Alpine

U19 Athletes

This last week, we had most of our group at home training and prepping for Lutsen. We’ve moved to one day less of skiing for this month, substituting an extra day in the gym and a little more rest. We’re into the final push of the season and we are looking for quality training, keeping our kids strong, and fresh as we move forward. But we also had three athletes, Jett Seymour, Ellese Lupori, and Mary Kate Hackworthy, at Copper for the U19 National Championships.

We started off the series with the tech events and Ryan Wilson came down to lend support to our athletes and help with watching video between runs for those events while Eric was helping with the Rocky-Central Team. Thank you Ryan for taking your days off to be there for our kids.
It really was a great benefit to our athletes.

On Sunday, we started with the Slalom and some high expectations. We were not disappointed with Jett Seymour, doing what he’s been doing all season long, moving from 28th to 5th with two solid runs. Ellese had a solid day as well, going from 28th to 20th and Mary Kate from 61st to 40th.

You have to remember that these are the best of the best U19s in his country and we’re very proud of their accomplishments so far and their ability to move up in this field.

Monday was the GS with Jett going from 28th to 38th after some bad luck first run. And Ellese going from 47th to 32nd, followed by Mary Kate landing in 35th starting from 63.

Tuesday was the SG, with Jett landing in 41st and Mary Kate in 39th. The SG was a very fast, open set which I would say is not our strength as far as course sets go, and the times were very tight, but our kids did a good job at executing. Ellese opted out of the SG.

In the DH races, Mary Kate was our sole athlete remaining and she had a great showing, finishing up 27th and 26th in the two DH races with her two best results to date in that event. The highlight of the race was she clocked the 5th and 2nd fastest speeds in the speed traps at 70+ MPH!

Most of our team is currently in Lutsen, MN now…wish them luck for the next four days of competition!

U16 Athletes

Cole Puckett enjoying a real Italian cappuccino during the Trofeo Topolino Youth Championships.

Here is a quick update on SSWSC U16 Alpine Racers.

Cole Puckett recently returned from the Trofeo Topolino, Italy Competition where he finished as the top American Male skier in both the SL(8th) and GS(18th) in a strong international field. We are very proud of the way Cole skied and represented SSWSC at this international competition.

-Below are some highlights and perspective of the event from Rocky Central Regional Coach Ian Dunlop.

Fifteen U16 Alpine Athletes have qualified for the Rocky Central Regional Championships- Vail, CO March 12-17. Steamboat U16 athletes are looking forward to competing in the DH/SG/GS and SL competitions, with DH training runs beginning this Saturday.

Sequoia Anstine
Alexandra Blair
Margaret Dickson
Amber Elliott
Olivia Flake
Lacie Greenwald
Taylor Olson
Hannah Soria

Kyler Armstrong
Kyle Kagan
Jake Olson
Cole Puckett
Colton Sankey
Chase Seymour
Trey Seymour

http://sscvevents.wix.com/vailjuniorchamps

Email from Ian Dunlop-
What an unbelievable day at Trofeo Topolino! Conditions on the race hill were outstanding! The weather was a perfect! The courses were challenging yet allowed the athletes to push and take risks! Burke Fancher moved from a start position of 69 to 15th place overall! Cole Puckett showed some real guts on the second run and moved himself into 8th place! Isaiah Nelson pushed the limits both runs and unfortunately paid a price by hiking in the second run, still a great experience against a top notch field. The ladies also had a great day. Cleo Braun skied into 7th place from 27th start position. Tegan Wold landed in 12th from the 42nd start position. And Ainsley Proffit jumped from 77th start position to 35th overall. This was no easy field to move around in. To give some perspective, the 7 nations cup SL champion, Riccardo Allegrini ended up 4th in today’s race, while today’s winner on the men’s side Francesco Colombi from Italy had recently ended up in 4th place at the same 7 Nations Cup slalom race.  This race is no joke. The best Europeans are here and the athletes are doing great!

The culture keeps coming at us as well. Coach John Kemp and myself were invited to the Nation’s Party tonight where we enjoyed traditional Trento cuisine while each nation offered gifts to the hosts. They even had the band do a cover of AC/DC’s Thunder Struck to please the Rocky Central RC/RC theme.

Hello everyone!

We’ve finally made it home! I meant to send an update before leaving Milan, but travel wouldn’t allow. A story for another time.

What a final day of racing! We were thrown yet another challenge. A challenge we’re familiar with in RC, lots of snow! The jury made a quick decision to go with a one run race. I tried to object to the decision knowing our athletes had the advantage in the soft stuff, however the jury seemed satisfied with their decision to make it a quick one and done race. Game on!

Results attached, but here’s a quick run down.
Cleo Braun ended up 4th! What a result! Congrats!
Tegan Wold – 24th
Ainsley Proffit – 31st

Cole Puckett – 18th, just one second off the podium, tight field would have made for a great second run.
Burke Fancher – 19th
Isaiah Nelson – 53rd

U16 Council Cup:
U16 athletes raced in the Council Cup Ski Race at Ski Cooper last weekend. The athletes, coaches and families had a great time and we had some strong results.

Amanda Engstrand- 2nd- SG, 4th and 6th- SL
Lacie Greenwald- 10th and 10th- SG, 5th and 11th- GS, 8th and 9th- SL
Jack Rotermund- 13th- SG, 5th and 8th- GS, 4th and 9th- SL
Kendall Flake- 15th SL

U14 Athletes

This past week, U14 Alpine Team Grizzly sent 11 athletes down to Ski Cooper atop Tennessee Pass to compete in the 2016 Council Cup! The athletes competed in Super-G, GS, and SL against strong competition who were all fighting for podiums and top-10 finishes. SSWSC athletes showed up to race, and it showed in their intensity, start focus, and how they attacked the race hill! Top finishers for the week included Jordan Simon, fresh back from injury (8th & 10th in SG, 4th & 7th in GS), Alden Wade (5th in SL), and Lily VanNess (10th in GS). Great effort Team Grizzly!

Lily VanNess (10th place SL)

Alden Wade (5th place SL)

U8 Athletes
U8 and U8+ had their end of season treasure hunt and dual races at Howelsen on Saturday. We all enjoyed the beautiful, warm weather as group found the treasure of a pair of SmartWool socks and a chocolate bar. I think the kids appreciated the chocolate and the parents were thrilled with the socks! Many parents joined in the race, trying to dual their child, but for some reason, the kids always came out on top! There were lots of smiles at each group’s award ceremonies and hugs as everyone said goodbye until next season. 

Coach Betsy and her U8 group at the top of the poma lift!

SSWSC hosted its first annual USSA Skills Quest tournament on Saturday, March 5. Skills Quest is a USSA program that grades athletes on fundamental ski skills. These skills make up the foundation of skiing: Balance, Pressure, Edging, Rotary.  It represents a quest toward and improving abilities in the key areas of emphasis. We tested athletes on Phase 1, 2 or 3 skills depending on their ability. Prizes from Christy Sports, our Steamboat Cup sponsor, were awarded to the top 5 individuals in each Phase.

Little Toots

Wednesday AM Little Toots

Wednesday PM Little Toots

Thursday AM Little Toots

Little Toots Carnival

Freeskiing

This past weekend was the Freeskiing teams last USASA Slopestyle Competition of the season.  We had great weather and the whole team skied well and had a lot of fun!  Now the team is waiting to see the final national rankings for the year to see if they will get an invite to nationals at Copper Mountain in April.

Attached is a photo of Ethan Dyer during training and Riley Jacobs on the podium.

Here’s the results from the weekend:
Skier Boys 10-12
Cael McCarthy – 6th
Will Gossman – 11
Owen Taylor – 13th
Wiley Wagner – 15th
Blake Clemente – 17th
Silas Leeson – 19th
Logan Spiegel – 21st

Skier Girls 10-12
Riley Jacobs – 1st

Skier Men 13-15
Liam Baxter – 6th
Max Sauerbrey – 15th
Alex Spiegel – 22nd
Mac Skov – 24th

Skier Men 16-18
Tim Kastelijns – 6th
Ethan Dyer – 8th

Ethan Dyer in Copper

Riley Jacobs on the Copper Podium

Telemark

SSWSC trained tele skiers did something pretty incredible this week in the US Tele Nationals (a FIS event).  In a field of the best US Tele skiers and Canada they had a sweep of all the men’s and women’s #1 podium spots for event.  For the women, current SSWSC skier Lyta Foulkwon the Classic, Sprint Classic, and Dual Sprint by very impressive margins (+10 seconds in the timed events).  The Dual Sprint is a head-to-head elimination format in which she was never really challenged.  Tanner Visnick had an equally impressive performance, winning all the events in a very strong men’s field.  Tanner is currently a sophomore at Montana State. Then to top it off, Jeffery Gay, former SSWSC and current senior at CU, was 2nd overall in the men’s event.  Jack Rosenthal finished 9th overall based on a strong finish in the Dual Sprint.  One of his best performances ever at a Nationals event.  He is currently a sophomore at Colorado School of Mines and an SSWSC trained athlete.  This is not the first time SSWSC athletes have won both the men’s and women’s titles, but it is the first time all the events were swept by the two top SSWSC athletes.  This is a testament to the strength of the SSWSC program and coaches. Read the USTSA Press Release Here

the three girls from the overall podium – Lyta #1, Farli Boden, Sandpoint, ID, #2 and Sarah Carley, Brentwood, NH, #3

Freestyle

Jaelin Kauf celebrates her World Cup Rookie of the Year win.
After posting the top finish for the U.S. team at the World Cup in Deer Valley in February, including her first career podium, Jaelin Kauf was named the 2016 FIS Freestyle moguls World Cup Rookie of the Year. “This season on the World Cup has been very exciting,” said Kauf. “It’s different, but it’s really fun. I had some great finishes and some not so great finishes, but it’s a learning experience and I’m really looking forward to next year.”