Lollipopper/Teewinot Team Update
The snow came just in time for the start of our season and the Lollipopper and Teewinot athletes are having a great winter. The Lollipoppers are honing their new found skills in both classic and skate with fun drills and games. The Teewinots have made multiple trips to see Sam the Truck and have even ventured all the way to Suicide at Trail Creek. We have had the most intense diminishing gear relays this season, and this week at the Teton pines the focus has been nothing but fun! Through challenging and exciting games, including popping balloons tied to ankles, snocker, and sharks and minnows, these young athletes are really starting to build basic nordic skills. In the next few weeks we will continue building skills and start prepping for the Moose Chase!
-Coach Sevi
Development Team Update
Well it’s mid season and the Development team is really beginning to ski well. Consistent practice and good snow conditions are helping everyone improve. A team time trial helped everyone realize what they needed to work on. We will continue to do relays and agility games and with a little more snow we hope to do some more off trail adventure skiing. In February we will focus on preparation for the Moose Chase and the intermountain youth championships. Congratulations are in order for our standout athlete, Colton Petsch, who was able to win both the skate and classic races in Sun Valley this past weekend.
-Coach Rob
Junior Team Update
January has been a great month for the Junior Nordic Team; throughout the fall all of the Nordic Programs struggled to get in good on snow training. With the lack of snow in the valley January finally brought skiing to Trail Creek and provided us with good training conditions. The junior Team traveled to West Yellowstone and Sun Valley for Intermountain races. For many of the athletes the West Yellowstone races marked the first time skiing in Classic tracks this season, as conditions at Trail Creek were still thin. By the time we made it to the Sun Valley races on the 27th and 28th we fit in some much needed time on snow and our Junior athletes results reflected this. Natalie O’Brien (U14) finished the weekend with two season best podium results, 2nd in the Skate Sprints and 2nd in the Classic distance race and Sydney Wilmot (14) Sprinted to 5th place in the Skate race. Aurora Stiles (U12) finished the Skate sprint just barely missing the Podium in 4th place, but came back strong racing to 2nd in the Classic Distance race. Mason Wheeler (U14) had a season best of 4th in the Skate sprint and 6th in the Classic distance. Peter Concannon (U14) was on his heals finishing in 8th in the Classic distance. Lucas Wilmot (U12) stood atop the Podium finishing first in the Skate sprint and rounded out his weekend with a 3rd in the Classic Distance race.
-Coach Johnny
Prep Team Update
January 2018 for the Nordic Prep Team has been a month of growth, learning, and most importantly, discovering how much fun Nordic ski racing can be! Now that we are back at Trail Creek for our daily training, we've continued our focus on technique, with every practice containing elements of specific classic and skate techniques that are field tested into the subsequent races on the weekend. January has been chock full of races; the Teton Ridge Classic Race at Targhee, the first JNQ of the season in West Yellowstone, and ending out the month with the second JNQ in Sun Valley. Mass starts have been a frequent format, both in distance races and in our first sprint of the season. In Sun Valley, we had a number of athletes qualify for the quarter finals and we learned how to navigate tight spaces with fast skis. We also explored the gritty aspect of racing in Sun Valley, as much of our young skiers have been battling the winter crud but opted to race to learn. Our team constantly amazes me each day and each race, their technique continues to improve in fluency and fluidity and they are stronger and faster from week to week.
-Coach Tamsen
Comp Team Update
The comp team is in full swing now with races almost every weekend. After a period of tough training conditions throughout December and the holidays, our year-round training and love of the sport is showing its value as we have had full attendance at each Junior National Qualifier so far and a number of podium finishes. Earlier in January coach Ben and skier Annabel Hagan headed to Anchorage, AK for Annabel to compete in US Nationals skiing alongside US ski team members and other elite teams. Soon after the team headed to West Yellowstone, MT and placed 8 skiers in the top ten at the first scoring JN qualifier. This past weekend’s competition was in Sun Valley, ID where JHSC had another strong showing with multiple top ten finishes. Looking forward we have a race every weekend for the next month with Junior nationals just around the corner. Our training ground out at Trail Creek is coming into true form with winter finally arriving in the valley and our team momentum is strong. The comp team is looking forward to the rest of the winter and excited to be in the heat of the season.
-Coach Scott
Intermountain Youth Championships!
JHSC has the privilege of hosting the IMD Youth Championships during the last weekend of February at Trail Creek this year. This is a massive event, and great opportunity for our Lollipopper to Junior athletes to participate in a non-travel weekend. We have strong Lolli, Teewinot, Devo, and Junior teams. We have a good shot of winning the overall team award given our strong base and individual athleticism on every team. In order to pull off an event of this magnitude, we need all the volunteer help we can get. This is a great way to fulfill your volunteer requirement and help put on a fantastic event. Please sign up for a position on our volunteer sign up page - https://jhskiclub.org/
Sun Valley Junior National Qualifier #2 Update (link)
Wilson Winter Sports
Every year the Nordic program runs Wilson Winter Sports in late January and early February. It's a great opportunity for kids to get a preview of the Nordic program and can be used as a recruiting tool for our Lollipopper, Teewinot and Development teams. Thanks to all of the coaches for going out of their way during a busy season to be sure the young, up and coming athletes of the valley gain exposure to one of the coolest sports out there!
