January 20, 2024

Greetings SBSEF,

Happy New Year to everyone.  2024 started in a similar fashion to 2023, with lots of snow!  The recent snow has brought our total for the season to over 250”, and above historical average for this time of year.  Both Snowbird and Alta are skiing great, and there is more snow in the forecast.

All groups are up and running and many have already competed this year.  We have hosted 2 race series at Snowbird already, with a 3rd being canceled due to weather/road concerns.

A HUGE thank you to all the volunteers who have already braved challenging conditions and long days to help with events.  It takes an army, you are that army, and I am so proud of the energy this team brings.  The vibe in the finish area is always awesome too, it’s a lot of work, but fun to be a part of.  And of course to all our athletes who have been putting their skills on display so far, and coming away with some great results on top of it!

We have IFSA competitions lining up at Snowbird for next week as well. The excitement to compete in the legendary Silverfox venue is high, and I look forward to watching our athletes shine.  See you there!

Many of the very best skiers in the world came from this very program, and we see them doing incredible things in places like Kitzbuhel and Kappl and Zauchensee, Austria at this very moment.  At home, every day I see our athletes working toward their goals, and their dreams, with committed devotion.  It’s not easy, but the work is fun, IT IS WORTH IT, and in many ways, the journey itself is the real prize.

Dream Big. Work Hard.

Best,
Bridger Call
SBSEF Executive Director

Skimo Update:

Skimo Team athletes Tucker Murphy and Alex Mankouski had a lot of fun at the Utah Skimo race at Park City Mountain on January 16th. The race had 185 youth and adult competitors and is the biggest skimo race series in the country. The fun and low-key race series is a great opportunity for the Skimo Team athletes to practice and hone their skills in a competitive environment. The awesome post-race gear raffle is an added bonus! The next race is January  23rd at Solitude Mountain Resort.

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

Freeride Update:
The Freeride Team is wrapping up the early season technical skill training focus and transitioning to a busy competition season. The freeride competition season kicks off with U19 athlete Michael Wheatley representing SBSEF at the Junior Freeride World Championships. The event will be held in Kappl, Austria January 19th-24th. Simultaneously, 5 U19 athletes will be competing at the IFSA Jackson Hole Junior 2* January 19th-21st. The following weekend many SBSEF athletes from all age groups will be competing on home turf at the IFSA Snowbird Junior 2* January 27th-28th. We would love to see people

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.

 

 

 

Snowboard Update:
The Snowboard team has athletes in Steamboat this week for a camp. Several are leaving later this month for a competition in Finland. More updates to come!

 

 

 

 

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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