2015-2016 Freeride Season is Underway

2016 Freeride staff - (l to r) - Kevin Ladue(Snb), Mike Lynn(Ski), Cari Verner(Ski), Bob Witt(Snb), Mike Kirchner, Dale Mortensen(Snb), Kevin Brousseau(Ski), Keith Shipman(Ski), Nick Arnold(Ski), Bailey Campbell,(Ski) Andrew Wilson(Ski), Justin Perry(Ski)

Morning stretch at Mid-station

Well, the 2015-2016 season got underway, Sunday, December 6th, despite Mother Nature's lack of cooperation.  The Whiteface snowmakers have done a great job so far, making top to bottom skiing and riding a reality without consistent low temps.  All that stopping and starting makes it difficult on the crews but hopefully we'll see those guns pounding full-time soon. 

In Freeride news this week, Head Freeride Coach, Justin Perry, heads back to Summit County, Colorado with a handful of skiers to get a head start on park training and take in some of the action at  The Dew Tour stop at Breckenridge.  Season is in full-swing in the Rockies and we're hoping that they bring some of the white stuff back with them.

Parents, watch your inboxes for the weekly program e-mail from me with a copy of this year's goal sheet.  Please print it out and then take some time with your athlete to guide them through the process of filling them out. I'd like for them to hand them back in to their coaches this coming Saturday, Dec 12th.  If your athlete didn't make opening weekend then I ask that they turn theirs in next weekend after they get some turns under their feet and have a chance to talk with their coach.  Individual training and competition plans will be based on this important feedback.  Remember, all goals whether modest or lofty are equally important to communicate so we can keep everyone progressing.

In addition to their short, medium, and long-term goals, we're looking for equipment details as well.  Fill in as much as possible and if you're unsure about anything, the coaches will help out with the rest this weekend.

Lastly, if you haven't heard the news yet, the NYSEF Chairman's Holiday Gathering is taking place on Wednesday, December 30th at Greg and Lorie Harden's house on Old John Brown Rd in Lake Placid.  The cost is $50 per person and includes heavy appetizers, beer & wine, and, of course, great company.  Traditionally, this evening is one with unique opportunities to show your support of NYSEF through giving.  All proceeds go towards NYSEF scholarship funds.  Contact Beatty Schluetter (beatty@nysef.org) in the Development Office for more information.

NYSEF Freeride at Junior National Freestyle Championships

2015 NYSEF Junior National Freestyle Championship Team in Park City, UT

View of the Slopestyle course from the start

Brett DeWeese & Emma Lauria

Taylor Bond(NWS '15)(left), Jake Prichard (2nd to right), & Brian Gardiner (right)

The Freeride team, accompanied by Head Coach Justin Perry and Moguls Coach Nick Arnold headed to Park City, Utah last week to compete in the 2015 USSA Junior National Freestyle Championships.

Winter-term athletes Brett DeWeese and Emma Lauria qualified for the Moguls competition in their first year in the "A" division. Though they didn't make it into the top 20 that went to finals, the girls had a great experience skiing with the top junior skiers in the nation and Coach Nick was proud of their performance.  2016 is another year and we know they'll be working hard to get back there.

On the men's side, Coach JP had three athletes qualify through Eastern Freestyle competition: Taylor Bond (NWS '15), Brian Gardiner, and Jake Prichard.  All three competed in Slopestyle while Brian also qualified for Big Air.  

In Slopestyle, Brian won his qualifying heat and Jake took 4th in his to qualify into the 16-man finals.  Taylor just missed out and ended up 21st out of 79 athletes.  Both boys put down great runs in finals, and finished solidly in the top ten: Jake took 6th overall and 3rd in his age group while Brian took 8th overall and 4th in his age group.

In Big Air action the following day, Brian stomped a double cork 1260 mute on his first run to land him in 4th overall and 2nd in his age group.  Unfortunately, he fell hard on his 2nd attempt while trying for the same trick with a tail grab and couldn't better his first run score. Regardless, the performances overall were stellar and left room for improvement, which says a lot about the potential for reaching the podium in the future.

For Brett and Emma, championship season is over, however for the Slopestyle crew, they'll be traveling to USASA Nationals at Copper Mt, CO. April 4th-7th with their sights set on one more championship opportunity.  Go get 'em boys!


Click the link for a great article on Brett DeWeese in the Saratogian

East Coast A Mogul Championships

Brett DeWeese, Mike Lynn, Nick Arnold, Jake Roney, Emma Lauria

The NYSEF A Mogul crew headed this past weekend to Waterville Valley, NH for the East Coast Mogul Championships with Coaches Mike Lynn and Nick Arnold.  Brett DeWeese came away with a 14th place in Saturday's singles competition to lead the team with Emma Lauria taking a 23rd and Jake Roney a 29th place in their first year of A level competition.  Emma and Brett also competed in Dual Moguls on Sunday and happened to be paired against each other in their first heat.  Brett came away with the head-to-head win and then lost in the next round to the eventual 3rd place competitor, Savannah Forehand.  Brett also was given the most improved skier award at the Championship banquet.  Great job!

All three of these competitors not only represent NYSEF but also our Winter Term Program based at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY.  Athletes in the Winter Term train 6 days per week and live at the OTC side by side with elite athletes from many disciplines.  They also benefit from world class training facilities, personalized tutoring, and nutritious meals provided daily.  What a great way to experience and excel in your chosen sport!

We wish Emma and Brett the best of luck as they continue on to Junior Nationals in Park City next weekend.  Show them what you're made of!

USSA East Free Tour Slopestyle Finals @ Sugarloaf

The NYSEF Slopestyle team traveled to Sugarloaf, ME to compete in the USSA EastFree Tour Finals February 14th. It was another cold day of competition but the NYSEF athletes were red hot! Jake Prichard of Old Forge, NY stomped his second run to take the top honors and the title of East Coast Champion for 2015. Taylor Bond, (NWS '15), also took his second top 10 result of the season with a 9th place finish.

Click here for a full list of results.

Jake grabbing safety in a sw 720 in practice

T-Bond loading up for a prezle 270 out, after stomping a sw 270 on

Brian Gradiner locking on for a super fed

The 50-50 master himself - Avery Higgins-Lopez

Gavin with a steezy front 4 out

Jake speachless after his first USSA win!

Three Run Thursday #2

This is the second installment of this season's Three Run Thursday edits. It features the skiing talents of a few of the NYSEF full time athletes: Gavin, Avery, Taylor, Andrew, and Davis. There are also cameo appearances from Jake P, and Coach Ross. Each athlete was only filmed for a total of three runs! The result is a fast paced, style filled, 6+ min edit! I would like to send out a special thanks to Whiteface mountain, and Whiteface Park crew for building all of the features - to all of the athletes for displaying their skills for all of us to watch- and to GoPro, and Imovie for providing the technology that I used to film and edit this video. I hope you all enjoy it!

USSA East Free Tour stop #2 @ Waterville Valley, NH

January 30th - February 1st

On Thursday, January 29th four NYSEF freeride athletes traveled to Waterville Valley with me to compete in the second stop of the USSA East Free Tour. The East Free Tour serves as a stepping stone for athletes to qualify for the USSA Junior National Championships, and other national tour events.

Friday, at Waterville, was a training day for Slopestyle and Big Air competitions. The weather was cold and snowy. Proper speed for the course was hard to come by, and yet everyone had fun, and was able to plan their slopestyle runs on the four feature course.

Saturday was the slopestyle competition. The weather, again, was not ideal. Specifically, the 20-30 mph winds, with up to 60 mph gusts caused the competition jury to close the second jump. Athletes were instead allowed to use the knuckle of the second jump to preform additional freestyle maneuvers. Despite the poor weather, I never heard a single complaint from all four NYSEF athletes. They all put a smile on, pushed through the adversities presented to them, and competed like champions. I was, and still am, so proud of them. The judges were also impressed with their performances. All four athletes qualified for finals which consisted of the top 16 athletes of the day. Each of the athletes continued to preform in finals; they all landed their run in finals. After all was said and done they all finished in the top 10, and 2 of them finished on the podium. This was perhaps the best team performance that NYSEF Freeride has ever had.

NYSEF Results:

• Brian Gardiner got 2nd
• Jake Prichard got 3rd
• Taylor Bond got 6th
• Gavin Fritz got 9th

On Sunday, Waterville was host to two, back-to-back big air competitions. Brian was the only athlete of the four to compete in these events. He like the day before had to work with strong and swirling winds. He played it a bit on the safe side, but still managed to place 4th in the 1st big air, and 5th in the 2nd big air.

Needles to say, but our trip to Waterville Valley was a great success!!!

Moving forward, we are all looking forward to the final stop on the East Free Tour up at Sugarloaf USA, in Maine. This event is scheduled for Valentine's weekend.

Here is a photo of four stoked athletes, and one proud coach

NOV - DEC Recap video

We at NYSEF Freeride like to have fun and train hard! Check out what we were up to during the first two months of the ski season! 


Stay tuned for a January recap dropping soon.

NYSEF athletes compete in Revolution Tour, Slopestyle, at Seven Springs, PA

February 26th - 28th

Jake Prichard (left), Brian Gardiner (right), and I embarked on an epic adventure to Seven Springs, PA a little over a week ago. Our mission was to compete in the eastern stop of the Revolution Tour - a FIS sanctioned Slopestyle and Halfpipe event. The Revolution tour serves a stepping stone for young aspiring athletes to gain points towards qualifying for Gand Prix, and World Cup level competition. This was Brian, and Jake's first time competing at this level and it was an inspiring, and educational experience for all of us. The course was huge, and the level of talent was through the roof!

1st 2 rail pads each with tree options to choose from

1st jump (50 ft to the knuckle)

2nd jump (65 ft to the knuckle)

After 2 days of training Jake and Brian were feeling dialed in and ready to compete. Jake's run was: Blind swap, to front swap, to forward on the trapezoid box - front 450 out of the flat rail - right wobble 720 with a tweaked safety grab on the first jump - and a double superman front flip on the second jump. Jake landed both of his competition runs and finished 31st!

Brian's run was: switch lip to k-fed on the top of the right wall ride - left foot forward, front 4 out of the cannon tube -  dub flat 720 on the first jump - and left double cork 1080 with a safety grab. Although Brian landed all but 1 of his training runs, he unfortunately fell on the first jump on both of his competition runs. Despite not having the best result it was an extremely valuable experience. Both athletes left Seven Springs with an incredible amount of confidence moving forward. 

Moguls at Bristol Mt

The Mogul "A" & "B" teams both travelled to Bristol last weekend to compete in the Toyota Freestyle Fest.  Jack DeWeese came away with an 8th place on Saturday and  5th place on Sunday to lead the "B"Team.  Emma Lauria, who comes to our program from Windham Mt, had the best result for the "A"'s with a 10th place on Saturday.  Congrats to everyone for representing NYSEF/Whiteface!

USSA EastFree Tour Slopestyle @ Okemo

NYSEF Freeride had a great weekend at Okemo for the first Slopestyle competition of the 2015, USSA, East Free Tour. The course at Okemo was in great shape the day of the competition. The format was a best of two run qualification round leading into a best of two run finals for the top 16 athletes. Every NYSEF athlete made it into the top 55 overall, with one athlete qualifying for the finals. 

Here are the results: 
Brian Gardiner - 8th
Avery Higgins-Lopez - 19th
Gavin Fritz - 31st
Jacob Prichard - 45th
Taylor Bond - 55th.

Top 2 rail pads

2nd Jump

Mid January Update

NYSEF Mogul "B" team (photo - Jenn DeWeese)

Coach Mike Lynn & Jack DeWeese (photo-Jenn DeWeese)

L to R - Brian Gardiner, Jake Prichard & Avery Higgins-Lopez (Photo - Ri Kirchner)

Alex Page (Photo - Ri Kirchner)

Results
Well, it was definitely a busy weekend.   Mike Lynn and the Mogul team competed at Hunter Mt with notable results from Jack DeWeese taking 1st in Saturday's event and a 4th overall for the weekend and Kaylen Reiley took 1st in his age group on Sunday and 6th overall.  Congrats guys!

At the USASA ADK Railjam at Titus Mt Sunday, it was a great day for NYSEF Freeride as well.  The event was our final home series railjam of the season so it also meant that we've set our series champs via their cumulative scores.  These athletes will be watching their inboxes next month for their invite to the 2105 USASA National Championships held in Copper Mt. CO.

Snowboard Men 14 & Over
Tony Russo - 2nd place

Skier Men 14 & Over
Jake Prichard - 1st place
Avery Higgins-Lopez - 2nd place
Brian Gardiner - 3rd place   ADK Series Champ

Snowboard Boys 14 & Under
Alex Page - 1st place    ADK Series Champ
Rodger Jakubowski - 3rd place

Skier Boys 10-13
Bryant Ward - 1st place    ADK Series Champ
James Ward - 2nd place
Marc Bilow - 3rd place

Skier Girls 10-13
Madeline Prichard - 1st place    ADK Series Champ

Skier Boys 9 & Under
Joss Jakubowski - 1st place


Upcoming events
Jan 17-18  - USSA A & B Mogul - Toyota Freestyle Fest at Bristol Mt, NY
Jan 18-19 - USSA Slopestyle - 1st EastFree Tour Event at Okemo Mt, VT (orig. postponed from 1/4)
     registration and info on USSA Freestyle events above can be found at www.easternfreestyle.com
Jan 19 - USASA SkiCross/Boardercross at North Creek Ski Bowl/Gore
     registration and info on USASA Adirondack events can be found at www.usasa.org

Just a reminder for USASA members interested in the Empire State Winter Games SS & Cross taking place Feb 7-8, registration can be found at www.empirestatewintergames.com

2015 is Here!

Just a quick update prior to starting our 2nd weekend of 2015.

This weekend our "B"Mogul athletes are on the road at Hunter for back to back events Saturday & Sunday.  The USASA Adirondack Series is holding a railjam at Titus Mt on Sunday (info here) and the Alpiners are competing in the Hovey Memorial Race on home snow at Whiteface.  If you can't tell we're entering the heart of competition season.

With all of that going on, those who are still here at home will be training in the newly re-built Broadway & Brookside terrain parks and working on getting a mogul kicker up and running on Wilderness, as well as enjoying all the freshly made snow thanks to the frigid temps this past week.

New snow has been made on the Wolf trail, our eventual cross track, and snow is being made to build into a start for said course as I write this.  We are hopeful that we will have a start section & start gate installed in the next several days so that at the very least we can get some heavy training in next weekend prior to our first Cross race of the season - MLK Day, Jan 19th at North Creek Ski Bowl.

As coaches and athletes hit the road, training groups may be changing to make up for those traveling.  Keep in mind, this may be the time to glean some knowledge from a different perspective and/or work on something ne.

Lastly, for any parents looking to earn credit towards your work deposit or pick up a free lift ticket voucher, I have added more volunteer opportunities to our Freeride blog.  Look for the green and white buttons to the right of the article.

That's all for now. Hope to see you on the mountain!