ALPINE NEWS-3/11/14

March is a busy racing month for all our Alpine Programs.  While many are racing in their Championship events, there are races of every flavor occupying the calendar dates and our athletes are showing up on all kinds of results sheets!

We are all aware of Mikaela Shiffrin‘s success at the big show in February, but did you also know that we were represented at the World Junior Championships in Jasna, Slovakia by three of our athletes?  Paula Moltzan brought her “A Game” to take 4th in Slalom and 6th in GS, Katharine Irwin finished 8th in SG at her second trip to the World Jr.’s and Libby Gibson also represented the home team after lighting up the NorAm circuit with a GS win in Sunday River, Maine, to make the cut to the World Jr team.  We are super proud of all our World Class athletes battling it out with the world’s best!!

Back on American snow, SSCV athletes are putting on a great show, too!

The FIS team has had races at Steamboat and Winter park, where results were part of the criteria to qualify to U18 Nationals.  We sent 8 women and 4 men to the U18 Nationals from these qulaifiers.  Congratulations to Florian Szwebel for earning silver in SG, Heidi Livran for her 5th place in the DH and Erika McCormick for achieving 3rd in the GS!  Also huge congratulations to Florian for winning the Overall with his SG result plus a pair of 6th’s in GS and slalom!

Our USSA Team raced Smartwool slaloms and GS’s at Vail, Copper Mt., and Winter Park and Downhills at Copper Mt.  Some of these races were also U16 Championship qualifiers which saw SSCV athletes qualify the largest team.  They are competing in Steamboat this week.  We wish them luck and want them to know we are cheering for them!

Our U14’s went to Breckenridge for a Super G series. Our U14’s, U12’s and U10’s raced slalom at Aspen, Eldora and Crested Butte where we split our large teams into thirds to have the chance to race against the other large clubs before meeting up with them at Championships.  The U14’s then showed up in force at the Prater Cup (JC Qualifiers) in Crested Butte where we owned 80% of the available medals and 52% of the available top-10’s.  SSCV qualified by far the largest team with remarkable performances by all in a pressure cooker qualification:  35 U14 athletes made it to the Jr. Championships in Winter Park Mar. 18-22.  Great performances followed the Prater Cup at the Council Cup last week.  Maddox Gayer and Reese Irwin-Pack earned spots on their respective Championship teams from their results there.

Our U12’s and U10’s raced a fun dual slalom at Echo Mt. and are now preparing for their Divisional Championships coming up the end of March.  U10’s will travel to Telluride March 15-16 and U12’s will head to Powderhorn March 22-23.

The YSL Team has been busy racing at Ski Cooper, Vail, Loveland, and Beaver Creek.  The racing has been exciting and the group has made huge progress in skills and results!  Congratulations to all!  They head to Copper Mt. on Mar. 15-16 for their season Championships.

If I were to list all our athletes who have made podium, achieved a personal best, or had notable results, the list would be pages long.  Suffice to say, there have been many.  We are thrilled by the enthusiasm and excitement for the sport our athletes are showing, and thank the kids and their parents for their dedication and commitment.

Spring training and summer camp preparations are well under way and we look forward to having a productive preparation period (May-Oct.).  Summer camp early enrollment deadline (5% discount) is coming up Mar. 15.

Let’s keep the momentum and keep charging through the season!

 

Karen Ghent 

Alpine Program Director

ALPINE NEWS-1/22/14

From Vail Cup to World Cup, Alpine is in full swing!  We are in the midst of the season and as we send our athletes all over the globe, I am amazed at the level of skiing our kids are reaching!
Our U10’s and U12’s had a strong showing at our Age Class Open at Beaver Creek where we raced against Steamboat.  The U10 boys and girls swept the podium, where Kaitlin Keane, Phoebe Heaydon and Tianna Bruce shared the podium and Sebastian Kohlhofer, Nick Kirwood, Cole Pattison, and Hunter Salani traded places on the stand.  The U12 girls dominated with Samantha Trudeau, Berit Frischholz, Katie Bervy, Marley Chappel, and Nicola Rountree-Williams taking the medal honors, while the U12 boys from Steamboat gave us some good competition, but the depth of our program shined through with 7 in the top 15. and Fletcher Holm, Kai McGuffin, Wyatt Hall and Phenix Tatge taking home medals.

Our U14’s just returned from a trip to Jackson where not only did the girls sweep the podiums, they had all 5 attending in the top 6 and our 5 boys were equally as strong with all in the top 9.  Cleo Braun was the one to beat every race, while Gretchen Pavelich, Allie Resnick, and Michaela Strizencova also made podiums. Tucker Strauch took home the win for the boys, with Gus LeBlanc and Burke Fancher also earning 2nd place finishes.

The U16’s raced in Aspen for their SG Qualifiers where 7 out of the top 14 places went to our girls on the second day where Luci Bailey took home silver, and 7 of the top 15 boys results were from our amazing boys, with River Radamus owning the top step.

The FIS Teams have had a few racing out of division recently, where Libby Gibson posted the 4th fastest time at a University race in Montana and was fastest junior, earning her a personal best FIS point result.  Most of our FIS athletes have been in a little training block and head to Steamboat for some regional races this weekend.  A few of our FIS Men are headed to Europe to get a taste of the Italian version of ski racing (and hopefully some delicious pasta!), and show them what we are about! Good luck to all!

We are excitedly watching World Cup and Europa Cup results.  SSCV’s own Katharine Irwin recently posted two top-15’s in Europa Cup Downhills in Austria (13th and 8th!).  Congratulations to her and we send best wishes for more success at the next SG in Spital, Austria!  She started right here on Gold Peak racing Vail Cups!

We know that only one can win a ski race and that only three can reach the podium on any given day, but we coaches are really very proud of all our athletes for putting it out there every day in training and racing.  We know that sometimes a 20th or 30th place result is a victory and hope to help all our athletes find a reason for celebration in their honest efforts and their victories along the way.

This is a snapshot of the incredible work our athletes are doing. Thanks to all the coaches who work with our kids, and the parents who support the kids and coaches.  We are looking good and are hungry for more!

Karen Ghent 

Alpine Program Director

kghent@skiclubvail.org

970.790.5131 (o)

970.376.1184 (c)

 

ALPINE UPDATE-12/30/13

Holiday Greetings from SSCV Alpine!

As we head into the new year, and I reflect on where we have been, I marvel at the successes of the Alpine Team and look forward to great things in 2014.

The Alpine program is in full swing with our U16 and older athletes already well into their competitive season, having been racing since mid-November.  Many of our older kids have been to Europe to train, some already twice!  The younger ages will see their first Age Class Open in Beaver Creek next weekend and the YSL team’s first action is Jan. 25.

Some highlights so far:

Men’s FIS:  The boys have been at Copper, Loveland, Vail and Steamboat racing NorAm and FIS races.

Andrew McNealus took first at the Steamboat Springs Surefoot Holiday Classic in Slalom on 12/21.

Brian Bailey made podium 12/13 at the Copper Surefoot Colorado Ski Cup FIS Super G race.

Florian Szwebel had a decisive win at the Surefoot Colorado Ski Cup FIS DH at Copper on 12/11 where Clayton Kirwood stepped up to 3rd place and Logan Martin impressed with a 8th place result in his first FIS race of his career.

Alex Leever recorded a 10th at the FIS SL at Loveland and followed with a bronze at the Surefoot slalom in Steamboat in a deep international field.

Women’s FIS:

Libby Gibson started her season off with a 3rd place at the Jr. FIS GS, a warm up for her, at Copper Nov. 21 and followed with an impressive 15th place result, and her personal NorAm best, in the stacked field of international competitors at the Vail NorAm GS.  She then took her momentum to Steamboat where she clocked the best slalom result of her career as first American and 5th overall at the Surefoot Co Ski Cup.

Erika McCormick kicked off the season with a top-ten result; 9th place at the Jr. FIS Giant Slalom at Copper Mt. 11/20 that also attracted a deep international field.

Montana Marzario earned a noteworthy 7th on 11/24 at the Jr. FIS in Loveland, racing against the same deep roster.  Abigail Murer put in an outstanding showing in Loveland in her first FIS showdown, placing 9th at that race and serving notice that she is a new young contender.

The U16 teams showed up on fire at the season openers at Winter Park racing a pair of Smartwool Giant Slalom’s:

In the GS on Saturday 12/14, Brianna Trudeau turned in a tremendous result in 7th place as the youngest competitor in the field and the boys putting 4 in the top 15 with Jacob Dilling andBrendan Keane, both in the youngest age eligible, leading the group with 5th and 8th place respectively.

Sunday’s GS race was equally impressive.  The women put 3 in the top-ten with personal bests for Katelin Hennum and Whitney Merriman in a 7th place tie, and Lily Dines placing 9th in her debut in the older age group.  The men turned it up a notch to put 5 in the top-15 where Colby Lange led the group in 5th, Ryan Collins raced to his best-ever finish in 7th and Brendan Keane finished 9th.

They went on to Copper last weekend and wowed the crowd with Luci Bailey coming from the back of the pack to finish an amazing 2nd place and showing their depth putting 6 women in the top-15 on Sat. (Bailey, Hennum, Allison Hoerr, Ruby Black, Hannah Fallon and Dylan Fiore) and mixing it up with a different 7 in the top-15 on Sunday (Nellie Rose Talbot, Black, Hennum, Fiore, and Dines).

The boys brought the intensity too, dominating with 9 in the top-15 on Saturday and Jack Keane in 2nd  (Keane, Clange, Paul Cuthbertson, Bridger Gile, Kaison Lavicka, Brendan Keane, Ben Kooiman, Patrick Ottley and Matt Macaluso).  On Sunday they notched it up with two on the podium where Jack Keane and Lange were 2nd and 3rd and Jacob Dilling and Colin Suszynski making their mark and joining Cuthbertson and Lavicka in the top-15.

Our Alumni are on Fire:

World Cup:  Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin are lighting up the World Cup (Vonn 5th at Lake Louise, Shiffrin 4 podiums, one of them a win at Levi!)

NorAm Cup: Paula Moltzan (1st in Slalom, 2nd in GS at Vail; 3rd in slalom at Loveland); Katharine Irwin (3rd and 5th in DH at Copper), Will Gregorak (2nd in SL at Vail);  Abby Ghent (a pair of 5th’s in GS at Vail)

Regional FIS Races: Colin Hayes (1st in SL at Steamboat); Megan McGrew (3rd in SL at Steamboat)

USSA Scored Races:  River Radamus (a pair of decisive wins in Smartwool SL’s at Copper)

The U14, U12, Teams and SpeedQuest kids assigned to Age Class will be racing their first races next weekend where they will kick off their season at Beaver Creek with a pair of GS Bolle Age Class Opens Jan. 4-5.  They have been doing race simulation training and time trials in preparation of these races and are chomping at the bit to get racing!

YSL athletes have been preparing for their first races at the end of Jan. by ripping up Vail Mt. and running lots of gates.

The staff has been burning the candle at both ends providing expertise with the production of the Women’s Raptor World Cups, the Men’s Birds of Prey World Cups and our NorAm series.  They have managed to keep their groups motivated and provide focused training, while attending to these extra duties.  Their athletes have not missed a beat; thanks to their efforts!!

It has been an exciting start to the 2013-14 Season with much more in store!

Karen Ghent

Alpine Program Director

Ski and Snowboard Club Vail

kghent@skiclubvail.org

970.790.5131 (o)

970.376.1184 (c)

PARENTS ON THE TRAINING HILL-12-28-13

As you have seen, our training hill is a busy place with many age groups training at the same time.  The staff makes huge efforts in creating an environment that is well planned and as safe as possible.

Many of you may not know that we have established protocols in order for observers/parents to be allowed in the training environment.  A few of our parents have completed the requirements in order to be approved as guest/parent coaches on the hill, which allow lapping, helping with the courses, slipping, and coaching their child.

Additionally, we are happy to allow parents to observe training on the hill within certain parameters.  In order to maintain a secure environment where all the coaches know what is happening and have confidence that movement in the training environment is controlled, it is imperative that parents check in with their child’s coach to receive directions for an appropriate place to watch.  They will be asked to remain in one place during their visit.  This is for everyone’s safety.

Please refer to page 4 of the Parent Athlete Handbook for the details.

If you have questions about these policies, or need additional information, please feel free to contact me or your program’s Head Coach.

Thank you.

Karen Ghent 

Alpine Program Director

Ski and Snowboard Club Vail

 

ALPINE PROGRAM DIRECTOR NEWS-ALPINE UPDATE-NOVEMBER 20, 2013

Hello Alpine!

As we approach the Birds of Prey World Cup, we want to let you know some organizational notes and describe our goals so everyone is prepared for the event and understands our role and responsibility to support the races.

We are extraordinarily fortunate to have the support of Vail Resorts as our most important partner.  It is because of our good relationship, that we are afforded unprecedented opportunities at Vail and Beaver Creek to allow your athletes to strive to reach their dreams.

As part of our partnership, we are obliged to provide a crew of Race preparation and skiing experts to assist in the production of the World Cup.  We will be utilizing our entire staff and our U16-and-older athletes to accomplish this task.  The coaches are putting a plan together that supports their goals for your athlete to attend their events, get the training and rest they need, and meet their academic requirements.  It is not an easy assignment and we hope you will trust we have your athlete’s interests in mind as we move forward.

The Alpine calendars reflect the break from training during the Men’s races, freeing them up to assist with slipping and course prep.  We have been working toward this break in order that it will not negatively impact their training progressions.  In fact, it is an amazing opportunity for our athletes to be up close to their heroes, be on the World Cup venue, and be a part of the event, providing them with a unique perspective on what their dreams look like.

Part Time athletes and athletes who have special requirements will have training during this time on Gold Peak with a small staff assigned to cover the training and provide a quality experience.  The rest of the staff will be working the races.

We understand everyone is busy, but the more our parent volunteers can help, the less it impacts the athletes’ training.

Specifics:

• The athletes will not be asked to arrive to Spruce Saddle restaurant at the top of the Centennial Lift before 8:30 in most cases.  (Significant snowfall days may require an earlier schedule)
• They will need to be dropped off by parents or car pool at Beaver Creek (you can use the Chapel Drop off Lot)
• Lunch is provided, but hearty eaters will want extra snacks in their packs
• Athletes and parent volunteers will be required to check in at Spruce Saddle and check out daily at a designated point (probably at the top of the escalator, but TBA)
• SSCV Athletes will always be with an SSCV coach and a small group of their teammates when working their assignments
• Good training skis with sharp edges are required
• Scheduling details will be communicated by your Primary coaches.

Please let your Primary Coach or Head Coach know if you have any questions.  Thank you!