Alpine January Update
Devo
Devos kicked off the season on January 3rd and 4th with big smiles and great energy—even with a light snowpack! The kids made the most of it, and then Mother Nature really delivered for our second weekend. With a fresh storm, the mountain opened up and Devos had an absolute blast exploring Black Forest, cruising Gad 2, and even sneaking in a few exciting laps on the Cirque. ❄️⛷️
As we move through January, we’ll keep building strong skiing fundamentals with a big focus on stance and balance, plus some fun new drills that work on pressure and control. All of this will help the kids feel confident and ready for their first big event of the season—the Cookie Cup on January 31st and February 1st. We can’t wait to see them show off all their hard work!
~ Jason Stone, Head Devo Coach
U12
The JFAST race weekend at Snowbird, originally scheduled for early January, has been postponed. The IMD (Intermountain Division) decided to delay the competition schedule in December due to insufficient on-snow and gate training time for several teams. Consequently, the JFAST U10 and U12 teams will officially start their season on the 24th and 25th of January with two slaloms at the UOP. The training conditions at Snowbird, and now the UOP have been outstanding and athletes are focused on preparing for this first race.
January U10 Skier of the Month: Palmer Brower
- Palmer has been working extremely hard and continues to show up every weekend with a positive attitude. His consistency and focus are paying off, and he’s getting better every session.
January U12 Skier of the Month: Jett Foster
This month, we’re celebrating Jett Foster as our Skier of the Month! Jett is in his second season with the JFAST team and has truly come into his own. A key focus of the JFAST curriculum is developing athletes who can self-assess their skiing, and Jett exemplifies this perfectly.
His improvement over Christmas camp and into January has been remarkable. While our coaches are always thrilled to see progress, the real credit goes to Jett for his dedication. He has shown an impressive ability to analyze his own technique and tactics, and to clearly articulate his thoughts and feelings about his skiing. Jett’s focused determination is certainly cause for celebration. Way to go, Jett!
~ Bo Maciejko, Jfast Head Coach & Alpine Director
U14
The U14’s started the racing season on a high note in Jackson, WY. The boys had strong finishes with 5 different athletes putting down top 15 runs. Quinn W. led the way with 3 podiums, Ledger E, Gage S, Zach M and Lev B rounded out the front page. Beck B, Sam L, Kodiak M and Remy R each put in top thirty finishes.
For the girls, Norah C. had strong top 15 finishes in SL, top 20 in GS. Eva W, Persephone S, Alba C and Charlie F all had top 30 efforts. Throughout the entire team, athletes brought more confidence and more aggressive skiing to the hill each day- showing an eagerness to build off progress made each day.
We are switching gears now, moving into a SG training block. 2nd year U14’s will have the option to race SG in Jackson next week, with the first year U14’s lined up for speed camp to follow. At the beginning of February, we will be in Tamarack ID. for our SG qualifiers- where Team U14 will be prepared to throw down some scorching runs down the mountain!
Our athlete of the month of January goes to Reed Baker! Reed has gone out of his way to make friends with new athletes on the team. Reed showed great support for his teammates- and carried the largest bundle of clothes from the start of the race when it was cold in Jackson. Congratulations Reed! Thanks for being a great teammate-
~ Ben Reeder, Head U14 Coach
U16
Despite the challenging start to this winter, the U16’s have had successes in their first races of the season. We are grateful for the opportunity to spend time focused on the fundamentals of the sport and use our training time to work on timing and pressure. These focuses paid off as the team had a successful race series at home January 11 through January 14th. Looking ahead, we are excited for the Wes Baron memorial SG races happening January 23/24 for the ladies and 25/26 for the men. With the cancellation of our IMD qualifiers in Bogus Basin, the final SG at the Wes Baron memorial has become a qualifier race. We look forward to racing speed on a track we know intimately.
~ Ali Spencer, Head U16 Coach