Hagenbuch, Palmer-Leger Medal at Nordic Junior World Championships
SVSEF Cross Country Comp Team athlete Johnny Hagenbuch was part of the men’s winning relay team in the 4x5km for a second year in a row at Junior World Championships on March 6, 2020. SVSEF teammate Sydney Palmer-Leger led the charge in the opening leg for the women’s team in the 4×3.3km relay – they took home silver. Both athletes qualified for the FIS sanctioned event in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, which hosted skiers from 40 countries. Photos by @flyingpoint.
Week in Review: December 18
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ALPINE
FIS Open Tech series at Snow King
FIS athletes traveled to Jackson Hole for an Open Tech series at Snow King; over the course of four days, skiers competed in two slalom and two giant slalom races. SVSEF athletes walked away from the event with multiple podiums and winning runs; a good sign of things to come this season. Notably, Jack Smith claimed victory in both of the men’s giant slalom races (December 17 and 18). Lily Fitzgerald also skied onto the podium in the women’s giant slalom on December 17, finishing third behind Isabel Grondin and Zazie Huml. Bridger Harrison and Bennett Synder each had winning runs, in the giant slalom and slalom, respectively. Sage Curtis, a first year who made the flip this year from the USSA team, had a significant result in the first giant slalom, finishing 23rd overall. Alison Rathfon broke the top 10 twice (seventh in December 15th slalom, eighth in December 17th giant slalom). In an extraordinary instance of familial coordination, brothers Bennett and Will (alum) Snyder tied for seventh in the men’s opening slalom on December 15. Will also scored a top result in the slalom on December 16, taking bronze. "It was a good weekend; our skiers approached their races with good attitudes, despite tough conditions," said SVSEF Alpine Program Director Will Brandenburg. "There was better skiing out there than results, and we had really good results – it shaped up to be a nice series."
FULL RESULTS
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SNOWBOARD
Alum Chase Josey found the podium a second weekend in a row, this time in the Dew Tour modified superpipe at Breckenridge on Saturday, December 15. In the new Dew Tour event, which included slopestyle jumps at the beginning and end of the run, Josey finished second in the event, behind Australian Scotty James (who also won last week’s Grand Prix event at Copper). The alum scored 88.33 on his second run, securing his silver medal at the event.
TEAM USA WRITE-UP
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CROSS COUNTRY
SVSEF, along with Galena Lodge and BCRD, hosted its annual Winterstart race at Galena to kick off the local competition season. The event drew 80 participants, most of whom were SVSEF athletes. Leading the charge in the four-lap (roughly 8km) category was Gold Team skier Peter Holmes, who finished in 19:07. Behind him were Adam Witkowski (20:05) and Scott Schultz (20:31) to round out the podium. The three-lap category was dominated by SVSEF skiers, as well; Bjorn Halvorsen won with a time of 16:03, followed by Anja Grover in 17:49 and Sammy Smith one second behind Anja in third. In the group that completed two laps, Prep Team skier Holden Archie topped the field, finishing in 12:33. Berkeley Canfield was second in 12:43, and Teddy Hobbs third in 14:10. Sven Halvorsen, McCallen Campbell and Zach Quesnel went one-two-three on the single lap, and Levi Reuner, Duncan Freyberger and Anne O’Sullivan did the same in the mini loop category. SVSEF athletes head to Bozeman this weekend for their first JNQ of the season. Gold, PG and Comp athletes are also gearing up for U.S. Nationals, which will be held at Craftsbury, Vermont, in early January. Kevin Bolger, who narrowly missed qualifying for heats in the final sprint race of Period 1 on the World Cup circuit in Davos, Switzerland, has a break from racing before Period 2 picks up in Toblach, Italy.
FULL RESULTS - WINTERSTART
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Week in Review: 12/4/18
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We're back with the Week in Review; a look at what SVSEF athletes have been up to in their competitions and travels.
ALPINE
SVSEF FIS athletes competed at Copper in giant slalom and super G events. In the November 26 giant slalom, Bridger Harrison finished 33rd overall, and Jack Smith did not finish. In the following day’s giant slalom, the roles were reversed; Jack skied to 28th, while Harrison did not finish. Competition switched gears to super G on November 28, with two competitions (one to replace a race intended to be held November 29). Jack Smith, Bridger Harrison and Bennett Snyder all stepped it up with solid runs and a tight grouping in both races. In the morning, Jack was 15th, Bridger 16th and Bennett Snyder 18th. In the second race of the day, Bennett finished 13th, Bridger 16th and Jack 17th; this was a significant result for the team, as it was SVSEF’s first ever U18 podium sweep at a FIS sanctioned competition.
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Cate Brams (l), Johnny Hagenbuch (r), photos by Ian Harvey
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CROSS COUNTRY
SVSEF Comp, PG and Gold Team athletes spent two weekends racing on the Rendezvous trails in West Yellowstone, Montana. On November 24, athletes competed in a 5/10k freestyle FIS race. Comp team skier Johnny Hagenbuch took an impressive second place in a field of top collegiate and professional athletes, and Gold Team skier Adam Luban took fourth. In the women’s field, Comp team athlete Sydney Palmer-Leger was seventh and Gold Team skier Katie Feldman was tenth. Athletes returned to West Yellowstone for the SuperTour season opener on December 1-2.
The first race of the SuperTour opening weekend was a 1.5k freestyle sprint. First-year Gold Team athlete and former Middlebury skier Adam Luban led the charge, skiing into the men’s final heat and finishing fourth overall behind Andy Newell, Ben Lustgarten and Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier. Teammate Peter Holmes qualified for semifinals, finishing tenth overall in the men’s field. Top racers in the women’s field for SVSEF were Katie Feldman in 16th, Maddie Morgan in 19th, and Ella Jackson (Aus) in 20th. In the junior men’s field, Adam Witkowski had a solid effort, making it to finals and skiing to sixth overall. Haydn Halvorsen was first across the line in the B final. Jake Jampel was also in the B final, and landed 12th overall. Starting her season off strong was Sophia Mazzoni, who won the Junior Women’s sprint in a time of 3:23.35. Teammate Anja Jensen joined her in the final and on the podium in third. SVSEF had four athletes in the B final; Sydney Palmer-Leger won the B final and finished seventh, Logan Smith finished eighth, Jenna Nurge ninth and Heidi Booher tenth.
Sunday’s race was a 10/15k freestyle. Johnny Hagenbuch mirrored his success from the previous week with a fifth place overall finish in the men’s 15k, and was the first U18 finisher. Peter Holmes tied for eighth, Adam Luban was 13th, and alum Eli Jensen (now skiing for the University of Montana) rounded out the top 20, tied for 20th. Sydney Palmer-Leger led the SVSEF women, skiing to fifth in the women’s 10k. Katie Feldman also broke the top ten in eighth.
In the U18/20 division, Johnny Hagenbuch was first and Scott Schulz fourth. Sydney Palmer-Leger was first for U18/20 women, followed by Anja Jensen in third, Sophia Mazzoni fifth, Lily Brunelle sixth, and Heidi Booher and Jenna Nurge tenth and 11th.
FIS WOMEN'S 5K FREESTYLE RESULTS
FIS MEN'S 10K FREESTYLE RESULTS
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Adam Luban (r) in fourth in the men's SuperTour sprint
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WORLD CUP
Gold Team athlete Kevin Bolger is representing the U.S. on the World Cup circuit for the 2018-2019 season. Opening races were held in Kuusamo, Finland; Kevin finished 55th in the 1.4k classic sprint (second U.S. skier behind teammate Erik Bjornsen) and 63rd in the 15k classic. The team moved onto Lillehammer, Norway, where the weekend again began with a sprint, this time freestyle. Kevin was again the second fastest American (after veteran Simi Hamilton), skiing to 61st. In the 15k freestyle race, Kevin was 68th, and in Sunday’s 15k classic pursuit, he finished 59th. The team is currently in Beitostolen, Norway, training for this weekend’s 15/30k freestyle and 4x5/4x7.5k relay.
WORLD CUP RESULTS
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FIS Summer: Training in Argentina
For a high-level alpine athlete, training on snow in the summer is an opportunity to develop strength, slow down and get a feel for the surface – it’s a chance to focus on fundamentals and movement, and to build an athletic base for the upcoming winter season. Seven SVSEF alpine FIS athletes are taking advantage of the fact it’s winter in the southern hemisphere; they’re nearing the end of a three-week training trip in Argentina. The coaching staff is comprised of Scott McGrew, alpine program director, Nate Schwing, FIS head coach and Tanner Farrow, a SVSEF alumni, former U.S. alpine D Team skier and current alpine athlete at University of Denver.
Ushuaia, nicknamed “the end of the world” because of its geographical location (the old exile community sits on the southern coast of the South American continent), has been a collision of beauty and functionality for the FIS group. “The mountains meet the ocean in a ‘raw’ (Tanner’s adjective) display of giant snow covered peaks, stark winter greys, and friendly people,” explained McGrew. “Although it hasn’t been particularly cold, the humidity penetrates everything and creates a magnificent place to train. The snow is hard, and getting harder. The trails are long, with terrain changes; primary slopes are closed for race training; everything culminates with a feeling of total commitment from the resort to support high level alpine training.”
McGrew also commended the high quality of the training venue – French, Italian, Austrian, Slovenian, Russian and other National Ski Federations have poured millions of dollars towards the creation of A-netted training slopes with high water content snowguns lining the sides. To McGrew, who has traveled to a number of places in the southern hemisphere over the years, “this place stands alone with regard to its attention to detail and surface conditions.”
The layout of the trip has been straightforward and focused: the athletes went through specific training blocks in Ushuaia, before moving on to northern Patagonia and Bariloche for training and competition the final week. A daily schedule for the athletes has looked something like this:
7:30 a.m. – Breakfast
8:15. – Depart for the hill
9:30 – Load chair
Warm up for one hour (which, said McGrew, “drives a deeper sense of professionalism and attention to detail. This has been a big objective of the camp…warmups are an essential part of creating a mindset and approach to productive training.”)
10:30-2 p.m. – Train (“Being at sea level,” McGrew pointed out, “we have the opportunity to push hard. Volume and quality are the goals, and this venue affords us the opportunity to pursue both.”)
2:30-3:30 – Lunch at the mountain
4:30 – Arrive back at the hotel, followed by downtime or light dryland and recovery
6:30 – Video review
7:30 Dinner and team meeting
9pm – Rooms and shut down
The first block of training focused on giant slalom, with daily sessions on a full-length GS hill called Las Rocas. This was followed by a day off (and some exploring of the local area), and then the start of a slalom block, where sessions featured paneled slalom and timed training, with an emphasis on intensity out of the gate and speed generation. On monitoring and improving upon the athletes’ progress, McGrew said, “we have timing, splits, and video in the daily lineup, which has provided a solid framework for the athletes to benchmark their progress and compare themselves with their teammates. The pace is fast and the group has done a great job of staying engaged and focused.” Another six-day giant slalom block was followed by a well-deserved day off. McGrew shared this anecdote about a foray into Argentine culture by way of an indoor soccer venue:
This was a special treat and there is no question we were the first foreign ski racers to ever step foot in the facility. Our bus driver, Pepe, and his 16-year old son helped set up the friendly match with a local high school team. It was a unique experience and one that we won’t soon forget (they provided the jerseys). We were the center of a lot of attention; something you eventually get used to…
The athletes and coaches were also able to get a feel for their surroundings with a tour of the Beagle Channel, which McGrew said “was a nice way to get some perspective and appreciate the massive expanse that defines the Tierra del Fuego.”
Another slalom block began, but was disrupted by a stomach bug that made its way through the group. With a strict regimen of good hygiene and rest,, the FIS athletes resumed training and moved onto Bariloche, where there are currently competing at Cerro Catedral (click here for results).
All in all, it’s been an eventful trip, with value that comes not only with training on snow, but with the experience of travel. McGrew summed it up nicely:
The experience of international travel is, and has always been, a test of patience and of one’s ability to focus on finding creative solutions to new situations. Being in Argentina comes with a host of new scenarios – the language barriers, the general dysfunction, and the flair for living in the moment often takes us off guard as we tend to operate on a different set of infrastructural expectations. This is a colorful way of saying that South America is a totally different scenario from what we are used to, and can be unpredictable.
Being comfortable with unpredictability will translate on and off the snow; among other things, this trip has been a lesson in that.
The Week in Review: 3/14/17
I AM SVSEF
“I am SVSEF” is an opportunity each week to highlight our athletes for demonstrating the core values of the organization.
Sportsmanship • Citizenship • Character • Teamwork • Creativity • Passion • Perseverance
CROSS COUNTRY: From Prep Team Head Coach, Kelley Sinnott:
This week’s I am SVSEF athlete for cross country is Prep Team skier Sebi Radl-Jones. Sebi has been a member of the cross country team since he was old enough to join, and from the moment forward has been an ever-positive, enthusiastic force. This season Sebi has grown into not only a positive team member, but a strong leader on the cross country prep team. He demonstrates all of the core values of the svsef and consequently has a great effect on all those around him.
- Sportsmanship Sebi is a cheerleader for all of his teammates on the race course or in hard workouts. No matter how he is feeling, he is always encouraging those around him.
- Citizenship Sebi is the first person to say thank you or offer to help a teammate or coach – he can be counted on both on and off the ski trails.
- Character Sebi is supportive and positive but also well-rounded and grounded; he is strong when he needs to be, but also compassionate and thoughtful. Sebi stands up for his teammates and is dependable.
- Teamwork In an individual sport it can be hard to find the team unity, but it is an important part of a skier’s success. Sebi seems to have realized this at a young age and is always encouraging his teammates, pushing them harder while still cheering for them.
- Creativity Sebi seems to see the beauty in skiing.
- Passion While he does balance school work and the cross country team, it is also very apparent that skiing is Sebi’s true passion. He has a true love for the sport, and his energy and passion for it rubs off on others.
- Perseverance This is a tough sport – it is tough training, tough racing, tough physically and it is tough mentally – yet somehow Sebi’s passion for it never wanes. One of the hardest concepts to grasp in ski racing is that no matter how hard you train and work, sometimes races don’t go your way. The only answer is to push on and keep working; to persevere and keep trying. Sebi might not have his most successful competitive season, but it hasn’t ever affected his hard work and positive mental attitude. He continues to work, to push his teammates and himself and to do so with positivity, passion and more enthusiasm than most people we know.
FREESTYLE: From Jennifer Diehl, freestyle/freeskiing prep and devo team manager:
For this week, Freestyle’s I am SVSEF athlete is Zeppelin Pilaro, who skis on the Freestyle/Freeski Prep Team. Zeppelin possesses a carefree yet passionate approach to everything he does on ski team. He is kind to his teammates, respectful of his coaches, embraces challenges with ease and looks at competition as just another fun experience. His progression in the air and on the snow have come so far this year and all the coaches see great potential in this young, quiet yet dynamic soul. Cheers to you, Zeppelin!
PARK & PIPE: The Park & Pipe athlete this week is freeskier Luke Higgins. According to coach Tyler Conway, “he has been sitting back, keeping it mild and waiting for the right time to ramp up his progression. With the warm weather, slushy snow and sunshine, Luke pushed himself to a new degree and took his skiing to a higher level, with bigger jumps and bigger spins. Great job and way to keep the stoke alive!”
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: 3/14/17
FREESKIING
Hanna Blackwell, a skier on the Freeski Travel Team, has qualified for the FIS Halfpipe Junior World Championships this year. The event will be held in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, from March 24-26. This is a unique and exciting opportunity for Hanna to get some international experience under her belt. The athlete has been working hard in the pipe this year, and has taken advantage of opportunities to travel regionally throughout the season; this marks a major step up in that regard.
ALPINE
FIS
FIS athletes have been competing at Schweitzer Mountain, in fields of 75-90 competitors. SVSEF women started off strong and stayed consistent throughout the week: Haley Cutler took a big win in the giant slalom on March 9, with Erin Smith right behind in second. Four out of the top 10 spots went to SVSEF; Katelyn Rathfon finished eighth, and Skylar Cooley was ninth. Haley kept up the momentum in the following women’s events; she was second in the slalom on March 10, and won another giant slalom race on March 12. In that race, SVSEF again took a number of top spots; Erin Smith finished second, Skylar Cooley seventh and Katelyn Rathfon eighth. On the men’s side of competition, SVSEF showed depth, with different athletes breaking the top ten in each event. Hayden Terjeson was sixth in the men’s super G on March 9, and Spencer Wright was ninth. In the slalom March 10, Filippo Collini and Duncan Fuller went nine-ten. March 11 was another super G, and this go-round it was John Blackburn in fifth and Yuri McClure in ninth. The giant slalom on March 13 saw Duncan Fuller in sixth, and teammates Spencer Wright in 12th and Cooper Dart in an impressive 14th.
Full results
CROSS COUNTRY
Comp/PG Teams
Thirteen SVSEF athletes competed at Junior Nationals in Lake Placid, New York, representing the Intermountain Division. Sarah Goble, a PG skier, raced for the Great Lakes Division, and Bentley Walker-Broose, an Australian skier who has been training with SVSEF, raced as a guest.
According to Program Director Rick Kapala, who coached the IMD team for the week-long event, this was one of SVSEF’s better Junior Nationals in recent years. The team had a number of different kids skiing to the top of their race classes. Said Kapala, “we were fortunate that our athletes stayed relatively healthy this season. The last few weeks of preparation were pretty good; we weren’t struggling with illness, and were able to execute workouts.” This meant that the team was able to arrive at Lake Placid with maximum potential to secure good results. It was also beneficial that some of the athletes have been to JNs in the past, so they knew what to expect, and that this group trains consistently at altitude, which helped the skiers get up and over the hills that were featured on the challenging 2.5km course. All courses were moved to the backup site of the Olympic Jumping Complex from Mt. Van Hoevenberg, due to lack of snow. By the end of it all, they’d seen a little bit of everything weather-wise, from moderate temperatures, to t-shirt and klister weather for the classic sprint, to -6 degrees with 20mph winds on the last day of competition with team sprints.
The kids had a decent first day of racing with the distance skate on Monday. Johnny Hagenbuch took home silver in the U16 men’s division. Kapala felt like the group really warmed to the challenge for the following competition and the rest of the week, with solid results across the board in the classic distance and the relay.
Johnny continued his week of strong finishes on Wednesday, making it to the U16 final heat in the classic sprint, and finishing fourth. He won the classic 5km distance race on Friday, and was on the winning relay team for his age class on Saturday. Anja Jensen made the final B heat for U16 women, and finished second in that heat and eighth overall. In his final individual race, Peter Wolter was second in the U20 men’s 15km race. Teammate Eli Jensen finished sixth in the same race. Peter and Eli were on the third-placing relay team on Saturday, and Ella Wolter and Anja Jensen were together on the fifth-placing relay team for U16 girls.
As a club, SVSEF ended the week third in the country. IMD was second in divisional standings. Kapala noted the importance of this. “It means that the standard of competition in our conference is quite high, which is important in our efforts to help our kids elevate their skiing. If the athletes our kids are racing against divisionally are good, they have an appropriate challenge around them. It’s important and encouraging to know this, as it gives our younger athletes the ability to come to the conclusion that there’s no reason we can’t build on the success of this year, and keep the momentum going for next year. They’re still growing and getting stronger, and this gives us something to work towards.”
Full results here
Comp/Prep Teams
From Prep Team Head Coach, Kelley Sinnott:
The SVSEF Cross Country Team travelled to Bend, Oregon this past weekend to compete in the Cascade Crest Marathon at Mt.Bachelor. Skiers from both the Comp Team and Prep Progresssion team raced three different distances, on what ended up being a warm yet wet, snowy day on the Bachelor trails. Landon Paschall and Cooper Roquet competed in the 25km race and Taylor Dorland in the beginner 10km race, while the rest of the skiers entered the 12.5km x four person 50km relay category. Teams were: Team “Kelley Rocks”; Fisher Gardner, Logan Smith, Luci Ludwig and Blake DeHart, Team “Sioux City Sasparilla”; Chloe Tanous, Jenna Nurge, Kirsys Campbell, and JHSC coach Tamsen Kaylor, Team “You’ve Probably Heard Of Us”; Kate Horowitz, Tia Vontver, Kiran Merchant and SV coach Ashley Knox.
The fast skis paid off for the Sun Valley crew, which notched a good set of podiums:
Cooper Roquet was third overall in the 25km and first in his U18 men’s age class, while Landon Paschall was second in the U18 men’s age class. Taylor Dorland finished first in the women’s category and second overall in the 10km individual race. In the relay category, “Sioux City Sasparilla” was first in the women’s division, Team “Kelley Rocks” was first in the mixed division and Team “You’ve Probably Heard of Us” was third in the mixed division.
Full results here
Gold Team
Cole Morgan, Jack Hegman and Matt Gelso are off to Quebec City for World Cup Finals, March 17-19. Deedra Irwin traveled back home to the Midwest, and won the Great Bear Chase 50km skiathlon in Calumet, Michigan; the event had a field of 20 women, and featured both classic and skate technique.
Full results here
The Week in Review – 12/27/16
With the holidays and all, this week’s update is brief – best wishes for a happy and safe new year.
SVSEF Freestyle Team takes on training and competition in Colorado
The SVSEF Freestyle Team spent two weeks leading up to the holidays in Colorado for training and competition. The first week was comprised of camps in Vail and Aspen, where athletes were able to apply tricks they have been working on all summer in the Air Barn. Brody Buchwalter made a big breakthrough, as this was his first time back on snow after taking last season off due to injury.
The second half of the trip took place in Winter Park for U.S. Selections, where the top 50 athletes in the country competed for starts in NorAm and World Cup events. The caliber of the athletes in the field was extremely high; there were four U.S. Ski Team athletes, U.S. athlete Bryon Wilson, winner of a bronze medal at the 2010 Olympic games, and several international athletes. Holden Largay and Eliza Marks led the charge for SVSEF, and both earned an alternate spot on the tour. Largay finished 18th in the mogul event on December 19, and Marks’ best finish was 34th in dual moguls on December 22.
Freestyle athletes next compete at the Intermountain Season Opener in Snowbird, January 6-8.
Complete results
Freeskiing takes advantage of park and pipe features in Park City
Six SVSEF freeski athletes made their way to Park City December 18-22 for some valuable training on park and pipe features, as they are not yet available here in Sun Valley. Skiers had access to two medium/large jumps, which enabled them to work on slopestyle runs. The athletes were also able to spend time on nearly 20 different rail features, which were changed around each night for variety. In total, the group fit in three and a half days of skiing, with the added bonus of being able to practice on the 20x12-foot trampolines at the Center of Excellence.
Alpine FIS competes at Steamboat
SVSEF alpine FIS athletes competed in three slalom races in Steamboat, December 19-21. Erin Smith led the women on December 19 in 16th, followed by Skylar Cooley in 21st, PG skier Ruby Marden in 24th and PG Ella Pepin 36th out of a total of 68 athletes. Duncan Fuller and John Blackburn recorded DNFs for the day. The next day, Skylar Cooley finished 23rd and Ruby Marden, a postgrad, finished 46th in a field of 78 competitors. Teammates Erin Smith and Ella Pepin (PG) recorded DNFs. Duncan Fuller was 31st in the men’s event, which saw a total of 67 athletes, and John Blackburn had a DNF. In the final slalom on December 21, Marden landed 35th in a field of 57 women, and teammates Cooley, Pepin and Smith did not finish. Duncan Fuller cruised to 43rd in the men’s race, which fielded 71 athletes. Right behind him in 44th was teammate John Blackburn.
Complete results
FIS Athletes Start Off Strong at Copper
SVSEF alpine FIS skiers had a successful start to the season on snow with super G and giant slalom races down at Copper Mountain in Colorado. Athletes competed in two super G and two giant slalom events. In the women’s first super G on November 28, Haley Cutler, a SVSEF PG athlete, skied to 15th place. Skylar Cooley was 18th and Erin Smith was 24th. Kipling Weisel, a SVSEF Gold Team skier, grabbed the win in the men’s event on the same day with a time of 1:06.81. John Blackburn was 34th and Spencer Wright was 39th. In the second super G race on November 29, Cutler finished sixth, Smith 8th and Cooley 22nd. In the men’s race, Wright was 42nd and Blackburn 45th. The athletes transitioned to giant slalom for the following two days. On November 30, Cutler cruised to 17th and Ruby Marden to 49th. Cooley and Smith did not finish their first run of the day. Blackburn skied to 55th on the men’s side, and Wright to 76th. On December 1, Cutler finished 11th, Smith 23rd and Cooley 38th for the women. Blackburn skied an impressive race, as he started with bib 76 and finished in 28th in the men's event. Filippo Collini skied into 57th and Wright finished 64th.
Full results: http://data.fis-ski.com/alpine-skiing/results.html
Chuck Harris Signs On as SVSEF Alpine Men's FIS Prep Head Coach
For the 2015-2016 season, the SVSEF Alpine Team restructured the way teams were broken down; instead of dividing groups by age, the team transitioned to an “event series” approach, with each team being managed and each group training according to their particular race series. This allowed for more options and potential growth for each athlete. To further specify and support the FIS Team going into the 2016-2017 season, the Alpine Team has further delineated the programming, and will be adding a Men’s FIS Prep Program. The FIS and FIS Prep teams are differentiated based on USSA points. With this new change, SVSEF has hired a head coach for the Men’s FIS Prep Program. SVSEF welcomes Chuck Harris to the program, who comes to us with over 20 years of coaching experience.
Harris was born in Portland, Oregon, and attended Eastern Oregon University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in History. He proceeded to direct and lead ski programs across the country, thereby gaining ample familiarity with various programs and with different approaches to coaching and FIS programming, specifically. From 1994 through 1999 he was the Men’s FIS Coach at Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont, and from 1999 through 2002 he coached both Men’s and Women’s FIS for Ski Club Vail in Colorado. He continued his travels westward, acting as the McCall Ski Racing Team Program Director for FIS/U16 from 2002 through 2014 in Idaho and the head U16 coach at Jackson Hole Ski Club in Wyoming from 2014 through 2016.
SVSEF is eager to have Harris on board. Commented SVSEF Alpine Program Director, Scott McGrew, “his attention to detail, adept technical knowledge, and commitment to athletic and character development will be a great value to our club and we are excited to welcome Chuck into our community.”
FIS Skiers Bring the Heat Down Under
As a part of their New Zealand training trip, the FIS crew raced in the Cardrona FIS series August 1 and 2. The athletes competed in giant slalom and slalom, and competed against skiers from around the world; Germany, Canada, South Korea, Great Britain and Italy were some of the countries represented at the races. A total of 14 SVSEF FIS skiers and two alumni competed; John Blackburn, Duncan Fuller, Yuri McClure, Noah Leininger, Ian Hanna, Carter Jendrezak, Jake Blackburn, Matt O’Connor, Max Noddings, Filippo Collini, Stockton Troyer (SVSEF Alum), Will Snyder (SVSEF Alum), Ruby Marden, Ella Pepin, Skylar Cooley and Grace Pepin represented the organization.
In the ladies’ giant slalom, Skylar Cooley and Ella Pepin had strong results in a field of 45 skiers, finishing 12th and 19th, respectively. Standout performances in the men’s race came from Yuri McClure, who posted his second best point result ever and placed sixth out of 91 racers. Filippo Collini made huge strides, rising to 20th place from start number 83. Will Snyder, a SVSEF alum, finished 16th.
In the slalom races the next day, Ella Pepin broke the top 10 with a ninth place finish in a field of 40 racers. Skylar Cooley was right behind her in 10th, and Grace Pepin had a strong race, landing in 12th. A number of SVSEF men had notable results in the slalom. John Blackburn finished 17th out of 84 competitors, which was his career best FIS point result in slalom. Filippo Collini was 21st, again moving up significantly in the start list, this time from 70th. Matt O’Connor finished 24th, also making big gains from his start number of 79. Yuri McClure was 26th, Carter Jendrezak was 30th, Max Noddings was 35th and Jake Blackburn was 37th.
The FIS athletes will continue training at Roundhill Ski Area until they travel to Coronet Peak for two giant slalom and two slalom events, August 8 through 11.
For full results:
Ladies’ Giant Slalom
Men’s Giant Slalom
Ladies’ Slalom
Men’s Slalom