February Freeride Newsletter
Freeride Program Update: February 2026
- Intro
- January Re-Cap
- Home IFSA Jr. 2*
- Home USASA
- Bridger Bowl IFSA Jr. 2*
- Home IFSA Jr. 3*
- USASA Sun Valley
- February Events
- Snow King IFSA Jr. 2*
- Targhee USASA
- Snowbird IFSA Jr. 3*
- Northern Regional Champs IFSA 2* Grand Targhee
- Introduction
Wow, what a strange winter it’s been. I guess after a string of good ones, we were due for a weird one. While we haven’t been seeing our normal powder days, low snow brings opportunity for creativity. New looks at the same runs, repetition on features, and if all else is skiing poorly, JHMR and SKMR have both got excellent parks to work on skills at this time!
In Memory: Max Martin
Max, Myself and former Head Coach Matt Newton (+James) Closing day, Last Tram, April 2025.
This month was an especially hard one for the Jackson Freeride Community. Over MLK weekend, we lost one of our own in the backcountry of Japan. Max Martin was an incredible skier, friend, husband and mentor to countless in our community.
When I moved here, he was one of the first locals I met. He took me under his wing, and I learned more from just watching him ski and following him around than from any lesson or coaching clinic.
He was who I wanted to be, and he made me feel like I belonged.
Max was the strongest.
The best.
The most prepared.
The most knowledgeable.
One of my most trusted partners, and someone I always knew would come home. Not because of his strength and knowledge, but because of his humility and respect for the mountains.
Max was an incredible person and we miss him dearly.
In his passing, he would not want us to mourn. He would want us to think back, smile on the good times shared, and move forward living life to the fullest.
As Max often told me when I complained about conditions, “There’s no bad snow, just bad attitudes”.
Let’s take that advice through the rest of the season, making the most out of each and every practice. Let’s invest in ourselves as skiers and as people each day, and make the most of our time, no matter the conditions.
It’s what Max would want.
Max Martin Forever.
- Collin
- January Recap:
What a busy January we had! We started off the month with our IFSA 2*at JHMR, followed by our home JHMR USASA Slopestyle and Rail Jam, while that was going on we had some athletes at Bridger Bowl for the IFSA 2*. Ending the month we had the first ever IFSA Jr. 3* event here in Jackson Hole! A busy month with some great consistency from the kids.
JHMR IFSA 2*
Starting off the month we had our IFSA 2* with some great skiing displayed by our athletes. Despite firm conditions, there was an amazing level of skiing! Toilet bowl provided us with a unique venue with lots of features to choose from. Tower 3 was finals day and provided us with some amazing chalk for finals day. Considering the snow level, the skiing was high quality!
A few honorable mentions from the event: Stella Klein (2nd U15 ski F), Violet Kastor (3rd U15 ski F), McClay Rohrbaugh (1st U15 Ski M), Bode Lemke (2nd U15 Ski M), Andy Schilling (3rd U15 Ski M), Brooks Egan (2nd U19 Ski M), and Cooper Melanson (3rd U19 Ski M).
JHMR USASA Slopestyle and Rail Jam
Shortly after that we had our home USASA Slopestyle and Rail Jam event, with some great results as well. The new Bronco park is skiing exceptionally well and our athletes threw down over the weekend! Sally Decker came home with a 1st place in Slopestyle and 2nd in Rail Jam, Reece Hultman also in 1st place in Slopestyle, followed by Cormac Healy. Piper Norwine also came home in 1st place in Slopestyle! A successful weekend of park skiing with a stack of competition!
Sun Valley
Although a slightly smaller crew that years past, and not enough snow to build a ski cross course, it was another successful long weekend trip to Sun Valley. Friday the athletes were met with the challenge of showing up to a new park course with just their 30 minutes of practice before they had to put down two runs for slopestyle.
Taz McBride both just missed the podium with fourth place finishes, and the whole crew showed they had lots of good pieces of a slopestyle run to work with and improve on for Sunday's second sun valley slope style competition. Saturday’s rail jam James Kail was on fire and finished in first place in his division. Taz reminded us how the judges reward spinning on and doing rail tricks in both directions and got a first place of his own in the rail jam. With Saturday’s rail jam wrapping up before 2:00 pm it was a great opportunity for the crew to lap the park course and dial in their runs for Sunday.
The crew skied Sunday’s slopestyle competition with a tactical confidence that made for a very proud coach. James Kail, Taz McBride all got first places and their respective divisions. Cooper Melanson finished with a 5th place and Dean Hilke finished right behind him in 6th resulting in their best slopestyle finishes of the year. Huge improvements from everyone from Friday to Sunday, and lots of good stuff that the athletes can take into the next slopestyle comp at Targhee
-Toby Koekkeok Freeski Coach
Bridger Bowl IFSA 2*
Despite some icy conditions upon arrival, our athletes came home with some great results. The Whale provided our team with safe passage to the North Bowl venue where temperatures didn't reach above 5 degrees. On a steep and icy venue our team held their edges a battled down the ridge bumps. Our U-19's schwacked their way through a tree band that landed them all in the top 10 with Odin Casey finishing in 3rd place, Renny Roberts landing in the top 10 and Nico Santelices riding out the bottom with one ski. The U15's & 12's worked on the skiers left side of the venue for smooth and powerful runs. Jax Kocubinski put down two solid competition runs to land in 7th in the U12 division. The team made horrific snow look fun and technical.
-Riis Wilbrecht Freeride Coach
Jackson Hole IFSA 3*
Our home event and our first IFSA 3* National event kicked off the end of the month with a bang. Biggest U19 men’s field in IFSA history and we had over 125 athletes compete in a single day. Hats off to our event staff, judges, and volunteers for making a huge event run smoothly! We had a dual panel of judges, so we could run double the amount of athletes. Despite firm conditions there was an incredible level of riding and competition. Nico Santelices came home with a 2nd place finish for the U19 Ski men, and Alex Crenshaw came home with a 2nd pace for U15 Snowboard Men. Special shout outs to Violet Kastor and Stella Klein for placing in the top 10 in their first ever 3* competition!
