As season is in full swing Alpine teams has been busy with trainings and traveling. Below are teams updates:
FIS/U19 Update
The FIS Squad is going strong and still gathering momentum as the mid season approaches. First the bad news; Leo Kohler our long time Teammate broke his leg free-skiing at JHMR. We miss Leo very much and can't wait for him to get back on snow. The good news is; that Helga Bjornsdottir arrived from Iceland to bolster our girls Squad. Helga will be training and racing with us for the rest of the winter. We see that this is a great fit for Helga and the Squad.
The Squad completed a successful (sans frigid sub-zero temps) Holiday Speed Camp and headed up to Big Sky to compete in the Montana State Carnival NCAA races. Western Team member Holden Parazette had strong results in a field of best NCAA skiers that included US D team members. After these races JHSC and Snow King hosted a Western Region Development Camp where WR's best juniors and invitees trained for 5 days at our at our home hill. The event was applauded by all the participants and confirmed the value of our quality training venue.
We just returned from a grueling six race WR Elite tech series held at Snowbasin/Snowbird/Park City UT. Here are some highlights from this series; Our PG Steve Shea achieved Personal Best results in GS while Wyatt Doyle got PB results in Slalom starting at the very back of the pack. BB Hall finished a respectable 21st from bib 35. PG Henry Hakoshima and Holden Parazette provided solid leadership throughout the six races always always contending for the podium. Holden's best result was 7th place in Slalom while Henry was 13th in GS...he also achieved the best FIS point result of the group. As the season wears on the FIS Squad has very good energy and enthusiasm to carry it through to greater heights later on in the year.
U16 Update
Due to lack of snow in Utah, the U16 team had an extended training block during this month. With our qualifier being moved we were able to focus on some technical free skiing and prepare for a racing block that started with the Wes Barron last weekend.
This extended training block and hard work from the athletes is paying off as we had some great results during the Wes Barron SG series at JHMR. On the women's side, Sophia Tozzi and Paige Doyle finished in the top fifteen all three days! With Sophia's standout result being a second place finish on the third day of the series.
On the men's side, Oliver Parazette, who participated in a U16 National Development Project earlier this month, finished second each day of the series. Driscoll Larrow also had a strong series finishing, 8th,11th and 9th! Martin Wilcox and Owen Newton also had top twenty results during the series, and Nick Janssen had an excellent day on Friday moving up from bib 58 to 24 despite low visibility!
Moving forward the U16s race at Grand Targhee at the end of January which will be our first U16 Qualifier. Following that we have four athletes that have been selected to participate in a Western Region U16 Project in Big Sky Montana.
During the training block in January, the U16s were also able to do an avalanche awareness training with instructors from the American Avalanche Institute. The training focused on companion rescue and what to carry with you in the backcountry.
We did have some great results this weekend at Targhee with Sophia, Carey and Izzy finishing top 15 in the GS and Sophia finishing top 15 in slalom. On the men's side, Grant and Zander, and Driscoll finished in the top 16 in the GS, and Driscoll, Owen, and Nick finished in the top 17 in slalom!
U14 Update
The U14 team kicked off the month with their first qualifier of the season on home turf at Snow King. Since then the U14's have transitioned into the speed portion of their season. The first year athletes went to Grand Targhee for 3 days of the IMD Speed Camp, while the second years had 3 SG races at JHMR for the Wes Barron Speed Series. Up next for the U14 team is their SG qualifiers at Snowbasin February 2-4.
U12 Update
There has been no shortage of fun and development within the U12 program this season. With the foundations laid down during our holiday camp, athletes kicked off their race season with the inaugural Caroline Classic and IMD North Series GS’s at Snow King. Both yielded excellent results and momentum coming into the Monroe Cup held in Sun Valley as well as back to back weekends of Club Series races at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Snow King.
U10 Update
The u10 team has been skiing every Saturday at JHMR and having a great time. Athletes are pushing themselves to explore new terrain and their freeskiing skills have improved considerably. Mid week training at SK has been going well. After a well attended holiday camp we had our first race of the season with the Caroline Classic. Everyone performed well and most importunely had fun. For many it was their first race ever! We then began preparing for our first USSA race at SK. Two GS races took place on January 13th and 14th. All the athletes had a great time with several podium finishes for both the girls and boys. We have now switched our focus to the first slalom races of the year. For many it is their first time in "stubbies" and we have seen steady progress in everyone. Our next races are the USSA slaloms in Sun Valley February 3 and 4, and a club series slalom February 3 at JHMR. Thanks and see you on the King!!
2DAY Update
2DRT has had a great first half of season! Some highlights include a productive and well attended Holiday Camp, U8 podiums in Caroline Classic (1st Club Series), 2DRT participation in North Series, lots of smiles on an excellent first powder day at JHMR and a successful team hike up the Headwall this past Saturday (1/20). Athletes have also been working through tasks and demonstrating abilities on their Adventure Quest Cards. The AQ card is a fun season long initiative which encourages athletes to develop strong ski fundamentals and reflects the JHSC Core Values.
2DRT is also pleased to announce two valuable additions to the coaching staff - Ben Peters and Sam Fields. Both Ben and Sam are familiar with the Ski Club environments, have solid ski racing backgrounds and look forward to working with our athletes. We have an action packed February ahead of us with Club Series racing on Feb 3rd (JHMR), 10th (Snow King) and 24th (Grand Targhee). Evals will also be completed and sent out for each athlete in the beginning of February.
NGS Update
NGS is off to a great start! We have had groups go up the Headwall already and even our youngest group is ready to ski the Tram. Saturday can never come soon enough!
Masters Update
We are having a great season training on world class snow here at Snow King this season. With almost a dozen signed up participants this season, all whom are working on various technical and tactical aspects of there skiing abilities whether in a Slalom course or a Giant Slalom course. Each of them making progression in understanding the concept of carving a turn as well as when to apply the pressure and when to release the pressure in a race course. With video analysis being done at the end of each day, these athletes are able to visually see there performances in a race course.
We are half way through the season now and I feel we are on track with all of there progressions. Anyone interested in dropping in to examine what the Master’s Program has to offer is welcome to do so at anytime on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Give the ski club a call and they’ll guide you in the right direction with the information.
