and 25th followed quickly by the Jackson Hole 3*January 28th-31st, Solitude 2* January 30th and 31st, and the Snowbasin 2* February 7th and 8th. Our athletes have put in a lot of work into their training so far and we are looking forward to seeing them put their skills to the test in competition.
–Davin Grapentine, Freeride Director
