Watching Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) athletes finish out the competition season with the same consistent display of character, courage and commitment they brought into the season five months ago is very rewarding. These core values of SSCV are personified in many ways by our athletes, both on and off snow.

March C3 Athlete and Staff Award Winners

SSCV’s March C3 athlete winner is Colbey Derwin, an alpine ski racer in his 6th and final year at Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy. Battling injuries and illness during his first year and a half as a FIS competitor (birth years 1999 and older) was tough, but Colbey refused to show it. He made a deliberate choice to stay positive and focused on his recovery and to return to racing, in spite of missing nine months of on-snow time and several months of fighting illness after getting back on snow. Colbey saw this not as a setback, but as an opportunity for personal growth. Through hard work, focus, and relentless determination in the gym, on snow and in the classroom, Colbey is having a successful season on snow and is maintaining a strong GPA.

Congratulations also go out to Samantha Lathram, Cameron Wolfe and Zane Worrell for the honor of being nominated in March for the C3 Athlete Award.

SSCV Freestyle Head Mogul Coach Riley Campbell is the March C3 SSCV Staff Award winner. Riley makes coaching and skiing fun without making it feel too intense to his athletes. His coaching delivery is easy to understand. He takes the time to make sure athletes are staying healthy and he works to create a team environment. He coached the female winner of the Overall NorAm Tour and the male runner up. Over four NorAms he had seventeen podiums across five athletes. No other team in the nation came close to matching these results. He coached his team to be the best they could be in their sport.

U16 Nationals

Over one hundred of the top 2000, 2001 and 2002 birth year alpine racers in the country qualified to compete in U16 Nationals last week, which included Slalom, Giant Slalom and Super G races in Snowbird, Utah. SSCV athletes excelled, taking eleven top three podium finishes in their respective year of birth and eighteen top ten finishes across all ages in these races.

Men’s Top Three

Slalom

2001-3rd-Kellen Kinsella

Giant Slalom

2000-3rd-Max Bervy

2001-3rd-Kellen Kinsella

Super G

2001-1st-Zane Worrell

Women’s Top Three

Slalom

2001-2nd-Cleo Braun

2002-2nd-Nicola Rountree-Williams

Giant Slalom

2001-2nd-Cleo Braun; 3rd-Allie Resnick

2002-3rd-Nicola Rountree-Williams

Super G

2001-2nd-Caroline Jones; 3rd-Ainsley Proffit

Outstanding overall performances across all three races across all three age groups for SSCV athletes included Braun (2001) taking second place overall (along with second place for the 2001’s) for the girls and Burke Fancher (2000) taking third place overall for the boys. For the 2001 age group across all races, Proffit took third overall for the girls and Kinsella took third overall for the boys.

The event also included a SkillsQuest competition testing each athlete’s ability to demonstrate skills outlined by the United States Ski and Snowboard Association as necessary for athletes of this age to take their sport to the next level. SSCV’s Braun (2001) took first and Taylor Brandt (2000) took third overall across all age groups for the girls and Gus Leblanc (2000) took first and Bervy (2000) took third overall across all age groups for the boys.

Hard work and determination personified

Jane Geisman personifies the balance needed between athletics and academics and the grit and determination required to be the best one can be. A tenth grader at SSCV Academic Partner Vail Mountain School, Jane joined SSCV as a part-time alpine Youth Ski League athlete. As her passion for the sport grew she transitioned to a full-time alpine program. With little mileage and no ski racing background in her early days at SSCV, she has had to work harder than many of her peers to get to where she is today. She is one of the most committed athletes you will find on and off the hill with stellar attendance at dryland sessions and summer on-snow camps. She is fully committed, beyond her years, both mentally and physically, to do well in everything she tackles. She nonetheless maintains a happy, carefree attitude and is well-liked among her peers. She approaches her academics with the same determination, enabling her to carry a rigorous course load and an impressive GPA.

These are only a few examples of the many displays of character, courage and commitment among the more than 600 young athletes at SSCV this season. While the focus is on competitive snow sports, the real rewards are the important qualities and life lessons learned through the pursuit of realizing personal potential.