Similarly as with the challenges of Covid, if I am looking for the silver lining in the mayhem that this winter brought, it’s that we showed we could adapt.  We have learned from this, have grown from this, and are reimagining new ways to deal with external challenges.

I can say with certainty that despite the challenges our athletes thrived and the accomplishments are many.  This update includes highlights and awards for each team.

I would also like to thank Snowbird for remaining steadfast in their support of SBSEF in a season that was off-the-charts difficult for operations.

To all the athletes, coaches, families, and supporters; Thank you all for a wild and wonderful 2022-23 season.  And thank you for your perseverance and flexibility through the, at times, choppy waters.  Our mission remains clear, dedication remains steadfast, and your commitment remains paramount.

Enjoy the warm weather and we will see you soon.  2023-24 starts now!

Work Hard. Dream Big.

#sbsefSeniors #20daysofSBSEFseniors

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Spring Training:

“Next Season Starts Now!”

Register online

Freeride Spring Weekends

Jfast & U14 Spring Camps

U16 Spring Camps

FIS Spring Training

Information on June – to come soon!

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Thanks for the Feedback!

SBSEF Admin and staff want you to know that you have been heard!  We received 115 responses to our End-of-Year survey and very valuable feedback.  It is impossible to address every piece of information we gather but the net result is very helpful.  Here are a few takeaways;

• Little Cottonwood Canyon is difficult in terms of closures, traffic, and parking.

  • We (SBSEF) have no control over much of the difficulties this year, but…

  • Looking for ways to avoid the pinch points is a constant need.

  • The UOP & Woodward are important resources for us.

• Community and culture are important to this team!

• SBSEF team and group communication is generally very good.

• The TeamSnap chat gets out of hand with “I’m running late” notices that should go just to the coach… this is something we can all work on – it may start with being on time

• Payments and registration through TeamSnap have improved everyone’s opinions of registration, so this is a positive.
  
  Each head coach has been given their team’s individual feedback to review and address.

  Interesting to note: the greatest weakness(es), top priorities, and strengths that you all identified line up exactly with what the Board of Directors and Coaching Staff identified last Fall — We are all on the same page!

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USSA Club Certification Update

Our administrative team has been working hard over the past year, with our board of directors, to complete the requirements for the US Ski and Snowboard Club Silver Certification (we are currently a Bronze Club). We are in the final stages of this certification review, and hopefully, later this month, we will be able to share the results with you. It is a huge honor to be recognized by the Club Certification Team with US Ski and Snowboard and not many clubs achieve this. The next step… go for Gold! Why stand still?

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Season Highlights:

 FIS Team

The FIS Team was made up of 18 athletes. 2022-23 Highlights include podium finishes at various levels of FIS racing. Townsend Mikell won a Slalom race in early January, with sister Sara Jane finishing 4th on the Women’s side. Townsend Mikell and Sofie Haggard competed at the NorAm level this season. 3 U18s; Sofie Haggard, Sara Jane Mikell, and Oscar Brown qualified for and competed in the U18 Nationals in New Hampshire. At US Nationals in Sun Valley Townsend was 7th overall in Super G, and 2nd place in the Junior ranks!

 Alpine U16’s

The U16 team was made up of 26 athletes in 2022-23.  The group collected many top 10 finishes, with podium finishes for Talise Larsh and Bea Martin during the qualifying races.  SBSEF qualified 10 athletes to the Western Region U16 Championships in Sun Valley. U16 standout Bea Martin finished in the top 15 overall at the Regional Championships thereby qualifying for U16 National Championships, where she went on to represent SBSEF well!

 Alpine U14’s

The U14 team was made up of victories in SL and SG from Sam Eden, and a victory in GS from Riley Eaton. On top of that, Snowbird had 12 other top-10 finishes. These results qualified 5 Snowbird athletes to Western Region U14 Championships in Jackson Hole, including; Sam Eden (2nd overall selection), Quinn Costello, Riley Eaton, Cortland Parker, and Axl Dain (one of 2 first-year U14 boys to qualify from IMD).

Snowbird U14’s also qualified an incredibly strong team to the Tri-Divisional Championships at Grand Targhee where Georgia Mikell finished 2nd in the SL, 3rd in SG, and finished 2nd overall. Owen Higgins won the SL and finished 2nd overall, and Sebe Baudendistel finished 2nd in the SL, 4th in the SG- and won the overall Tri-Divisional title for U14 boys.

These results qualified 6 Snowbird athletes (Sam Eden, Quinn Costello, Riley Eaton, Georgia Mikell, Cortland Parker, Axl Dain) to the Western Region SG/ GS camp, held at Palisades at Tahoe April 17-20th. Impressive!

 Alpine U12’s (aka Jfast)

The U12 boys were dominant. They did not lose a race all season long. Cedric Sullivan, Brody Eaton, Vonn Kunigenas, Miles Young, and Arlo Hochman all share podium spots this season. Cedric Sullivan and Brody Eaton were both Intermountain Champs (Cedric – SL, Kombi, Overall, Brody – GS). Jack Gowski was the Intermountain Finals GS champ, and second in the slalom

Liz Eden was in a league of her own all year. She won 4 of 6 South Series and was the Intermountain GS and SL Champion.  Heidi Baudendistel was a consistent top-10 skier with two South Series podiums. Cami Greener won both the GS and the SL at the Intermountain Finals.

At IMD champs SBSEF athletes won 5 / 6 races and were stacking athletes onto the podium and into the top 10. At intermountain finals, JFAST athletes won 3 of the 4 U12 races and put skiers on the podium at every age.

 Alpine Devos

The Devos wrapped up their season with the Scavenger Hunt before the BBQ and Duals. Everyone dressed up and it was a great day. The end of the season is always bittersweet, saying goodbye to coaches for the Summer, and helping Devos figure out if they want to jump up to Jfast or the Freeride team. We love that the Devo team has become a strong base to our amazing SBSEF team.
Highlights from this season include our award winners:

• Devo Skier of the Year: Remi Rosenstein
• Devo Most Improved: Callum Apple
• Devo Rookie of the Year: Elka Kirner
• Devo Sportsperson Award: Carston Amundsen
• Devo “Send It” Award: Forest Knight

Freeride Highlights

The ’22-’23 AltaBird Freeride winter season was a resounding success.  Between the record-breaking snow and the growth in the program, we saw so much progression from our athletes over the season; it was inspiring to say the least.  Our athletes as a whole persevered through canyon closures, injuries, a busy competition schedule, their school work, and should be proud of putting together a season to remember as one of the best ever.

Some standout moments and numbers to remember:

• Multiple podiums sweeps defending the home turf at the IFSA Regionals at Snowbird
• Owen Carlson representing AltaBird Freeride / SBSEF and the USA at the Freeride Junior World Championships in Kappl, Austria for the 2nd year in a row!
• Rowan Lamont and Maddie Johnson going 1-2 at Grand Targhee Nationals in 15-18 Girls Ski.
• Kellen Larson – 3rd at Crystal National in 15-18 Boys Ski
• Max Morris – 2nd at Palisades Tahoe National in 15-18 Boys Ski
• Multiple Podiums at the Snowbasin Regionals
• AJ McCleary – 2nd at Crystal National in 15-18 Boys Ski
• Owen Carlson won on Silver Fox for the 3rd year in a row at the Snowbird National 15-18 Boys Ski, Hannah Baldwin in 3rd place 15-18 Girls Ski
• The Morris family double win at the Solitude Regionals amongst many other podium finishes
• Maya Parsons – 2nd at the Big Sky National in 15-18 Girls Ski
• Michael Wheatley – 1st at Breckenridge National 15-18 Boys Ski, Thomas McKean 3rd 12-14 Boys Ski
• 12 Athletes invited NORAMs at Kicking Horse: Canyon Whiteside, Thomas McKean, Rowan Lamont, Maddie Johnson, Sasha Bills, Owen Carlson, Michael Wheatley, AJ McCleary, Max Morris, Jack Reynolds, Kellen Larson, Obie Simper
• Will Fallis in 4th Place U12 NORAMs at Kicking Horse
• 409 individual athlete starts at 17 separate competitions between all regionals, nationals, and NORAMs; a mindblowing stat in itself!

  Snowboard Competition Highlights

Kaito Devine – 7th place IFSA NorAm Championships and ranked 3rd Nationally

Brenna Huckaby – World Champion Banked Slalom

Dennae Russell – 2nd place World Championship Team Banked Slalom

Declan Murray – Qualified into every heat in every NorAm race this season – unheard of for a First-year NorAm athlete. Declan was recently invited to attend Gold Camp hosted by the US Snowboard Team in Mammoth this May

Team members invited to World Championships in La Molina Spain – moving up from Continental Cup level – Tyler Divilio, Rebecca Johnston, Jennifer Ackers

Coach Highlights

The SBSEF coaching staff has been busy this season as well! Here is a list of coaches who have earned (*or are earning this week) an advanced certification:

Alpine Level 300
Andy Phillips*
Bo Maciejko*
Jeremy Elliot*
Alpine Level 200 
Andy Phillips
Bo Maciejko
Jason Stone
Jeremy Elliot
Freeride Level 300
Will Dujardin
Freeride Level 200
Sydney Ricketts
Griffin Rasmussen
Jacqueline Pollard
Davin Grapentine
Snowboard Level 200
Adi Smith*

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SBSEF Awards

Our End-of-Season Awards began in April with the Devos and Jfast after the BBQ, and concluded this week with Alpine and Freeride at Knudsen Park (because LCC was closed, again). For a summary of the awards presented, CLICK HERE.

A few highlights:

• SBSEF Skier of the Year: Sofie Haggard

• 

  Skier of the Year 2023 Sofie

  Steve Bounous Spirit of Adventure: Owen Carlson

• Junior Bounous Leadership: Jesse Hoopes

• Bryce Astle Good Vibes Sportsperson: Molly Jarvie

• SBSEF Volunteer of the Year: Claire Martin

• SBSEF Alpine Scholar of the Year: Jesse Hoopes

• SBSEF Freeride Scholar of the Year: Diego Bradley

• Freeride Skiers of the Year: Rowan Lamont & Owen Carlson

• Devo Skier of the Year: Remi Rosenstein

• Jfast Skier of the Year: Liz Eden

• U14 Skier of the Year: Samantha Eden

• U16 Teammate of the Year: William Butterworth

• Freeride Sportsmanship: Kellen Larson

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Summer Camps!

Freeride – Chile Camp with a Comp! August 1-16. 10 days on snow with an IFSA Comp – Next Season Starts Now!
For more information, contact Will ASAP! wdujardin@sbsef.com
$4000 with 8 or less, $3500 if we get to 10!

Alpine – Mt. Hood July 29-August 9 *Registration will open soon!

• Depart July 31
• GS August 1-4
• SL August 6-8
• Return August 9

Camp with Travel/Lodging & Meals: $3200
Camp only: $2000

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Registration Updates:

Registration will open for team members and siblings in June. You will have two options: Pay in full at the time of registration or set up automatic payment plans, which will split your balance into equal payments, completed by Nov 1. We are using TeamSnap for registration this year, not the website. Our website is NEW and improved, so be sure to check it out. We will be updating our tuition and programs throughout the month and will send you an email recap of the changes when registration opens. Keep in mind that you will be reading and signing waivers with registration, so we encourage you to do this from a computer vs your phone, but as you know, TeamSnap is an easy app to use, and we are looking forward to an easier registration period this summer.

New this year: Tuition Insurance! Through TeamSnap, you have the opportunity to purchase tuition insurance, they refer to it as RegSaver. During registration, you can review the information. If you would like to do some homework on it ahead of time, here are the details and links provided. This is 100% optional but can be useful in the event of an emergency or injury. We will not be issuing partial refunds this season due to injury because we can offer this insurance, which keeps us freer to use our resources to host events and trainings. Feel free to review the information provided by TeamSnap, we are including it here:

About RegSaver:

• What if your child becomes sick or injured? What if you get called to active military service?

A Registration Saver (RegSaver) policy can cover your registration fees should your child miss their season, or a portion of it, due to a covered peril.

Enter your address below to calculate your insurance cost. NOTE: if you are registering for a camp, tournament or showcase event you will need to purchase a Single Event Policy by visiting this link instead www.registrationsaver.com/teamsnap

RegSaver is offered by Next Wave Insurance Services, LLC – CA License #0F00755, in partnership with AIG.

RegSaver    Certificate of Insurance (AIG)    Disclaimer

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