January Nordic Newsletter

JHSC Club and Community Nordic Update

Happenings of the JHSC Nordic Program, Trail Creek Nordic Center, and Local Nordic Community

Welcome to the January 2026 Edition of “What’s Going On!”

Happy New Year from the JHSC Nordic program and Trail Creek Nordic Center! Rolling into January, it is about to get really busy at Trail Creek. All of the teams return to training January 6^th, and Mondays and Wednesdays will be especially busy at Trail Creek in the afternoons after school. The general weekly schedule is below.

The past month has been a wild ride for the JHSC Nordic program, mostly due to the unseasonably warm weather we have experienced so far. We have been switching on and off snow but still getting fantastic and fun practices due to the huge efforts of our coaching team who were very creative and flexible, and also to Steve the Groomer and Filardo who maintained Trail Creek and Phillips Ridge respectively to keep us skiing through the warm spells. Unfortunately we cancelled both races in December we were supposed to host, the Wyoming High School race and the Betty Woolsey Classic, but we will have awesome race opportunities this year with the Moose Chase and Spring Series still to come. The skiing at Trail Creek has been great considering the weather; everyone should come up and ski!

Currently we have some athletes racing in Pinedale at the Wyoming High School race, four athletes in Lake Placid for US National Championships. We will have athletes in West Yellowstone, Lake Placid, and Casper next weekend and it will just get busier from there. Most importantly, all of our youth teams start practice at Trail Creek on Monday! We are so grateful to have enough snow to ski at Trail Creek and it will be so much fun to have everyone back practicing from Lollipoppers to Masters!

Looking forward to another great winter with you all out at Trail Creek!

Will Wicherski

Nordic Program Director

Lollipoppers—Kindergarten and 1^st Grade

Our program for the youngest skiers, the Lollipoppers, begins training the first week of January. This heartwarming group, led by a bevy of coaches with head coach Steph Thomas in the lead, will be learning all the joys of Nordic skiing as the season progresses. In addition to learning the basics of kicking and gliding, lots of fun and games happen along the way.

A sighting of a Lollipopper group will always bring a smile to your face. Keep your eyes open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays!

Teewinots—Grades 2^nd and 3^rd

Hi Teewinot Families and Coaches,

Happy Holidays! I hope you’re all enjoying this special time of year. I wanted to reach out before we officially kick off the Teewinot Nordic Ski Program in the New Year.

It was wonderful meeting some of you during the Zoom session and out at Trail Creek during rental pickup. I’m really looking forward to meeting the rest of you soon — and I truly can’t wait to get to know your kids!

A quick reminder that our programs begin January 5th and 6th, depending on whether you registered for Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday.

To help everyone stay informed, I’ll be sending an email every Friday with details for the upcoming week. Please keep an eye out for those updates.

Warmly,

Julia Richter

Teewinot Head Coach

Devos—Grades 4^th and 5^th

December training with the Devo Team was highlighted by athletes' positive, resilient attitudes as we returned to dryland training in light of challenging early-season conditions. Scavenger hunts featuring human snowflakes and pyramids added energy and fun, helping strengthen friendships and reinforce a strong sense of community.

Team building took center stage with a festive holiday pizza party, where athletes relaxed, shared stories and enjoyed time together with family and friends. The lively holiday treat exchange was full of excitement and plenty of laughs as teammates surprised one another with thoughtfully chosen goodies.

Devos topped off December with a fun adventure ski, complete with cartwheels on skis, around Trail Creek during Winter Break. Looking forward to ringing in 2026 with more team adventures and skiing at Trail Creek!

Happy New Year!

Devo Coaches Libby, Charlotte, John, Leah, Matt, Ruby, and Tova

Libby Hall

Head Devo Coach

Junior Team—Grades 6^th, 7^th, and 8th

Hi Everyone,

This month has been a bit tricky for Junior Nordic, with a lot of transitions between dryland training and snow. We started with dryland, moved onto snow for a week, then back to dryland, and now we’re back on snow at Trail Creek. Hopefully Mother Nature continues to provide!

Through all the changes, the athletes have done a great job maintaining a positive attitude and staying engaged. We’ve been hard at work refining technique, building speed and agility, and continuing to develop overall strength. The adaptability and focus the group has shown has been impressive, and it’s setting a strong foundation as we head into the heart of the season.

We’re excited to be back on snow and are really looking forward to kicking off the race season soon!

Happy holidays and best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year. We’ll see you in 2026 ready to ski fast!

Best,

George Cartwright and the Junior Nordic Crew

PS Coach George submitted some additional photos to be included:

Ositos

The Ositos will have their first practice Tuesday, January 6th! We are excited to get the team out on snow and meet the new teammates! We have an awesome crew of coaches for the Ositos this year and are looking forward to exploring as many trail systems as possible in the Jackson area.

The Ositos are collaboration between the Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard Club and the Coombs Foundation. More information about the Ositos can be found on the Coombs Foundation website.

Megan Tattersall

Head Ositos Coach

Prep/Comp Team

December was a month full of variety and the power of flexibility and can-do attitudes. The weather reminded us how reliant we are on natural snow for our training to take place here on our home trails, but with impressive positive attitudes, everyone rolled with the frequent plan changes and logistics of finding snow to ski on. We trained on a record high number of different trail systems this month (Trail Creek, Togwotee Pass, Teton Canyon, Targhee, Philips Ridge, Turpin Meadow Ranch) and were able to string together consistent skiing despite all the rain. Huge thanks to coach Jon Filardo for putting in tons of work to help us get skiing up on Philips Ridge this month.

All the athletes on the Prep/Comp team deserve a big shout out for their positivity and flexibility this month. Not only were the training conditions challenging, but every single race event on the calendar ended up being cancelled. During the time of year when we are the most excited to get back to racing after all the months of dryland training, it is hard to have early season events cancelled. All our athletes were patient and stayed positive while we pivoted to several different team time trials while we weren't able to formally race.

We've had great skiing at Trail Creek over the holidays and winter break, and the team has been training all throughout the last two weeks. It's been great to have skiing right out the door at Trail Creek and everyone is appreciative of the snow we have! Next up, we have four athletes (Matthew Finkel, Jack Mayer, Karsten Bessonette, Walker Dunn) in Lake Placid competing at US Nationals beginning January 4^th, coached by Jon Filardo. Many JHSC athletes are also part of the JHHS Nordic team and are going to be racing at WY High School races in Pinedale and Casper in the next two weekends. The first IMD event for the whole Prep/Comp team will be the Soldier Hollow JNQ January 23-24. We are looking forward to more great skiing at Trail Creek and working on improving technique, ski specific strength, and building speed and power.

Happy New Year!

Luna Wasson

Head Prep/Comp Coach

Nordic Masters

The Masters Team finally got started this week after postponing the first two sessions due to snow conditions. With low snow cover at Teton Pines Nordic Center the decision was made to move the first class to Trail Creek. The Groomer (Steve) was able to give us some nice sets of track in the stadium to create excellent conditions for our training. Students reviewed the fundamental body positions necessary to properly use classic techniques. With solid body positions we added some of the movements required to efficiently move down the tracks. We solidified these movements with drills isolating striding and double polling techniques.

The Masters team then used a short tour to help us coordinate our new knowledge and finished up with a diminishing equipment relay. Games are just as important for adults to learn Nordic skiing as they are for student athletes. Games help us get out of our heads and just ski for fun!

With new snow falling, we are hopeful to return to Teton Pines next week for our first Skate class. Watch for parent classes during team training starting soon. We will offer Skate and Classic clinics for parents from 4:00 to 5:00. Look for dates to be announced soon!

Rob Murphy

Nordic Masters Head Coach

Julia Richter

Steering the Teewinots around Trail Creek is a huge job and there is a new person in charge of this precious group of skiers this year, Julia Richter. Below is her introduction to the Teewinots:

My name is Julia Richter, and I’m originally from a small town in East Germany called Sayda. I’ve been Nordic skiing my entire life and attended a ski academy/boarding school beginning at age 13. I competed internationally at several Junior World Championships and World Cups, and was a member of the German National Team before moving to the U.S. to ski for the University of Utah. While there, I was fortunate to win several NCAA Championships both individually and with my team.

After my competitive career, I coached all age groups for a ski club in Salt Lake City for three years, and it truly confirmed what I’ve always believed — that having fun is the most important part of skiing. I moved to Jackson this summer with my husband, and I am thrilled to be the Head Coach for the Teewinots this winter.

Thank you for trusting us with your kids — we are going to have an incredible season full of learning, confidence-building, friendships, and lots of snowy fun. I’m so excited to meet everyone soon!

As Coach Luna mentioned above, four of our IMD skiers, Matthew Finkel, Jack Mayer, Karsten Bessonette, and Walker Dunn, accompanied by Coach Filardo are off to Lake Placid, NY to compete in US Cross Country National Championships. If you dig into the start lists as well, you will also find many former alumni of the JHSC Nordic program as well.

The venue for this race is Mt. Van Hovenberg which hosted the 1980 Olympics. The “Senior” Nationals serves as the Open National Championships for the United States, and will also serve as the St. Lawrence Carnival this winter. For U18 and U20 racers, the first three races count as an additional out of region JNQ opportunity for Junior Nationals.

The schedule is as follows:

Sunday, January 4th-Friday, January 9th – US National Championships

Sunday – 10 k Interval Start Classic, National Championships, Out of Region Qualifier for Junior Nationals.

Tuesday – Skate Sprint, National Championships, Out of Region Qualifier for Junior Nationals.

Thursday – 20 k Mass Start Skate, 10 k Junior, National Championships, Out of Region Qualifier for Junior Nationals.

Friday – Classic Sprint, St. Lawrence Carnival EISA

You can follow along on the Mt Van Hoevenberg website. Go JHSC Racers!

Racing has been on the slow side this winter as the region has sweltered under unseasonably warm temps. The West Yellowstone Ski Festival, Wyoming High School Nordic Race at Trail Creek, the IMD opener in Sun Valley, and the Betty Woolsey at Trail Creek were all cancelled due to lack of snow.

On the bright side, the forecast is cool and snowy, so things will most likely pick up speed dramatically in the month ahead.

Let it snow!

If our mantra was let it precipitate, December would have been a great month. The Phillips Bench snotel reporting station, a little over a thousand feet up the pass, is sitting at 112% of normal for January 1. Unfortunately, just downslope at Trail Creek much of that precipitation has come as rain, which hasn’t done much to build our snow depth. On the bright side, the snow that we do have is incredibly dense and stable and is allowing some pretty good early season skiing.

While the practice schedule is very busy at Trail Creek in January, especially Monday and Wednesday afternoons (see welcome above), it is a quiet month racing wise at Trail Creek. Recreational skiers should be able to find plenty of opportunities to enjoy all that we have to offer if they avoid the busy after school times.

Winter wildlife seems to have settled in for the season even though the snow is still not too deep. While moose numbers seem low this year, there is once again a healthy population of elk wandering the trails at night. Elk tend to disappear during daylight hours. On the other hand, if you encounter a moose, always be careful and ready to go the other direction. There have been no reports of cranky moose yet this winter.

There have been a fair number of pine marten tracks, most likely taking advantage of the abundant squirrel population. There have also been reports of foxes and coyotes hanging around the trails.

Remember to get your pass purchased at the Trail Creek Page if you have not already done so, and fully enjoy all the great skiing at Trail Creek.

Citizen skiers have lots of opportunities for Nordic skiing in the month ahead. January 11^th is the 7^th annual JH Nordic Free Day at Turpin Meadows. January 24^th is the Pinedale Stampede. On January 31^st the Teton Ridge Classic will be held in Victor, Idaho. February 7^th is the Boulder Mountain Tour in Sun Valley, Idaho. What a month of fantastic skiing!

Youth racing kicks into high gear in January, with IMD racers gathering in Utah for the first Junior National Qualifier in Soldier Hollow January 23^rd and 24^th. High school racers will be competing in Pinedale January 2^nd and 3^rd, on Casper Mountain January 9^th and 10^th, and in Cody January 30^th and 31^st.

In short, there is no lack of opportunity to ski or spectate in the busy month ahead, so get those skis waxed and be ready to keep on skiing! Click here or on the image below to go to the full calendar, complete with clickable links.