Vail, Colo. January 19, 2022 –  On Monday, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) hosted the inaugural United States Ski and Snowboard Rocky Mountain Division (RMD) Youth Ski League (YSL) SkillsQuest competition, providing young ski racers across the division the opportunity to grow as athletes, and have fun with teammates at an action-packed event. Young SSCV athletes in its Age Class Prep program experienced this unique style of skill gauging for the first time on their home mountain and took 20 top tens across the age classes. 

The RMD YSL SkillsQuest event is the first of its kind to occur across the Rocky Mountain Division in the YSL series and includes development level alpine ski racers year of birth 2008 through 2014. Along with aiming to provide a fun learning environment for young ski racers, SkillsQuest will also give athletes, coaches and parents a more complete evaluation of a ski racer’s ability.

Along with a fun scavenger hunt led by coaches on Vail Mountain, the SkillsQuest had four skill stations where the young athletes were evaluated on four fundamental and crucial skills for young snowsport athletes to eventually master: balance (free ski with pole usage), edging (outside ski turns), pressure (Pole Jumpers), and rotary (straight run to side slip with edge set).  

Individual scores were given at each of the stations, which were then averaged for an overall of the results for both male and female athletes.  The event had 8 evaluators involved, all high level and professional coaches, including former US Ski Team coaches, as well as former and current club leaders from across the Rocky Mountain Division. Having these individuals involved was a huge part of the success and SSCV’s ability to host this event.

SSCV young athletes showed off their skills and landed an impressive 20 top tens across the age classes. This included six top tens in the U8 age class,  six top tens in the U10 age class, and eight top tens in the U12 age class. 

“It is great to see a SkillsQuest competition introduced into the Youth Ski League in our division.  In past seasons, a SkillsQuest competition was only available to US Ski & Snowboard Age Class athletes,” said Anje Worrell, SSCV Alpine Part-Time Programs Head Coach. “This offering highlights the importance of these fundamental skills in a fun, team-building environment and is sure to play an important part in the overall development of these athletes.

See below for the top ten placements for SSCV athletes: 

U8 Girls:

1 – Margot Weber

U8 Boys:

1 – Barrett Groff

2 – Lincoln Lurie

3 – Dag Williams

4 – Ewan Dunlop

9 – Dustin Ward

U10 Girls:

3 – Sloane Bodziak

5 – Oakley Milhoan

U10 Boys:

5 – Gage Gros

7 – Henry Wolf

8 – Mack Smith

9 – Sam Elliot

U12 Girls:

5 – Gabi Loizides

7 – Harper Seaton

8  – Sophie Nimmo

10 – Josephine Robinson

U12 Boys:

3 – Braxton Bodziak

4 – Patricio Mendez

6 – Remi Gros

7 – James Schmeltekopf