Congrats to all of you that competed at Abasin, I saw some really great moments from every competitor.  Even though I was not coaching, I was able to watch everybody's runs. Rolling into this weekend, we have a slight conflict with the Breck National.  This event will drain a fair amount of our coaching resources to support the athletes competing, but we'll still offer some training on Saturday and Sunday for those that want to make the trip to Breck on Saturday and Sunday. Schedule 3/16 – No Training 3/17 – No Training (SMS/SHS no school) 3/18 – Breck...

Just like that.. March is right around the corner.  It really does fly.  Guns remain blazing as we carry into our 5th straight week of competitions. This past week, we saw competitions at Monarch and Crystal Mountain, WA.  Emma Litwiller claimed top honors in the U12 field, with Elizabeth Drummond in 3rd.  Bodie Cagen also stood atop the podium for the U12 boys.  Jack Shelton continued his top-10 streak with a 6th.  In Washington, Maddie Haser and Hannah Webb took 1st and 3rd respectively for the 12-14 female division.  Parker Gray notched another top-10 in...

Some early snowfall is coming down from these next couple of storms that are incoming.  Skiing around the county should be quite good this week and into the weekend. With the conclusion of the Copper events, we'll be shifting back to Abasin on a more permanent basis, minus the odd trainings at Breck as we approach the event over there.  Breck trainings will be optional, and will coincide with trainings at Abasin. We had an amazing showing at the Copper National.  Thomas, Maddie, and Reid all qualified 1st in their respective divisions.  All 15-18 boys qualified, but...

Telluride was a completely successful start to our competition season. A total of 5 podiums, and 6 top 5s, and 17 out of 18 athletes landing their runs.  I truly could not ask for a more consistent start to our comp season.  Morgan Fields was 2nd in 15-18 female, Evan Barth was 4th 15-18 female, Hannah Webb was 1st 12-14 female, Maddie Haser was 2nd 12-14 female, Thomas Drummond was 2nd 12-14 Male, Reid Litwiller was 3rd 15-18 ski male.  Of course these were the highlights, and I cannot stress enough how happy I am with everybody's performance. I hope this weekend went smooth...

That was a pretty darn productive couple of days at Copper, but with that being said; we're going to return to Abasin.  The traffic and frustration that comes with it, is simply too much and it severely cuts into our training time.  Ultimately, more time on snow is always a good thing – and all of the athletes that attended this weekend got to put eyes on the venue at Copper.  Abasin simply allows us to get more runs, and keep a cooler ahead. I'm also going to have to make a last-minute change to our schedule this week, and eliminate Academy/Early Release training...

We're nearing the end of January somehow.  This is our last week of "normalcy" before things get pretty chaotic, with competition season right around the corner.  We've been hard at work during training, gearing up for the road ahead and putting the finishing touches on most of what we'll be able to bring to the competition season. It looks like we'll have pretty consistent light snowfall for most of the week, hopefully keeping things soft.  The new snow will bring some additional crowds up the hill, so be prepared. Schedule We'll be moving back...

Below are some points I would love to share and make known, to aid in some understanding, hopefully. The Rocky Mountain Division has over 700 athletes; this is about 2.5X larger than the subsequent most significant division in the US and Canada. Events (and the addition of days) are at the sole discretion of the event hosts (i.e., the mountains), and NOT IFSA or RMFS. The IFSA earns only $6 from each event registration.  The registration platform takes roughly a 9% tax.  The rest of the registration fees go to hosts and host resorts. The Rocky Mountain division...

Holiday Training With the holidays on the horizon, we'll have different training opportunities in the coming weeks.  Since Christmas and New Year fall on weekends, we will utilize some mid-week training blocks. Block 1 December 21st-23rd (Mix of Copper and Abasin, depending on terrain and conditions) All days 9 am-2 pm Block 2 December 29th-31st (Mix of Copper and Abasin, depending on terrain and conditions) All days 9 am-2 pm We won't be doing a travel camp, as we have some pretty good snow here at home, and my research into other locations got expensive quickly.  Please...

Back to Copper this week. Schedule 12/6 Copper ski, possibly barn 12/7 Copper recovery (no ski) 12/9 Copper ski, possibly barn General Notes I'm amazed by this group right now.  The talent level is pretty ridiculous, so let's keep up the strong work and growth mindset.  If you're going to miss a training – which I sincerely hope you don't – please communicate this with me.  The season is long, but not that long. I've taken some extra steps this year to make a more well-rounded academy program, and focus on our total development rather...

Good Afternoon- December is on the horizon, and so is some snowfall.  Models are looking pretty good for some snow at our local mountains, so hopefully we can step into the upcoming weekend with more terrain! We will continue with our time at Copper, as I think we've actually had some pretty incredible training opportunities ranging from the park to some limited openings.  We'll be adding a little more to our agenda (more on that below) Schedule 12/3 Copper 9AM – 3PM  Austin & Kieran groups meet at base of SuperBee 9AM 14-18 YO meet @ Solitude 9AM 12/4...

The time has come for all of us to get on snow!  The academy team has been skiing Copper the last couple of days and there is some good skiing to be had, and so we will kick off our season there! First Weekend Reminders Early season weekends can be some of the most hectic ski days we endure, and as such we need to take extra precautions while on the hill. 1)  For many of you this will be your first day on snow for the season.  We have a really long season ahead of us, so take it easy out there.  The first weekend is not the time for 540s, 720s, or certainly any...