Vail, Colo. December 22, 2022 – This past weekend through Monday, mogul skiers from across the nation traveled to Vail to compete in the Rocky Mountain Freestyle Season Opener competition. Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) athletes bumped it up on their home turf across a large competitive field, taking home 12 podiums and 35 top ten positions across overalls and age divisions in three days of competition. 

The Rocky Mountain Freestyle COMP Season Opener competition took place December 17-19. This level of RMF competition (COMP) is fully sanctioned by US Ski & Snowboard with competitions in mogul and dual mogul, and is the most highly competitive series out of the three offered by RMF. This specific competition contained junior moguls the first day of competition, champ/senior moguls the second day, and dual moguls the last day. Rocky Mountain Freestyle defines that Junior Mogul events are open to all junior competitors, age 18 holding a US Ski & Snowboard Freestyle Competitor membership. Champ/Senior Mogul events, however, are restricted to ‘permanent’ Comp Series junior athletes (18 and under) with at least 550 Points on the most recent Mogul FSP List and all senior athletes (19 and older) regardless of points.

Throughout the three days of competition, current and former SSCV athletes shined within their age class, and beyond. On the first day of competition, SSCV women dominated the top ten within the U17 female category, with Kaiya Torres snagging second, Elle Keenan grabbing third, Cali Carr taking fourth, Reese Lemnah in seventh, and Sophia Jacimowicz rounding out SSCV results in ninth. Further, Ava Keenan took first in the U13 female category, impressively as one of the only young competitors in a highly sanctioned competitive field. 

SSCV men made waves in their age categories, with Caden McCormrick taking first for the U17 males, Simon Cope taking fourth and Jiah Cohen taking sixth. As for the U15 males, Beckett Dickson showed up snagging second in the age bracket, with Riley McGuire close behind in fifth. Jameson Kust also took a top ten placement in the U19 males, bringing eighth place home. 

SSCV athletes brought the heat during the Champs/Sr. Moguls competition day. The U17 females performed strong once again, with Cali Carr taking first in her age category, Kaiya Torres close behind in third, Reese Lemnah in sixth and Sophia Jachimowicz coming up in seventh. Reese Chapdelaine added her sixth place in the U19 female category to the long list of SSCV placings. Ava Keenen impressed again with a seventh place overall as a U13. The SSCV men continued the strong showcase streak, with Nash Lucas achieving first overall for the males, Chase Barros taking fourth, and Garrett Marley snagging sixth. For Lucas it was his third consecutive win on his home course in Vail. As for the U17 males, Caden McCormick took first again in his age category. Nash and Chase also took top ten overalls in dual moguls the next day, with Nash taking first overall, and Chase rounding out the podium in third; with  Jameson Kust in seventh overall. 

“It was great to host the season opener here in Vail,” said John Dowling, SSCV Mogul Program Director. “VR came through with snowmaking and grooming to put the course together for the earliest event RMF has seen in a while.  Nash Lucas was a standout, winning both the Champs event and the Dual mogul in a deep field that featured top talent from both Rocky and Intermountain regions as well as a few from Eastern Division.  For a lot of our team, this week was the first full top to bottom runs of the year, so we’re just getting up to speed.  We’re off to a good start now and looking forward to gearing up for US Selections (January 6-12) and the competition season to come.”

Below are the top three overalls and the top ten SSCV placements across the three days of competition: 

December 17, 2022 – Jr. Moguls – Female Overall

1 – Anabel Ayad 

2 – Kyle Kariotis 

3 – Evelyn Harris 

7 – Kaiya Torres – SSCV

8 – Elle Keenan – SSCV 

10 – Cali Carr – SSCV 

December 17, 2022 – Jr. Moguls – Male Overall

1 – Peyton Beilleisen 

2 – Xande Tartar-Brown

3 – Stephen Boone 

9 – Jameson Kust – SSCV 

10 – Caden McCormick – SSCV

December 18, 2022 – Champs/Sr, Moguls – Female Overall

1 – Skylar Slettene 

2 – Kylie Kariotis

3 – Anabel Ayad 

4 – Cali Carr – SSCV 

7 – Ava Keenan – SSCV

9 – Kaiya Torres – SSCV 

December 18, 2022 – Champs/Sr, Moguls – Male Overall

1 – Nash Lucas – SSCV 

2 – Peyton Billeisen 

3 – Xande Tartar-Brown 

4 – Chase Barros – SSCV 

6 – Garrett Marley – SSCV

December 19, 2022 – Dual Moguls – Women Overall 

1 – Anabel Ayad 

2 – Isabel Powell 

3 – Skylar Sletenne 

December 19, 2022 – Dual Moguls – Men Overall 

1 – Nash Lucas – SSCV 

2 – Peyton Billeisen
3 – Chase Barros – SSCV 

7 – Jameson Kust – SSCV 

For a full list of results, go to http://rockymountainfreestyle.com.