Snowboard April Update
Championship Update
Junior Freeride Championships are a wrap! Out of six athletes on the big mountain snowboard team, four qualified for JFC’s this year. Julia P. was the star of the show, placing 5th in qualifiers and then moving up on finals day, finishing the event in 3rd place! Technically, taking home the only podium finish at freeride championships for SBSEF. Kaito D. laid down the run of his life in qualifiers, stomping a massive double that gave most of the skiers a hard time. He landed in 4th out of 25 athletes going into finals. He ultimately finished 6th, missing qualification for world finals by only a half a point! It doesn’t get much closer than that. Expect big things from this team next season, watch what we accomplish with some actual snow to train on!
Paralympic Team Update
It’s been a whirlwind of activity since the Paralympic Games for our athletes. Following a huge fundraising event in Vail last weekend, they continued tours doing publicity events and marketing. Kate Delson even opened the New York Stoke Exchange with Olympic Gold Medalist Breezy Johnson (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=723386214135972)
It’s always a bit of an emotional roller coaster after a games year. Many of our team’s athletes were in the running to make the Paralympic Games team, and for those who did, the excitement of the games was huge. And in most cases, it hasn’t slowed down much yet – with opportunities and appearances while the games are in the spotlight. But all too soon, that will settle back into real life and plans for the future – getting back into the gym and training and planning for our next on-snow camps.
And for those who didn’t make the games team, the season tapered off very quickly after our last World Cup qualifier in February. We continued on-hill training through mid-March and then athletes went quietly back to their lives while the Paralympics were celebrated on TV. It was a bit of a sudden and abrupt end to the season – especially with the lackluster snow from this season.
So now we return to a more normal post-season schedule – back to the gym after some much needed time off. Looking at opportunities for spring and summer training which will likely mean travel to either Europe or South America.
Overall its been a really good year for the team. We saw some excellent finishes from our athletes across all programs including Regional, National and International competition results. Our team brought home the NorAm Cup (again) for Para Snowboard and contributed to the USA winning the FIS Nations cup. From our dev team competing in some of their first competition to athletes bringing home medals at the Paralympics – its been an awesome ride. Looking forward to building on those results into the future.
-Snowboard Program Director Lane Clegg