July 2023 Team Update

After a cool spring the heat of summer is here, for most of us this is a time out of boots.  Time to recharge, let the tan on our faces expand beyond small triangles, and time to let our toes return to their natural form… And now as temps approach 100 degrees in the valley I find myself looking up at the couloirs that were overflowing with snow during this last winter of all winters, and considering just how amazing the canyon and the Utah seasons are.

It is summer, but the work never stops, and we are officially now in the 2023-24 season for SBSEF.  Welcome back to our returning teammates, and welcome aboard to our new members!  The fun and wild journey once again stretches into the horizon.  Anything is possible.

Snowbird continues to show great support for SBSEF and is actively working with us to ensure a vibrant future for the team.  The landscape in Gad Valley (and beyond) will be changing in the coming seasons. In fact, Snowbird has already begun work on preparing Wilbere Ridge for the new chair in the summer of 2024.  This is exciting on many fronts; first with greater capacity to move skiers around the mountain which will benefit everyone, with a quicker turnaround to the race and training venue as well as a widened arena and significant snow-making improvements.  This will give SBSEF a very unique range of training environments which these days includes premium venues at Snowbird as well as increased usage of the expanded UOP training facility.

In addition, the increased options will allow for better use of a closed training environment for our Snowboard and Freeride athletes, truly an all-around game changer!

Have fun this summer and get in a diverse variety of sports and activities.  There is a direct correlation between performance and injury prevention in the winter and the work that goes into coordination and conditioning in the off-season.  The prep period is now!

Work Hard.  Dream Big.

~ Bridger Call
Executive Director, SBSEF

From the SBSEF Board of Directors:

Wishing all of our athletes and families are great summer!  With a bit of downtime we can now reflect on what an amazing (and crazy!) winter and spring we all experienced. Record snow-falls, lots of powder, and through it all we saw great growth and results from our athletes on the alpine, free-ride and snowboard squads. Our coaches and leadership never varied from presenting the best programming, events, and opportunities out there.  A big high five to them all.

We now turn to the season ahead and planning is already well underway.  As a board of directors, we seek to advance the mission of SBSEF and propel the Foundation forward. In that regard, we aim to build on our resources to begin creating an endowment for the long-term financial security of SBSEF and its financial aid program, as well as support the further development of our training and competition venues.  So, we’ve got some work to do, but it’s a challenge we aim to meet. As always, your help and input are totally welcome!