Late January saw skiers from all over Colorado take to the Cookshack course on Vail Mountain for the first Rocky Mountain Freestyle Competitive Series competition of 2020. The highest level of Rocky Mountain Freestyle mogul skiing, Competitive Series events require mogul competitors to ski hard, fast, and technically sound – even when flying through the air. 

The weekend began with an open moguls event on January 25th, with over 90 skiers making their way down the course. At the end of the day, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Tegan Large stood on the podium, grabbing third on the girls’ side with impressive displays of speed and style in their jumps. Fellow teammate, Garrett Marley, scored the fastest run of the day and released a new set of tricks for the crowd, earning him a bronze medal. 

On January 26th, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes continued to dominate in dual moguls. After a grueling day of match-ups, the snow settled with Large taking up 2nd. Just missing the podium in 4th place was Kaiya Torres, a 7th grader from Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy.  On the boys’ side, Nash Lucas and Oliver Smith also battled it out in the final, with Lucas ultimately coming out on top in 1st place. Smith had been flying fast in his previous runs of the day, but his speed proved to be unstoppable after he caught too much air off the bottom jump and landed deep into the moguls. Fellow teammates, Mylo Ornowski and Garrett Marley, grabbed 4th and 6th place, respectively. 

The next weekend marked the start of another round of Rocky Mountain Freestyle’s Competitives Series at Aspen. Hoping to continue the success the team saw the weekend before, the club’s athletes went all out. Oliver Smith ended the open mogul event in 3rd, continuing to set the pace for his competitors as he had the weekend before. In dual moguls, Kaiya Torres successfully made it onto the podium in 3rd after fighting her way back from a fall in the semifinals. 

After the two big Rocky Mountain Freestyle competitions, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Freestyle Program Director, John Dowling, is thrilled with how the season has progressed so far for Rocky Mountain Freestyle competitors, “It was great to see our skiers perform so well here at home in Vail.  The course was great and we were psyched to host a fun event for everyone from around the region.  We’ve been able to capture some podiums and we’ve got some kids working their way up through the ranks.  I think it sets the stage well for us as we head into regional champs and then Junior Nationals and National Champs. I know a lot of our skiers still have something left to prove so we’ll be working hard from here to the finish.  Phil has been doing great work with the NorAm squad and those guys just left for a 3 week tour on the road. Brad Kreuz and the Bumps & Jumps Teams have been strong on the Devo and RQS Tours”.

Full results for the two races can be found on http://rockymountainfreestyle.com/.