Coaches, directors reflect on mid-season athlete wins so far
By Carli Johnson STAFF WRITER
Amid cancelled races and a below-average snowpack on courses, the Big Ski Ski Education Foundation has still found ways to train, and even excel, in their programs this winter. The nearly 175 athletes that make up the BSSEF team hail from Big Sky, Bozeman, Billings, Red Lodge, Ennis, Manhattan and other neighboring towns.
Despite limited snowpack across the Northern Rockies, Big Sky Resort was still able to open early for alpine athletes to host their annual fall camps that allowed teams to get on-snow training as early as Nov. 15. Training for the alpine team started strong, while both the Nordic and freeride teams struggled with lack of terrain in the early season.
“Our kids have been lucky enough to be on snow since the 15th of November,” BSSEF’s Director of Programming,Jeremey Ueland, told EBS. Compared to any of the programs across the country, Big Sky athletes have had great early season access, according to Ueland.
Freeride team makes strides
With 32 athletes committed to the freeride team this winter, Freeride Director Wallace Casper is “stoked,” to say the least. Although the snowpack has been thin below treeline, Casper is confident and optimistic about the trajectory of his team’s training.
“I’ve been pretty impressed with how well the mountain has been skiing. It’s been kind of funky weather and a weird winter, but we’ve had pretty decent conditions, surprisingly,” Casper said. “I feel like our kids are actually doing a lot better than a lot of other competitors, just in terms of training. Like, if you look at Colorado and Utah, they’re still on groomers.”
Even with variable conditions, two athletes made the podium at the International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association Whitefish Junior 3 competition.
Casper proved impressed and proud of U15 male athlete Duke Woodman finishing in first place. “He’s just got really good technique and air awareness, and he’s kind of just got it all,” Casper said. “He’s been on fire.”
U19 female Kennedy Coachenour finished in third place at the same competition. “She’s done really well and worked consistently over the years with us. She’s now a senior, so it’s good to see her finishing strong,” Casper said.
Looking ahead, the freeride team is preparing to host an IFSA junior competition at Big Sky Resort on Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, bringing athletes as far as Wyoming, Jackson Hole, Targhee and Whitefish.
This year, the freeride team feels cohesive with matching jackets and a dialed warm-up routine, and Casper is excited about the structure the athletes have this year.
“We’ve been really good at educating the kids on the super fine-tuned details about the judging and scoring and rules,” he said. “So I definitely take pride in how well our kids understand the system.”
With all the warm temperatures in town, Casper noted it’s easy to feel disappointed in the snowpack this season.
“But, we’ve been up here every day and have been able to find pretty good skiing,” he said, ending with an optimistic outlook for the remainder of the season.
Alpine team proves promising early season results
Similarly, the alpine team has experienced a positive season thus far. Despite the collective complaints of warmer temperatures in town, director of the alpine team Aaron Haffey has been able to get his athletes on the snow and ripping down the mountain.
“Thanks to the Big Sky Resort Snowmaking and Mountain Ops teams, we have had more training–on quite good surfaces–than any other team in the Western U.S., if not the entire nation this year,” Haffey explained in an email to EBS.
The volume and quality of their training is already paying off as seen in the first few competitions of the season. BSSEF hosted the opening race of the season at Big Sky Resort, placing their very own athletes on the podium early in the season.
On day one, BSSEF saw one podium appearance from Carter Morton, who placed fifth overall. Day two had another BSSEF male skier on the podium with Geno DiTullio finishing fourth overall and second for the U18s.
Their next competition took them to Jackson Hole, which proved soft conditions and a cancelled day of racing. Despite these setbacks, the BSSEF alpine team adapted to prove promising scores.
Both U16 males Dom DiTullio and Elijah Harder finished the day on the podium with fourth and fifth place results, respectively. U16 female Camryn Morton was also on the podium on day one with a fifth place result. Millie Fritsch also showed that the hard work she has been putting in is starting to pay off with a top 15 result in 14th place.
On the final day in Jackson, Dominic Ditullio ended up standing on the top step of the podium with the overall win. Haffey saw solid finishes from his athletes with Dayne Free in eighth, Elijah Harder in 14th, and Cullen Sheil in 31st. Camryn Morton had her third top-10 result of the week finishing in eighth with Millie Fritsch in 22nd and Layal Turcer in 37th.
After final results were calculated, BSSEF ended up qualifying a club record of four athletes, more than any club in the Western Region this year, according to Haffey, for the exclusive National Performance Series project at Burke, Vermont, later this January.
Nordic team adapts to late start
The Nordic team will head to their first race Jan. 23 through 25 in Midway, Utah. Previously scheduled races were rescheduled, then cancelled due to the variable weather and unsafe conditions. However, the delayed start to the season has not discouraged Nordic coach Brooke Dunnagan from maintaining a positive attitude.
“It’s hard to complain at all about the snow, knowing the West in general is hurting more than we are [in Montana],” Dunnagan told EBS.
They’ve only had to pivot to dry land training options a couple of times, Dunnagan said. Reminding athletes that comparatively, Big Sky has access to many different options of skiable terrain.
“We’re lucky to be able to drive down to West Yellowstone where they usually have colder temps,” Dunnagan said. “They have some of the best cross country skiing trails down there at Rendezvous.”
Four high school athletes and four middle school athletes will head down to Soldier Hollow in Utah to compete this weekend at the 2002 Winter Olympics facility. The super qualifier race includes a classic sprint and a distance skate race. With the delayed start to races, this shortens the Nordic season from late January to early March.
Even with the lack of races, Dunnagan is excited to support and lead the nearly 40 athletes in their own unique Nordic skiing goals.
“I just want to support Nordic skiing being a part of their lives and staying active,” Dunnagan said. “Every member of our team is such a key player, whether they’re going to every race or they’re just here to get out on snow with friends.”
