Freeride Program Update: February 2024
*There’s a lot of important info in this one! Please take a minute to look through everything!*
January, what a month! It feels like just yesterday we were ringing in the New Year, where did the time go!? It’s been an action packed month for Freeride with lots of ups and downs and all arounds. Conditions have been tough throughout North America this season. Thanks for bearing with our hectic schedule and being willing to pivot to make the best possible opportunities happen for the kids. The February newsletter will feature a re-cap of what happened in January, followed by updates on what is coming up!
JHMR USASA Jan 5-7
Our first competition of the season went smoothly at JHMR. Big thanks to Kim Raymer with USASA Big Mountain West for bringing the show to town, and to JHMR for building us an incredible venue! Lastly congratulations to all of the FRP athletes who pushed themselves and looked in mid-season form for our opener with less than 72 hours of training on jumps!
Photo Credit: Zoe Leibovitch
JHSC Podiums were as follows:
Rail Jam:
11-14 Ski Boys
Taz McBride 2nd
11-14 Ski Girls:
Violet Kastor 3rd
11-14 Snowboard Girls:
Ivy Swain 3rd
Slopestyle 1:
17-18 Boys Ski
Jack Kilmain 3rd
Keane Hultman 2nd
11-12 Boys Ski:
Will lynch 3rd
11-12 Girls Ski:
Violet Kastor 3rd
9-10 Girls Ski:
Sally Decker 2nd
13-14 Boys Snowboard:
Ace Emery 1st
Noah Robertson 3rd
13-14 Girls Snowboard:
Ivy Swain 2nd
Slopestyle 2:
17-18 Boys Ski
Owen Strand 1st
Jack Kilmain 2nd
11-12 Girls Ski
Violet Kastor 3rd
9-10 Girls Ski
Sally Decker 3rd
13-14 Boys Snowboard
Ace Emery 1st
13-14 Girls Snowboard
Ivy Swain 2nd
Kicking Horse IFSA Junior National Jan 10-15
Coaches Matt Newton and Toby Koekkoek brought athletes Jack Kilmain, Liam Thompson, Alex Paul, Porter Farren, and Ashe Bessette to the great white north! Unfortunately Canada greeted our team with extreme cold (-35 on the thermometer!). Kicking Horse was closed for 2 of the 4 days the team was up there. Temperatures never cleared 0 the whole time the team was there. Despite the tough weather, the coaches and athletes had a great time exploring the incredible terrain at Kicking Horse. On the last day of the competition window, the event organizers and Kicking Horse Mountain managed to get all starts in just 1 day of competition.
Left to Right: Jack, Liam, Toby, Matt, Porter, Ashe, Alex
Results:
U19 Boys:
Jack Kilmain: 3
Alex Paul: 19
Liam Thompson: 34
U15 Boys:
Ashe Bessette: 10
Porter Farren: 23
Jack Kilmain on the Podium!
From Head Ski Coach Matt Newton:
“The event was held at a former Freeride World Tour venue, which was an amazing opportunity for local athletes to ride on the same venue as the best athletes in the world. The Kicking Horse National is a qualifier for the IFSA Jr Championship and the Freeride Program will be attending Nationals at Grand Targhee, Snowbird, and Big Sky later this season. The trip was an amazing success. The Freeride Program athletes rode well and did an amazing job representing Jackson on an international level.”
JHMR IFSA Junior Regional
One week later, we hosted our home event on Toilet Bowl/Tower 3. Once again our partners at JHMR did an incredible job putting on a very great event! Weather was (a common theme this year) really tough! Luckily the clouds parted just enough to allow for each and every competitor to get a start in.
The Judges couldn’t see much on finals day…
Special thanks to our Head Coach, Matt Newton, for doing an amazing job coaching the competition and making sure normal practice went off smoothly. To Shannon Roberts for making sure that each and every score was accurately recorded. Lastly, to Rose Strand for being our volunteer coordinator extraordinaire!
Thanks to JHMR, to all of our parent volunteers and our incredible coaching staff for making this event run smoothly!
Event Sponsors:
Bank of Jackson Hole
New West Building Company
Bank of Jackson Hole
Kuhl
Teton Gravity Research
JH Snowboard Magazine
Smartwool
Atomic
Hole in the Wall Snowboard Shop
Hoback Sports
Rendezvous River Sports
Rossignol/Look/Dynastar
Onsite Management
Faction
Never Summer
Results:
U19 Ski Boys:
Liam Thompson 2
Jack Kilmain 3
Alex Paul 6
Keane Hultman 8
Nate Pruzan 22
U19 Ski Girls:
Grace Deslauriers 1
Piper Norwine 9
U15 Ski Boys:
Bryer Strand 4
Will Lynch 6
Jack McNamara 8
Taz McBride 11
Porter Farren 14
Ashe Bessette 15
Payne Confer 18
Renny Roberts 20
Cash Halpin 22
Gus Reber 23
Eli Oda 24
Kade Mallen 31
Anders Logan 33
Dean Hilke 35
Brooks Egan 39
Garrett Tattersall 40
Tosh Carr 43
U15 Girls
Tia Deslauriers 2
Lyvia Ulmer 5
Hazel Shidner 12
U12 Ski Boys
McClay R 4
Max W 8
Andy S 10
Pierson E 14
Fin R 19
U12 Ski Girls
Maeve K 3
Violet K 4
U15 Snowboard Boys
Bennet Hultman 1
Noah Robertson 2
Mylo Iguchi 3
Ace Emery 4
Ryder Musselman 5
U15 Snowboard Girls
Ivy Swain 1
U12 Snowboard Boys
Noah H 1
Adam S 2
Nice work to all. We’re super excited at the huge presence of our club athletes at our home event. We’re proud of each and every competitor for pushing themselves in competition.
Moving Forward: We’ve got some exciting things for Freeride in the works!
Upcoming Events
Big Sky Junior Regional Moved to JHMR Feb 9-11!
Due to lack of snowfall, Big Sky has elected to cancel their junior regional event! JHSC Freeride and JHMR have agreed to pivot and host on our home venue! Stay tuned for updates, this will be an excellent opportunity to get another regional event start!
Wednesday Night Lights
Wednesday Night Lights is back for 2024! This grassroots rail jam series is a great way to gain confidence and serves as an easy entry to competition for those new to competing. We have great prizes and guaranteed fun for all divisions! FRP merch and raffle tickets will be available for purchase!
Dates: February 21st, February 28th and March 6th.
Location: Snow King, Cougar Base
Divisions: U10, U12, U15 and 15+ (Open), Ski & SB, Boys and Girls
When: Wednesday Nights from 5-8
More information available HERE.
Registration coming soon (at time of writing 1/31).
Summer Offerings
Mountain Bike Teams!
We’re excited to announce that we’ve gotten approval to start a competitive Downhill/Enduro Mountain Bike team for summer 2024. Training will run from the first week school gets out, until school starts back up in the fall. We will be offering a Progression Team for rider’s interested in improving their skills and compete in home events at JHMR/Targhee. Additionally we will be offering a Comp Team for riders interested in traveling to regional events (Montana Enduro Series and Utah Gravity Series). Practice will be held twice weekly in the JHMR Bike Park with JHSC coaching staff.
Pricing and further information will be available soon!
Registration opens March 1st. Please feel free to reach out with any questions (collin@jhskiclub.org)
Skateboard Camps
Skate Camps are back for Summer 2024. Stefan Merriam will be taking the lead on these camps. They will follow a similar format to years past, with beginner and advanced levels. Skate camps include transportation to area parks and skate instruction.
Dates:
Beginner: 6/26-6/27, 7/10-7/11, 7/17-7/18, 7/31-8/1
Advanced: 7/24-7/25 8/7-8/8
Open Enrollment:
8/14-8/15, 8/21-8/22, 8/28-8/29
Pricing and further information will be available soon!
Registration opens March 1st. Please feel free to reach out with any questions (smerriam@jhskiclub.org).
On Snow
Woodward Copper: 6/16-6/22
We’re excited to be returning to Woodward Copper for Summer 2024. Woodward is a great place for beginner to intermediate riders to work on skills on friendly sized features. It’s also great for advanced riders looking to work on perfecting some of their more difficult skills.
Registration information will be shared in a separate email later this week.
Contact Matt Newton (mnewton@jhskiclub.org) with any questions.
Mt. Hood, Oregon: 7/7-7/13
We’re headed to Mt. Hood for some more fun on snow! Mt. Hood is the training ground for national teams from all over the world in June and July. They have all of the features you’ll find at Woodward, plus a halfpipe and pro-sized jump. This trip is aimed for more advanced riders looking to take their skills to L and XL sized features.
Registration information will be shared in a separate email later this week.
Contact Matt Newton (mnewton@jhskiclub.org) with any questions.
Chile: El Colorado/La Parva/Valle Nevado
July 28th - August 7th
Powder skiing in July? Yes, it’s a thing! We’re excited to offer a Sudamerican experience for Freeride athletes this summer. This trip will not only have excellent skiing, but will be a cultural experience for our athletes. Santiago, Chile provides easy access to world class skiing high in the Andes. The terrain is steep and the freeride scene in South America is quickly growing. FRP team members will have stories to tell from this epic experience.
*only open for athletes 14+ or with a coaches recommendation*
Interest email coming soon!
Contact Collin (collin@jhskiclub.org) with any questions.
Thanks all for tuning in! As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns - Collin
