Vail, Colo. December 23, 2021 – An extremely impressive group of United States mogul athletes gathered in Winter Park, Colorado to compete in  US Moguls Selections on December 18th, 20th and 21st. Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes and alumni had a great competition opener and took five podiums (one gold and four silver medals) and 15 top ten finishes. 

The US Selections competition is by invitation only, selected from among  the highest performing mogul athletes from the United States. SSCV had an impressive 21 current and former athletes qualify for this prestigious event.  Among those SSCV athletes and alumni who competed were Cali Carr, Reese Chapdelaine, Georgia Stewart, Kaiya Torres and Lemon Walker,  for the women and  Jiah Cohen, Jameson Kust, Nash Lucas, Garrett Marley, Mylo Ornowski, along with SSCV alumnus Jesse Andringa for the men  

Day one in Winter Park yielded notable performances from SSCV athletes with five top ten mogul finishes.  Among the top performances, Chapdelaine rounded out the top ten with her 10th place finish for the women. As for the men, Ornowski grabbed fourth place, Lucas took eighth and Smith took 10th. 

During day two SSCV athletes continued to display their strength as mogul athletes. This included Chapdelaine jumping up to an eighth place finish. SSCV males took monumental leaps, with SSCV alumnus Andringa earning a second place finish, Smith taking  an impressive seventh, Lucas holding onto eighth and Cohen jumping up from bib 24 to grab ninth place. 

Tuesday’s third day of competition was in the format of duals, and SSCV athletes continued to excel. SSCV men took three top ten placements, with SSCV alumnus Andringa taking second, Lucas placing fifth and Marley taking sixth.

SSCV Mogul Program Director John Dowling said, “Winter Park put together a great event and course for this crucial event. They really came through despite challenges we’ve faced this early season with warm temps and a lack of snow. For most of our skiers, this was the first time getting into a full course this year.”

“The stakes were high with World Cup and NorAm starts on the line, so there was some stress. Our Lazerdogs came through with strong performances from both the men’s and women’s squads. Our leaders looked strong and we saw some nice breakthroughs into the finals from some of our up and comers. SSCV athletes secured starts for upcoming World Cup and NorAm events”, said Dowling.

“It was absolutely exciting to return to competition with a strong SSCV delegation for the 2021 US Moguls Selections,” said Mogul Head FIS Coach, Philippe Marquis. “Our athletes worked tremendously hard over the past months and with a dryer, warmer start to the season, coming together with a bib on their backs brought a new energy. We saw sparks in their eyes and intensity in their skiing as they came out on top with some personal bests, podiums, and consistent performances.” 

“We go into the holiday break with certain challenges but the athletes are eager to train and get ready for our next competition in early January in Steamboat,” Marquis concluded. 

For a full list of results, please go to https://www.fis-ski.com/. 

Photo credit is Stephanie Koller.