Championship season here. In the next couple of weeks, our athletes are wrapping up their final competitions. This month’s always a good one for us coaches. We get to see everyone show off how much they’ve improved this season. Congrats and good luck to everyone racing. Hope you all have a good time.

~ Bo Maciejko, SBSEF Alpine Director

May Training Camps:

Late-season training opportunities are available at Snowbird for athletes seeking to start improving for next season. These camps allow for continued development while residing at home.

  • JFAST:
    • Giant Slalom (GS) Camp: May 3-4
    • Slalom (SL) Camp: May 17-18
  • U14:
    • GS Camp: May 9-11
    • SL Camp: May 23-25
  • U16:
    • GS Free Skiing/Drills: April 26-27
    • Super Giant Slalom (SG)/GS Camp: May 2-4
    • SL Camp: May 16-18
  • FIS
    • April 26/27: GS Free Skiing/Drills
    • May 2,3,4: GS Training
    • May 9,10,11: Balance/Fundamentals/Panelled Slalom Progression
    • May 16,17,18: Slalom Training

Summer and Fall Training Camps:

Summer and fall camps provide athletes with the opportunity to reinforce seasonal progress and refine new techniques. JFAST, U14, and U16 teams will offer multiple camps to facilitate additional on-snow training and preparation for the subsequent competition season.

    • Mt. Hood, Oregon (JFAST, U14, U16): June 25 – July 2
      • GS: June 25-28
      • Rest Day: June 29
      • SL: June 30 – July 2
    • FIS – ​​Mt. Hood: June 21 Depart – July 3 Return
    • Mt. Hood, Oregon (U16 IMD): August 1-8
      • GS: August 1-4
      • Rest Day: August 5
      • SL: August 6-8
  • FIS – Chile/Argentina\
    • Chile or Argentina: Aug 26 Depart – Sept 14 Return
  • Europe (SBSEF): A European training camp in Italy is currently in development for late September. Specific dates and details will be announced shortly.
  • Aspen 2025: November 19-25

* Athletes transitioning to a new age classification are encouraged to participate in May camps to familiarize themselves with new coaches and teammates. Training will be conducted with the athlete’s respective age group for the upcoming season.

End-of-Season Awards:

  • JFAST and DEVO: April 13, following the Devo Duals.
  • U14, U16, and U19: April 24, on the Tram Deck.

Masters Update:

Shout out to SBSEF Masters!

This year in the Intermountain Masters our team really cleaned up!

On the Men’s side Erich Horsley was 1st overall in the points standings, followed by fellow SBSEF Masters racer Richard (Slabby) Slabinski in 2nd.

On the Women’s side, Dasha Kadulva (a former BOD member and Jfast coach) finished 2nd overall.

Erich Horsley traveled to Gore Mountain, New York this week to compete in Masters Nationals. Erich brought home:

  • SLALOM: 1st in class and 2nd overall (all age groups)
  • Super G: 2nd in class, 6th overall
  • Alpine Combined: 1st in class, 7th overall

Nice job Snowbird Masters! The opportunity to train with our FIS team and coaches provides a pretty cool and unique opportunity for this group, and they are capitalizing.

Jfast Update

JFAST Athletes Shine at Intermountain U12 Championships

The SBSEF JFAST program just finished up at the Intermountain Division (IMD) U12 Championships, held at Snowbasin from March 14-16. Snowbird qualified 22 athletes who competed in Giant Slalom (GS), Slalom (SL), and Parallel Slalom (PSL) events. Against a very stacked field, athletes skied exceptionally well. Below are some of the highlights from the weekend. 

Performance Highlights:

Female Athletes:

    • Tate A demonstrated remarkable consistency, securing top-10 finishes with 7th place in SL, 7th place in GS, and 8th place in PSL.
    • Abbie Y  delivered a standout performance, earning a well-deserved 2nd place in GS and 9th place in SL.
    • Charlie F  achieved a personal best, claiming 10th place in the SL.

Male Athletes:

    • Banks A showcased exceptional skill,  winning the GS and placing 9th in PSL.
    • Forest K earned a fantastic 2nd place in the GS event.
    • Chace K and Gavin K both delivered strong performances, placing 10th and 9th respectively in the SL.

A special congratulations is in order for our incredible U10 athletes! While IMD Championships do not officially recognize U10 athletes for awards, SBSEF proudly celebrates Emery C, Nora R, Sam N, and Lukas S qualifying for this event within the U12 category. Currently IMD South has an extremely competitive field to qualify for this event is a commendable achievement, and to do so as a U10 is truly extraordinary.

The team would also like to extend heartfelt support to Bodhi S and Persephone S, who sadly were unable to compete due to season-ending injuries. JFAST wishes them both speedy and full recoveries.

While our first championship series has concluded, the JFAST racing season is far from over! Next weekend (March 22-23), the SBSEF Finals team heads to Sundance for GS and SL competitions. The following weekend, our second-year U12 athletes will challenge the U14s at the Grand Targhee Spring Fling (April 4-6), while the rest of the team joins the Devo and Freeride crew for the Good Vibes Only Freeride competition (March 29-30).

U14 Team Highlights:

Team U14 continues dominating the qualifying series!

Snowbirds U14’s have had a fun and productive month since our SG qualifiers at Tamarack. The mix between fun powder days and good training sessions has been ideal, giving athletes work with balance and skiing in every kind of conditions possible. The hard work and dedication from these athletes was evident in our last qualifier at Park City. 

On the girls side, Liz E. pulled a hat trick, winning 3 in a row! She is now 6 for 6 over the last two qualifying series, an impressive feat! Heidi B. found her speed with good tactics in the SL and finishing 8th and securing her spot on the Western Region Team.

For the boys, the SL day is where they hit their stride finishing 2 (Cedric S.), 3 (Vonn K.), 4 (Axel S.), 5 (Miles Y.), 6 (Arlo H.), 7 (Hendrick W.), and 11 (Quinn W.). The boys dominated! The GS was also impressive, with Cedric S. finishing with a 3rd and 1st, Vonn K. with a 4th and 3rd, Axel S. with a 7th and 8th place finish, Miles Y. finishing 8th and 6th, Hendrick W. in 11th, and Quinn W. in 12th and 10th. 

These results helped each team member reach their Championship Teams:

For Western Regional Championships in Mammoth, Liz E. and Heidi B. are representing Snowbird’s women. The men’s team from Snowbird: Cedric S., Miles Y., Vonn K., Arlo H., Axel S., Hendrick W and Quinn W. Snowbird is bringing a strong and confident team to Mammoth next week. 

Racing at the Tri-Divisional Championships in Jackson WY:

    • Norah C
    • Maja S
    • Farah K
    • Brecken M
    • Ceci P
    • Kyla H
    • Evelyn V
    • Emersyn E
    • Jack L
    • Jack G
    • Ledger E
    • Lev B
    • Steely A
    • Zach M
    • Gage S
    • Sam L

IMD Finals, Sundance UT:

  • Eva W
  • Addie O
  • Willow G
  • Will F
  • Carston A
  • Ryan D
  • North L
  • Ford K
  • Ethan T
  • James M
  • Austin R
  • Yarrow W
  • Declan M

FIS Team Update:

What a month it has been! FIS just returned from Western Region Junior Championships held in Mission Ridge, Washington. This year we had 8 athletes attending the championship series that did not disappoint. It was a bit of a slog, but the organizers and coaches pushed hard to make the most of really tough weather conditions. To the athletes dismay we had both Super-G races cancelled for both Men and Women. However the GS and SL races that were held turned out to be insanely good races, with most athletes achieving a personal best at least once during the series. 

A mega, super, over-the-top shout out for this month goes out to Halle Hipple (depicted) for her performance during this series. Halle sustained a surprise knee injury during our dryland testing this fall and was out for almost half of the prep and competition season. She stayed strong, patient, and hungry during her time out, and after returning to training in the middle of January, managed to win the Hard Charger (bibbo) award ¾ races during this series (every race she finished). 

We’re looking forward to practicing our 360’s in the coming week with the insane amount of snow that continues to bless us, as well as to the return of spring temps, some good training and the remaining couple of races for our kids. It’s been another really fun season and thanks to the parents, for their patience, and the kids for their effort this year! It’s been a blast.

​​Devos Update

The DEVO program is heading into the final stretch of the year.  We are currently preparing for the Good Vibes Only Freeride Comp which will be held on Saturday March 29th and Sunday March 30th.  This event is always the highlight of the year for the athletes and really lets them shine and show their parents how much they have improved over the course of the winter.

We have had two races since the last newsletter.  The Hot Cocoa Cup was held on March 1st and 2nd.   YSL Finals were held at Snowbasin on March 8th with Slalom and March 9th with GS.  All Devo athletes performed their best and below are some stand out performances:

Saturday Boys Hot Cocoa Cup Overall:

  • Penn A U8
  • Spencer S U10
  • Harvey V U10

Saturday Girls Hot Cocoa Cup Overall:

  • Penny B U10
  • Kasey K U10
  • Mackenzie T U12

Sunday Boys Hot Cocoa Cup Overall:

  • Alasdair A U10
  • P Rock S U10
  • Anders T U10

Sunday Girls Hot Cocoa Cup Overall:

  • Pfieffer P U10
  • Lark S U12
  • Abby C U12

Boys YSL Finals at Snowbasin:

  • Kenta R always puts in 110% and skied two solid runs in GS to earn him 7th Place U8 GS.  
  • Penn A has been working hard all season and regularly is in the top 10.  He came home with 7th Place U8 Slalom.
  • Max P joined the fun and earned a 5th place U12 Slalom and 10th place in the GS.
  • Lucas Q also skied with us and came home with 7th in the GS.

Girls YSL Finals at Snowbasin:

  • Annabelle K always skis well at YSL Finals.  This year she just missed the top 10 in GS.

U16 Update:

We closed out the past month with our final IMD qualifier; Super G at the UOP’s West Peak. Conditions were great and we saw some solid skiing from the team.

Men’s Top 30 Results:

  • Axl D
  • Sebe B
  • Cedar K

Ladies’ Top 30 results:

  • Sam E
  • Quinn C
  • Ellie B
  • AJ L

Special shoutout to Sam for securing 3rd place in two of the three races!

As our group charges through March, we have been preparing for our Championship races. To start off the month, the athletes have managed to get fantastic training sessions in while enjoying some of the best powder days of the season. It has truly been a perfect storm for athlete development! With each training session, we continue to see hard work being put forward and intensity increased. We know the athletes will continue this and will be bringing their best efforts to the Championship and Tri-Divisional races!

In Schweitzer, Idaho for the Regional Championships, we will have Sam E, Quinn C, Axl D, Sebe B, and Cedar K representing Snowbird.

For the Tri-Divisional Championships in Jackson Hole, Wyoming we will have Everet E, Jack W, Ashton C, AJ L, Ellie B, and Bo C representing Snowbird.

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