WE ARE RACING!
January racing was very much effected by Covid. Many races very moved back in the schedule. Even with all the effects of Covid we had athletes racing in IMD races and we had couple athletes participating in training and races in Europe.
We have younger groups skiing two Club Series events at JHMR.
U10's and U12's were at IMD events at Grand Targhee and Sun Valley.
U14's had a successful weekend at Sun Valley, ID.
U16's were at JHMR for three SG Qualifiers.
FIS athletes were racing in Colorado and Snow King. We currently have Oliver Parazette and Sophia Tozzi in Europe with US Ski Team projects.
Team Updates:
FIS Team Update:
The FIS squad is halfway through our on-snow training season. Our athletes with top attendance marks are approaching nearly 10,000 gate's since Nov. 1st. Training volume is making up for disrupted race schedules that have moved the majority of our team's races to the second half of the year. Our PG and NDG team athletes were able to compete in a significant amount of early season races, but our first years and FIS team athletes are just now getting a chance to jump in and compete in slalom for the second time and GS for the first time. This lengthy prep period has enabled our athletes to arrive well prepared for the races with almost every athlete already delivering personal bests and a host of podium finishes.
With our home hill FIS races complete for the season it's back on the road to compete. Our NDG athletes are competing overseas in development projects supported by the US Ski team. Our PG group will compete in a mix of FIS University races and Divisional opens. Our FIS group will also be competing in the Divisional opens in addition to USSA opens as they lower their national rankings to open the doors to more FIS starts.
This month also saw a return freeskiing at JHMR on Saturdays, team building exercises, athletes volunteering at races, and sunshine starting to peak over the king. Sunny days are ahead in all regards.
-Seppi Stiegler, Mike Syrovatka, Whitney Gardner
U16 Team Update:
After getting back from our early season Colorado camp we have been lucky to have phenomenal training here at Snow King! The cold and dry weather has created really good snow conditions for training and racing! The lack of early season races has made for more time to spend on fundamentals and technique! With that being said, I think we are all ready for a powder day in the near future!
We had our first race, the Wes Barron SG 1/14-1/17 which was held at JHMR under beautiful clear skies(can’t say that much during a speed event). We had Atticus Sanders, Cam Prichard and Kye Bessette snagging some top 10s for the U16s boys and Avery MacMillan with a couple top 15s for the girls! There was a lot of great skiing out there by all!
We have been putting a little more focus back into the tech events after having a few weeks of Super G focus. Our next race will be at Snow King for the Sean Nurse and soon after we have qualifiers at Snowbird!
We are looking forward to a safe, fun and successful rest of the season!
Kristin Waddle, Ned Lazarevic
U14 Team Update:
The season got off to a great start. We had excellent conditions at SK and were able to get through our Slalom and GS progressions with little to no interruptions. The athletes worked on the basic skills of balance, rotation, edging and pressure. This slowly progressed into a drill courses for both Slalom and GS. The holiday camp provided excellent training with solid snow conditions and training in the sun (as sunny as SK can be anyway). After the new year we were able to get back to JHMR for some excellent powder and big mountain skiing. A little bit of rain and then cold temperatures turned SK into world class training. It was a bit of a struggle at first but with time the U14’s really stepped up their intensity and improved on the icy surface.
We had our first races of the year in Sun Valley January 22 - 24. It consisted of 2 Sl which were contested in Haily at Rotorun ski hill and 1 GS at Warm Springs. The majority of athletes rode a palma lift for the first time and experienced old school ski racing. It was really a great experience and we looked forward to returning Rotorun. The athletes performed well in Sun Valley with several Top 15 results with Liam Logan and Oliver Sanders popping into the top 5 in the GS.
Overall it has been a great season and with us continuing to follow the guidelines we will get to see the end of the season with few if any interruptions.
Allen Clausen, Arianna Turner, Teagan Reilly, Wyatt Doyle, Jamie Stone
U12 Team Update:
We are skiing, racing, & smiling! Despite all the challenges related to COVID, the kids have been fantastic about wearing masks and keeping their distance and have shown that they are willing to do what it takes to continue skiing. The training at Snow King has been phenomenal and the team has been getting their laps in. We launched a U10/12 Sprongo page for at-home video review and content is being updated weekly. Unfortunately, our free-skiing days at the Village have been less than years past, however as things slow down in February, we plan to get back there on Saturdays and have even added an extra Sunday Funday.
Due to early-season race postponements, we raced back to back weekends in the IMD North Series and we're so proud of all of our Jackson athletes! At Targhee, Taryn Moe took home first place in both GS races and Lyvi Ulmer placed 3rd in the first GS race and Ruby Hoelscher 4th in the second GS race; on the men's side, Charlie Lighthart placed 4th in the first GS, Finn Beninga 4th in the second GS race, and Charlie Ryan scored a 3rd and the 4th place finish respectively. The U12 team had a blast at Rotarun for the Monroe Cup, a small 475' hill outside of Hailey, Idaho, where the racers lapped the warm-up courses all day and parents were able to tailgate in the sun (socially distanced of course) and cheer on their athletes. Charlie Ryan won the second SL and Ashton Ritter finished 4th in the first race and 3rd in the second race; on the ladies side, Taryn Moe won both races with Ruby Hoelscher close behind in 2nd both races, and Lyvi Ulmer in 4th both races. The first Club Series race also took place last Saturday at JHMR with Hennessey Van Gelder finishing in 4th and teammate Ruby Lindell in 5th; Emelyen Baev won the men's race with teammate Henry Schrauder finished 3rd.
At the U12 age level we will continue working on the FUNdamentals the remainder of the season, hopefully get a few more face shots (do your snow dances!), and will finish out the second half of the season with races at JHMR, Snow King, and Bogus Basin.
U10 Team Update:
The U10 Alpine season is rolling along, and our young athletes are thrilled to finally be competing. Since our first day on snow in December, our 7, 8, and 9 year olds have upwards of 30 days at Snowking. Despite a variety of adaptations to our schedule, and normal practices, the kids have embraced their time on snow. These kids have endured all varieties of weather and temperature that Snowking has to offer, and have smiled through their masks the whole time. Without the pressure of early races, we were able to spend the first two weeks of the season working through drill progressions and focusing on alpine fundamentals. Now that we have entered the heart of competition season, our athletes are now applying these skills in full length race courses. Each week their competitive fire intensifies, and I look forward to seeing them push themselves through the remainder of our race schedule.
2Day Team Update:
The 2 Day team as a whole has improved tremendously during the first half of our season. With the large group number we have, we focused a lot on ski etiquette in the beginning of the season. This included stopping below a group of people , not above, learning who has the right of way while skiing down a trail, always looking up the trail when crossing or when a traverse or trail merges and keeping your head on a swivel, etc. With the amount of people skiing at training on Wednesdays, how busy JHMR is and how fast people ski, I felt this was very important for the safety of the athletes.
We have also been focusing on our body position while free skiing and racing. Early on in the season, the majority of the athletes were skiing slightly in the back seat, with arms behind them or at their sides, especially through the race course. We have really tried to get the hands in front and leading them through the turns, while keeping the knees bent with pressure into the tongue of the boot, and staying balanced. This past Wednesday the athletes did really well going through our practice course and I have seen a lot of improvement with their skiing position, it was some of the best form I have seen from them yet this season. We will continue to work and keep our focus on this throughout the rest of the season to really try and engrain how important form is.
Most importantly the team has been having a ton of fun skiing together! It has been great to see the pure joy that skiing brings the kids and it has brought myself and the other coaches back to our roots and reminded us why we really love this sport.
Summer 2021 Mt. Hood Training Camps
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Camp 1: (U10, U12) June 26 - July 1 - No lodging; $1,200 if register before April 30th; $1,300 after April 30th
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Camp 2: (U10, U12, U14) July 3 - 8 - No Lodging; $1,200 if register before April 30th; $1,300 after April 30th
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Camp 3: (U14, U16, FIS) July 10 - 15 - $1,650 if register before April 30th; $1,750 after April 30th
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Camp 4: (U16 & FIS) July 17 - 22 - $1,650 if register before April 30th; $1,750 after April 30th
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Camp 5: (U16 & FIS Slalom) August 14-19 - $1,650 if register before July 31st; $1,750 after July 31st
Alpine Volunteer opportunities:
- We need volunteers for February Alpine events:
- 2/4-7 IMD Sean Nurse Memorial - (4 days SL and GS racing for both genders) / Snow King
- 2/27-28 IMD U10/U12 North Series - (2 days of Paneled SL for both genders) / Snow King
Link to register: https://jhskiclub.org/support/volunteer-jobs
Please come out and help us make these events a success
Student-Athlete Support Program update:
Please read this month's Student-Athlete Support Program update. This information is relevant to all JHSC athletes: Click here.
Quote of the month:
