March 2024 Team Update

This is the time of year to buckle down and make the most of these opportunities. When it comes to Championships there is nothing to lose and everything to gain. My advice to all our athletes is to trust the work you have put in, let your instincts take over, ski free and flowing, and have fun with it!

We will host the Snow Cup April 6-9 at Snowbird, which is the 2nd longest-running annual alpine race in the country.  It has been run consecutively since 1941, with breaks only 5 or 6 of those years due to things like; WWII, no snow years, the pandemic, and most recently the Snowmaggedon of 2023 which basically closed the canyon for the first half of April making the event impossible.

Following the Snow Cup will be our dual race and BBQ and gear testing, to wrap up the season.  We plan to train in May on Little Cloud (info below).

Check out the group specifics below, and see you soon!

Dream Big. Work Hard.

~ Bridger Call
SBSEF Executive Director

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)

Freeride U12 Update:

The U12 team is wrapping up the final two competition weekends of the season. We had 9 U12s compete at the Solitude 2* on March 8th and 9th with multiple athletes earning podium spots on both days. In the Volume 1 event, Maviny Houdeshel and Will Fallis both placed 3rd in the girl’s and boy’s competitions, respectively. In the Volume 2 girls competition, Sophia DeBirk took the win and Sabrina Houdeshel placed 3rd. In the Volume 2  boys competition Will Fallis improved on his Friday result and placed 2nd. We’re very proud of how well all of our U12s skied at Solitude!

The last local competition for the U12s was held at Park City on March 16th and 17th. Liam Campagna was our only U12 that competed at Park City. He finished 5th with a solid run on Jupiter Peak. To wrap up the competition season Will Fallis will be representing SBSEF at U12 Championships in Breckenridge, CO April 7th-10th. He will be competing with some of the best U12 skiers from across the US and Canada. Good luck Will!

We have several fun weekends of training on deck as the season comes to a close. Our U12’s will be joining the Devos for their annual Freeride Competition on March 30th/31st for our final weekend of training. The competition will be held on Rasta Chutes (weather permitting). After a couple week break will be offering several weekends of spring training camps in late April/early May. Look for more information and camp sign up soon.

Snowboard Team Update:

Well once again as I am writing this update, almost all the snowboard teams are on the road. It seems like the competition season has gotten condensed into the later part of the season so it will be fast and furious right to the end.

The Big Mountain Freeride team has had some great finishes most recently on our home turf at Snowbird with Gage taking 3rd and Kaito 2nd. That puts both of them in excellent position heading into Junior Freeride Championships at Breckenridge next month with Kaito ranked 3rd and Gage ranked 9th. From coach Miles “We are trying to better any flaws in our technique and develop our big mountain freestyle these next 3 weeks so that the boys can bring something special to the competition.“

The SBX team are in Steamboat for 2 NorAm races and one FIS race. This is a course we have trained on for a camp which should prepare them to do well in competition.

The Para group are about to depart for the final round of NorAm and World Cup events in Canada. First stop is Big White for Boardercross and then WAY up north into the Arctic Circle to Mt Sima for a Banked Slalom event. Mt Sima will be the host of next year’s World Championships so it will be good to get on that venue.

And our Young riders continue to train at home where the snow has been awesome.

To follow along with what we are up to, check out our Instagram:

Above: Brenna Huckaby on top of the podium and Kate Delson took second place in her first World Cup race in Germany

~ Lane Clegg
SBSEF Snowboard Director

Freeride U15 Update:

The U15s have had a very fun and busy March.  A lot of the team was still busy with competitions while the kids at home got to enjoy some new snow and sunshine. Some of the team traveled to Crested Butte where the group learned how to ski step bumps and dodge some rocks. Cortland Goldberg and Rex Rice had top-ten finishes in the boys and everyone showed some awesome skiing.  At Crystal Mountain, Izzy Utgaard represented the U15s and made it to finals.  Snowbird held its home event March 1st-3rd. It ended up only being a one-run competition due to the weather, but everyone skied awesome. It was fun to watch the kids shred their home mountain. Brynn Copinga found her way on the podium placing 3rd and there were a few top 10 finishes in the U15 boys!  Big Sky happened right after Snowbird. Brynn Copinga placed 2nd and Samantha Russel made it to finals and placed 7th!

The Solitude 2* was held the same weekend as Big Sky. At Solitude Fisher Campagna placed 2nd, Maya Sullivan took 1st and Dorothy Hastings placed 2nd. Congratulations to everyone who has competed this month and cheers to everyone who has been at home crushing it!

With all of that the competition season is starting to wrap up! The rest of the season has some fun days of training left and a few of the U15s will be off to represent Altabird at Junior Champs in Breckenridge Colorado.

Can’t wait to enjoy a fun spring with everyone!

~ Jacqueline Pollard
Freeride U15 Head Coach

Alpine U14 Update:

After a powder-filled February, we found good opportunities to train for our last U14 qualifiers before the Championships, in Park City UT. With good weather for the GS, the Snowbird Team shined. Liz Eden led the girls with a 2nd place finish, with Hannah McReynolds rounding out the top 15. For the boys, Axl Dain completed the trifecta with a victory (matching his win in the SL and SG held earlier this season). Jack Webster was 3rd first run, finishing in 8th. Miles Young put one in there for a 13th-place finish, with Vonn Kunigenas finishing in 14th.

The weather turned in Park City with strong winds and snow falling, a tradition at this race to experience Park City’s biggest snowfall of the year. Snowbird athletes were well accustomed to storm conditions and put in some fast runs. Liz raced to a 4th place finish with Heidi Baudendistel putting in a fast result with 12th. Axl skied solid in the conditions for a 2nd place finish with Arlo Hochman punching in a 10th place finish, and Cedar Knight finishing 15th.

This week we are heading into Championship season! Our athletes heading to the Western Region Championships in Targhee: Liz Eden, Hannah McReynolds, Axl Dain, Cedric Sullivan, Jack Webster, and Cedar Knight.

Heading to Big Sky and Bridger Bowl for Tri-Divisional Championships:

Heidi Baudendistel, Ellie Brower, Zachary Carnett, Isaac Cheung, Boeri Cook, Jack Gowski, Arlo Hochman, Kyla Horsley, Tessa Johnson, Andy Kath, Yasmeen Kaukab, Vonn Kunigenas, AJ Larsh, Jack Looney, Brecken Marchant, Cody McReynolds, Ceci Prudden, Matthew Schlegel, Benson Scoffield, Hendrick Wussow, Miles Young and William Youngtok.

Our IMD Finals Team at Sundance includes Emersyn Easley, Kate Jarvie, Callie Larsen, James Murphy, Winston Papangkorn, Maja Sopko.

Good luck to all our athletes! Bring home some hardware!

~ Ben Reeder
U14 Head Coach

Freeride U19 Update:

March is already here and passing us by quickly!

It’s been a very busy month for the U19 team. We started out with wild weather for the Snowbird 3* March 1st-3rd where Hannah Baldwin placed 1st with great skiing, and a massive 360 off the bush air!  The same weekend as the Snowbird event the Tahoe area received 12 feet of snow forcing the Kirkwood 3* to reschedule.

The second weekend of March was a busy one with athletes competing at Big Sky, Solitude, and Mad River Glen, simultaneously. At Big Sky the snowpack was thin, but conditions were excellent. Michael Wheatley and Lucy Collins both placed 4th Big Sky. At Mad River Glen conditions were thin and challenging with rain the day before competition. Drew Dana and Emerson Menges placed 3rd and 9th, respectively. Solitude had great competition conditions with sunny skies. Our athletes showed some excellent skiing with multiple podium results. Solitude results were: Rowan Hilton 1st, Lucas Baldwin 2nd, Hannah Baldwin 1st (now ranked 2nd overall) and Kate Williams 2nd.

We are now in Kirkwood for the 3* event and conditions are looking fantastic! Good luck this weekend to the athletes at Park City!

Hearts out to all our injured athletes and coaches, wishing you all a speedy recovery. Can’t wait to get back out there with you all!

~ Griffin Rasmussen
Head U19 Coach

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