USSA Congress 2012

I just returned from Park City where I attended the USSA Congress (convention)as a part of the Northern Division representitives. It was a good session and I was very pleased to share it with the very capable group from ND. Lots of topics were discussed for 2013. The new age group changes were discussed at length and we should see decisions about the final alignments by mid-June.

Age Group Changes and USSA Registration

I want to point out that USSA membership is now open for On-Line registration. If you have been a member, you should still expect a mailed membership reminder and form. Before you join, USSA is changing the age group classifications to reflect a method more akin to what Soccer uses; a U-12 group will contain 10 and 11 year olds, U-14 will contain 12 and 13 year olds, etc. In the past the Northern Division group that contained 13 and 14 year olds could chose to race as either scored or un-scored. A scored race/racer was tracked in the national ranking system and compared to all others in the system. This year the grouping will join 13 year olds with 12 year olds, not 14 year olds. 14 year olds will be joined with 15 year olds in the U-16 group. With the U-14 group there is still some question regarding how they might be a part of the national ranking system. Because this question has not been answered yet, it is recommended that racers in the 12/13 year old (U-14) group hold off on their USSA registration until that decision is made. The time table for that decision is early June at this time. The deadline for USSA registration is Oct 15 so there is no immediate need for registration.

Four Whitefish Skiers Receive Academic Awards

Four Whitefish ski racers were presented with Academic Awards to celebrate both their skiing success and their dedication and academic achievement by the Northern Division of the United States Ski Association.

To qualify for the awards the recipient must maintain a minimum of a 3.5 grade average and be selected to attend the Jr. 1-2 Western Regional Championships (ages 15-19) or the Western Region Junior Olympics (ages 13-14).

Named Whitefish athletes are:
Piper Howeth 3.75
Oliver Van Everen 3.75
Brittain Walton 4.0
Nevada Kramer 3.5

Whitefish Skiers Win Awards at Divisional Championships

Six Whitefish Skiers traveled to the Over The Hill Gang Divisional Championships March 30, 31 at Bridger Bowl.
Friday began the series with Giant Slalom for both Women and Men. Erin Tabish ended the day with a Third place Medal and Piper Howeth finished 4th in her age group. Britt Walton led the Whitefish guys by winning his age group. Jacob Welch also medaled, finishing 3rd in the 15/16 year old group. Cameron Welch charged to 5th and Austin Oberlitner was 9th.
Saturday was Slalom day and Erin Tabish finished 4th and Piper Howeth was 5th in their respective age groups. Skiing in the 13/14 year-old group; Britt Walton again led the charge in 2nd, Austin Oberlitner was 4th and Cameron Welch finished 8th. Jacob Welch in the 15/16 group was just out of the medals in 4th.

More News From the US Nationals

Read about the GS here...

Dedeir Cuche's Last World Cup Run

Retiring after many successful years, see Dedeir's last run here.

Mikaela Shiffrin Wins US Slalom Title

Read Mikaela's Story Here...

Whitefish YSL Championships

The 3-day season-ending YSL Championships for USSA’s Northern Division was held at Whitefish Mountain Resort this past weekend with 26 Whitefish racers, ages 6-14, competing in a strong field of 185 athletes from a three state region. Friday’s event was a 2 run, fast Giant Slalom course that tested each racers speed and stamina. Saturday was a challenging, technical 2-run tall gate Slalom race requiring quickness and technical skills tempered with speed. The final day was a single-run Kombi race combining the elements of both disciplines.

Drive and determination paid off for all of the Whitefish athletes; and 10 year-old Colter Upton capped a great season with 3 podium finishes, along with a spot on the Overall Podium. He posted two ripping slalom runs on Saturday to finish on top of the podium in 1st place. He also garnered two 3rd place finishes in Giant Slalom and Kombi. Overall points were tallied throughout the weekend for racers in all divisions to crown the top 3 boys and girls for the entire event. As a 1st year J5 racer (9-10 year olds), Upton surprised the field landing in 3rd in the boys Overall standings. Those podium spots are generally occupied by racers 2-3 years older. The Northern Division manager could only recall one other J5 racer achieving that coveted position in recent memory. Upton commented that standing next to racer’s he’s admired for the past 3 season’s on that podium is his new “best skiing memory”.

10 year-old Whitefish racer, Liam Nelson, really found his groove this weekend and finished on top of the J5 podium in Giant Slalom, along with a strong 4th place finish in Slalom Saturday. In his first year of racing on the YSL circuit he has become an amazing racer this season. Nelson says GS is his favorite because he can “go really fast” and that he does.

As well, Whitefish’s 8 year-old Gardner Dominick who does it all on skis, and showed it this weekend. He put all his strengths together to take 1st place on Sunday in his division, along with two 2nd’s in GS and Slalom. With his great balance and slick moves, he is a very fun skier to watch.

Multiple Top 10 finishes from the Whitefish team included: J4 Pixie Moore 8th in Kombi, J6 Marina Kramer 3rd in GS, 3rd in SL and 4th in Kombi, J5 Walt Hollensteiner 6th in Kombi and 10th in GS, J5 Ian Calloway 7th in GS, J6 Zane Elliott 5th in Kombi and 8th in GS. Cameron Kahle of Whitefish also finished with a strong 4th, 5th, and 6th places respectively in J6 boys.

A large group of young racers from the team competed and were led on the podium by 6 year-old Trey Nelson, finishing with two 1st places and a 2nd in his division. Elizabeth Spradlin got a 2nd place finish in the girls 5-6 year old group. Mikaela Daniels was 3rd in the Kombi and 5th GS and Murial Mercer was 6th in SL,7th in the Kombi and 8th GS.

The Jr 3; 13-14 year old J3 racers competed and the field was dominated by Whitefish athletes with Piper Howeth earning three 1st places, Kelly Shea with three 2nd’s, Britt Walton two 1st’s and a 3rd, Oliver Van Everen a 1st and two 2nd’s, and Cameron Welch with a 2nd and a 3rd.

YSL Championships at Whitefish

Waiting for results to post, but check our the new videos under the "Photos and Videos" tab...

Ted Ligety Talks About This Season and Next!

Click Here to Read More of What Ted Has to Say

This has to Infuriate the Austrians...

Read about it here...Way to go USA Girls!
Just a bit more evidence that what we are doing here in the US is working JUST FINE!

Whitefish Racers Rage at Discovery!

With over 200 racers from throughout Montana attending, 14 of our local alpine ski racers took to the Giant Slalom courses with a passion and intensity that served them well. The Whitefish racers garnered 13 top 10 placements in the two races, including 6 podium finishes. Blue skies, pleasant temperatures and excitement filled the air as the athletes raced through 2 long GS courses each day.

A determined 13 year-old Cameron Welch led the team with 1st and 2nd place finishes in the J3 boys division. Ten year-old Colter Upton continued his course of podium finishes this year, landing in 2nd and 3rd places in the two J5 boys races. Speedster Gardner Dominick raced to a 2nd place finish on Sunday in J6 boys division.

In additon to Upton, a strong contingent of Whitefish J5 boys were represented well with top 10 finishes including: Liam Nelson 5th and 6th, Douglas Mercer 9th and Walt Hollensteiner 9th. James Thompson broke into the top 10 group of J6 boys with a 10th place finish on Sunday.

Not to be outdone, the Whitefish girls had a strong showing with top 10 finishes by Marina Kramer (J6 girls: 3rd and 5th) and Pixie Moore (J4 girls: 6th and 10th).

Also competing for Whitefish was Kristin VanEveren, Stella Eddy, Caroline LeCompte and William Lewison.

Look for these and many others to compete in the upcoming Base Lodge Clinic Northern Division YSL Championships to be held at our very own Whitefish Mountain Resort March 23rd-25th. A record-breaking field is expected along with some incredible ski racing, so come cheer on the racers in the season-ending finale.

Will Brandenburg 6th in World Cup Slalom!

Will Brandenburg is from Spokane; read what he said about his day:
"I really needed that. It has been a grind of a year and I have been skiing great and haven’t been getting to the finish with a clean run. It’s the first time I have done that and been happy at the finish line of a World Cup.
I have the speed and sometimes I take too much risk. Today I skied smart. My coaches and I have worked on my line and tactics a lot. I took the right tactics today in a first run for where I was starting and in the second run I let it go a little bit more. You always want more but that was a great day.
I have battled where I try to take a more aggressive line and it sometimes pays off for good speed but it hasn’t paid off in consistency. I am learning. I will come back next year and hopefully build off this result and start getting closer and closer to podium."
Read More About the Race Here

Great Day on our hill today!

Three Training Courses going at once was a wonderful sight to behold! Left to right (viewed from the bottom) A full length Kombi, a GS for the Jr. Team and full length Slalom for the FIS-USSA group.
Good Scene!

Ligety Wins Large at Kranjska-Gora

Quote from Ted:
"It’s definitely a big victory, especially winning by that margin. I was proud of the effort I put in today. I think the last couple of races I was having trouble putting in the right amount of intensity and today I was able to find it and ski great both runs.
I am about 90-something points behind now and that’s difficult to make up in one race. He (Hirscher) would have to blow it and I'd have to win, but we will see. I am just going to try to take another good race to end the year and wherever I end up, I end up.
This year is pretty crazy. The season Hirsher had is incredible, he is over 600 points with one giant slalom race left. That's maybe the most points scored in giant slalom since I don’t know when. I have 500 points, which is the most points I have ever scored in giant slalom. It would be tough not to win the title but I am also proud of having that kind of season.
I feel like the last couple weeks of giant slalom have been a fluke, at least as far as my results go. Definitely I had a little more expectations for myself, so in that sense, it's tough to lose the title in just a couple of races. At least I am proving that I am right up there with Hirsher".
Read more here...