The start of the competitive season on snow usually comes with a mix of excitement and nerves; it’s the first opportunity a winter athlete has to concretely see how their training all spring, summer and fall has been paying off. That being said, athletes progress and grow even more once they actually get on snow – this is just the beginning.

 

Chase Josey captures bronze in halfpipe at Toyota U.S. Grand Prix

SVSEF alumni and current Gold Team snowboarder Chase Josey started things off right this past week, securing third place in the first World Cup halfpipe of the season, the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain. This was the Hailey native’s second World Cup podium, as he finished with a silver medal at the Mammoth Grand Prix last season in January. To earn bronze at Copper, Josey cleanly executed a run that featured a Double Michalchuk, frontside double cork 1080 indy, his “double bacon flip,” (or a switch double crippler) and a switch backside 900 mute, according to U.S. Snowboarding. Josey’s score of 93.75 set him apart from the rest of the international pack of 44 athletes and put him solidly on the podium behind Patrick Burgener of Switzerland, who landed in first with a score of 96.25, and Iouri Podladtchikov (IPod), also of Switzerland, who was an Olympic champion in Sochi in the halfpipe.
 
Complete results
U.S. Snowboarding Press Release

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Alpine FIS opens up season at FIS Tech at Snow King

The Alpine FIS Team competed at the Western Region FIS Tech races at Snow King in Jackson Hole last week, which featured four races for each competitor during the course of two days; two slaloms the first day, and two giant slalom races the second.
 
In the ladies’ first slalom on December 13, Erin Smith finished fifth. Skylar Cooley was seventh, Ruby Marden eighth and Ella Pepin 10^th. Molly Milgard finished 15^th, Grace Pepin 21^st, Libby Kaiser 23^rd, Kaia Jensen 28^th and Katelyn Rathfon 29^th. In the second event of the day, Marden was sixth, Milgard 10^th, Kaiser 14^th, Grace Pepin 16^th, Katelyn Rathfon 17^th and Jensen 22^nd. Ella Pepin and Cooley did not finish their second run and Smith did not finish her first.
 
In the men’s first slalom race, Filippo Collini skied to 14^th for SVSEF, followed by John Blackburn in 16^th, Matt O’Connor in 20^th, Jake Blackburn in 26^th, Julian Plank in 27^th, Max Noddings in 29^th and Thomas Klose in 31^st. Noah Leininger was 33^rd, Cooper Dart 34^th, Carter Jendrezak 36^th, Ian Hanna 38^th and Blake Deilke 41^st. The second slalom event saw Filippo Collini again leading the way, this time finishing 10^th. John Blackburn was 12^th, Spencer Wright 14^th, Hayden Terjeson 18^th, Leininger 26, Walter Lafky 27^th and Deilke 33^rd. Plank and Ian Hanna did not finish their second run, and Klose, Jake Blackburn, Jendrezak, Dart, O’Connor, Charlie Lamb, DeWolfe and Duncan Fuller did not finish their first.
 
Athletes switched over to giant slalom for December 14, the second day of racing. Erin Smith skied a foolproof race and finished third. Katelyn Rathfon was 15^th, Molly Milgard 18^th, Grace Pepin 24^th, Libby Kaiser 25^th and Kaia Jensen 26^th. Skylar Cooley and Ella Pepin did not finish their second run. Smith took to the podium again in the second race of the day, this time finishing second. Skylar Cooley was eighth, Katelyn Rathfon 10^th, Milgard 13^th, Jensen 18^th, Kaiser 20^th and Grace Pepin 23^rd.
 
John Blackburn had a standout day in the men’s event, earning second place in the first giant slalom event. Filippo Collini was eighth, Hayden Terjeson 10^th, Duncan Fuller 16^th, Charlie Lamb 22^nd, Walter Lafky 26^th, Noah Leininger 28^th, Max Noddings 29, Julian Plank 30^th, Jake Blackburn 31^st, Thomas Klose 37^th, Blake Deilke 42^nd and Ian Hanna 44^th. Matt O’Connor and Spencer Wright did not finish the second run, and Cooper Dart, Carter Jendrezak and Kristian DeWolfe did not finish the first. In the men’s final race, another giant slalom, Collini was fifth, Dart 15^th, DeWolfe 19^th, Leininger 22^nd, Plank 24^th, Jake Blackburn 25^th, Noddings 26^th, O’Connor 33^rd, Klose 37^th, Deilke 41^st and Hanna 42^nd. Jendrezak, Lamb, Fuller, Terjeson and John Blackburn did not finish the second run, and Lafky and Wright did not finish the first.
 
Complete results

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Cross country competes at first JNQ of the season at Jackson

Cross country comp and prep team athletes headed down to Jackson Hole for the first Junior National Qualifiers event of the season. In all, there were around 325 competitors on course each day. Friday’s race was an individual start classic; the weather was rainy, which put most athletes who had them on zeros – for those who didn’t, it was a tricky wax day. Temperatures dropped dramatically to negative digits for the Saturday mass start skate race.
 
In the men’s U20/U18 5km classic race Friday, SVSEF PG athlete Eli Jensen took the win in a time of 17:08.6. Comp team skier Henry Raff was seventh overall and the second U18 finisher. PG Andrew Siegel was 16^th, PG Bjorn Schou was 27^th, and comp skier Landon Nurge was 35^th. Cooper Roquet finished 37^th, Keene Morawitz 43^rd, Carter Ros 48^th and Joe Hall 51^st. In the women’s U20/U18 5km, PG skier Sarah Goble led SVSEF in eighth. Eve Jensen was 13^th and the eighth U18 racer to finish. Lily Brunelle was right behind in 14^th, the ninth U18 finisher. Kirsys Campbell skied to 25^th, Laura Anderson to 38^th, Michaela Petty 48^th and Ellie Gorham 69^th.
 
U16 athletes also skied the 5km course. Johnny Hagenbuch led the charge in third on the men’s side. Cash Dart finished 14^th, Aidan Burchmore 24^th, Cole Reeves 29^th, Landon Paschall 31^st, Sebi Radl-Jones 35^th, Jake Gorham 36^th and Kai Nelson 37^th. SVSEF has a large U16 women’s contingent this season; Sophia Mazzoni and Anja Jensen finished two-three, respectively, and teammates Jenna Nurge and Ella Wolter went five-six. Chloe Tanous skied to 10^th, Sascha Leidecker 12^th, Laine Allison 14^th, Katherine Estep 15^th, Eva Grover 22^nd, Christine Estep 25^th, Kate Horowitz 27^th, Tia Vontver 32^nd, Kate Stone 33^rd and Quinn Closser 38^th.
 
Competitors under the U14 designation skied a 3km course. Alex Shaffer finished 17^th, Blake DeHart 22^nd and Fisher Gardner 27^th. Logan Smith was seventh for girls, Luci Ludwig 11^th, Anja Grover 13^th, Crosby Boe 26^th, Anneka Thompson 27^th, Meg Keating 29^th and Lyla Maxwell 30^th. Sammy Smith won the girls’ U12 2km race, and Holden Archie was fifth for the boys, Tucker Smith sixth and McCallen Campbell 10^th. In the novice 3km class, Sara King-Nakaoka was sixth, Taylor Dorland seventh and Grace Bloomfield 15^th.

An arguably more exciting mass start format opened up competition for skate races on Saturday. SVSEF went one-two in the U20 men’s 10km; Andrew Siegel took first in a time of 26:39.8, and teammate Eli Jensen was 2.7 seconds back in second. Carter Ros was seventh in the field of 16. The U18 men also raced a 10km; Henry Raff was 10^th, Cooper Roquet 18^th, Landon Nurge 20^th, Joe Hall 35^th and Keene Morawitz 41^st. Sarah Goble made the podium in the women’s U20 7.5km, finishing third. Laura Anderson broke the top ten, finishing eighth. In the U18 7.5km, Eve Jensen led the way in 10^th, followed by Lily Brunelle in 11^th, Kirsys Campbell in 13^th, Michaela Petty 23^rd and Ellie Gorham 34^th.
 
Johnny Hagenbuch secured a win in the U16 men’s 5km skate mass start, finishing in 12:50.7. Landon Paschall was 19^th, Aidan Burchmore 24^th, Sebi Radl-Jones 29^th, Kai Nelson 32^nd and Jake Gorham 33^rd. U16 skier Anja Jensen got her second podium of the weekend, again finishing third. Sophia Mazzoni was fourth, Ella Wolter fifth and Sascha Leidecker 10^th. Katherine Estep finished 12^th, Laine Allison 13^th, Jenna Nurge 16^th, Chloe Tanous 20^th, Eva Grover 21^st Tia Vontver 26^th, Kate Horowitz 27^th, Christine Estep 31^st, Kate Stone 32^nd and Quinn Closser 37^th.
 
In the men’s U14 3km race, Fisher Gardner was 19^th, Blake DeHart 20^th, and Alex Shaffer 21^st. Logan Smith won the girls’ 3km in 9:42.3. Luci Ludwig was fifth, Anja Grover eighth, Crosby Boe 17^th, Anneka Thompson 27^th, Lyla Maxell 29^th and Meg Keating 30^th. Sammy Smith again won the girls’ U12 2km race. Tucker Smith was fourth in the boys’ U12 2km, and McCallen Campbell was 11^th. Taylor Dorland, who switched over from alpine this year, won the girls’ novice race. Teammate Sara King-Nakaoka was third and Grace Bloomfield was 12^th.
 
Complete results

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Alpine FIS and USSA in midst of competitions at Eric Hays Memorial in Park City

The 35^th annual Eric Hays Memorial at Park City kicked off with open slalom races on the 17^th, drawing athletes from all over the Intermountain region. Maddie Ferris, our SVSEF Athlete of the Month for November for demonstrating high levels of dedication and motivation in the dryland season, finished fourth in the women’s race. Teammate Lily Fitzgerald was seventh, Molly Milgard 17^th, Katelyn Rathfon 18^th, Merumo Ishimaru 19^th, Carlota Pomes 27^th and Grace Pepin 32^nd. Bennett Snyder led the charge for SVSEF in the men’s slalom with a ninth place finish. Kristian DeWolfe was 12^th, Hayden Terjeson 12^th, and Thomas Klose 14^th. Also finishing in the top 30 was Cooper Dart in 16^th, Buey Grossman in 18^th, Matt O’Connor 19^th, Jack Smith 20^th, Carter Jendrezak 22^nd, Max Noddings 23^rd, Wyatt Minor 24^th and Noah Leininger 26^th.
 
Racing continued on the 18^th with a second slalom. Merumo Ishimaru, a Community School student who hails from Hokkaido, Japan and is part of the Sun Valley Ski Academy, skied a strong race and finished on the podium in second place. Lily Fitzgerald narrowly missed joining her, finishing in fourth. Molly Milgard was sixth, Katelyn Rathfon 10^th, Alli Rathfon 11^th, Carlota Pomes 14^th and Grace Pepin 20^th. Bennett Snyder again had the top SVSEF finish of the day in the men’s race, coming in fifth. Right behind him was teammate Kristian DeWolfe in sixth and Jack Smith in eighth. Charlie Lamb secured a top-15 spot in 15^th, Carter Jendrezak was 16^th, Buey Grossman 21^st, Jake Blackburn 23^rd, Max Noddings 25^th and Noah Leininger 28^th.
 
Yesterday’s race was a giant slalom, and two SVSEF athletes came out swinging to take one-two on the day in the women’s event. Alli Rathfon took the win, and Lily Fitzgerald was second, .06 seconds off the winning time. Katelyn Rathfon finished fifth, Merumo Ishimaru ninth, Marit Kaiser 19^th, Maddie Ferris 23^rd, Carlota Pomes 25^th, Sage Holter 26^th, and Molly Milgard 29^th. Bennett Snyder broke through in the men’s race, also securing a podium with a second place finish. A solid grouping of SVSEF athletes followed, with Charlie Lamb in seventh, Wyatt Minor in eighth, Max Noddings in ninth, Buey Grossman in 10^th and Jack Smith in 12^th. Noah Leininger finished 14^th, Charlie Stumph 15^th, Cooper Dart 18^th, Hayden Terjeson 20^th, Carter Jendrezak tied for 23^rd and Julian Plank was 26^th.
 
Today is the final day of racing, with a second giant slalom.
 
Complete results

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Freestyle kicks off competition at U.S. Selections in Winter Park

 
Winter Park in Colorado is currently hosting Freestyle U. S. Selections, which serve the purpose of qualifying skiers for NorAm competition starts, and possibly U.S. World Cup starts. The events draw highly qualified competitors from all over the U.S., as they’re a stepping stone to national and international events. Athletes competed yesterday in moguls, and will again compete on Wednesday in moguls and Thursday in dual moguls. SVSEF’s Eliza Marks put down a solid result with a 41st place finish, in a field of competitors from China, Austria, Australia, and across the U.S. Eliza was the youngest athlete in the women’s event, and competed against women up to ten years her senior. Holden Largay led the charge in men’s moguls for SVSEF, finishing 18^th. Brody Buchwalter was 46^th, Luke Rizzo 47^th, Alex LaFleur 50^th, Hunter Diehl 57^th and Wilson Dunn 58^th in a highly competitive field of 67. The competition continues Wednesday – stay tuned.
 
Complete results