Feb 16, 2017

Awesome skiing at home and at Hunter Mountain

Freestyle Development Director/Events Coordinator Nori Pepe checked in with an update after a successful competition for the Freestyle program.

"I hope everyone was able to brave the cold temps, whipping winds and dumping snow to catch glimpses of the high-level skiing taking place on Highline. The Freestyle team balanced their weekend between training, powder skiing, competing and watching the North American Cup International Mogul Competition.

The mogul team had the pleasure of skiing with guest coach Reed Snyderman. I think all would agree that his enthusiasm and energy is infectious. Reed said 'We really enjoyed the moguls on Vertigo. I was super impressed with the progression out of the whole bunch! I tried to get the crew to be quicker and lighter on their feet, and we laughed about trying to ski more like a pack of lions. Of course we also really enjoyed watching the high-flying action of the NorAm.'

Coach Bob had 'another totally ripping weekend. We skied Devil's Den and Devil's Fiddle for first time this year and had some firsts in the Stash on several features. Watching and cheering for all the KMS skiers in the NORAM, you could hear "wow" from every one of my athletes watching every run. My athletes were very impressed never having seen a level like that before.'

The Bumps & Jumps team focused their energy in the Park in preparation for upcoming Slopestyle and Aerial competitions. Coach Kevin said, 'The team took some laps in Timberline to prep for the Hunter comp. In the afternoon we hit the Stash, Devils Fiddle and Dream Maker and got into some powder in the woods. We also made time to watch the awesome NorAm skiers rip up the course!'

Marissa reported that 'Despite the weather, Sunday turned out to be a great day for Grace, Violet, and Reese. We were hitting the first feature off to the far left in the Stash (bunch of round logs to a drop) while Violet put in a great effort on some features in the woods and a picnic table. I was blown away by Grace mustering up the courage to hit a skinny wooden flat rail, to drop the Skyburst cliff and for clearing the jumps in Timberline!'

On Sunday, Peter DaMore took a group of Bumps & Jumps athletes to a Slopestyle and Aerial competition. He reported back that 'KMS came to Hunter and left with a ton of hardware, nearly sweeping all age groups and the overalls! Everyone competed well in tough, cold conditions with blowing snow and low visibility, but that didn't stop them all from staying focused and stomping the slope and air courses.'

Great job team and congratulations to the overall winners Elodie, Maddy and Jack!

Hunter Slopestyle

F9 1st Emily Storch, 7th Overall

3rd Victoria Johnson, 9th Overall

4th Allison Byrnes, 10th Overall

F11 1st Megan Ciaglo, 2nd Overall

3rd Ella Rothberg, 5th Overall

F13 1st Elodie Flanagan, 1st Overall

2nd Maddy Byrnes, 3rd Overall

3rd Stephanie DeLuna, 6th Overall

M9 1st Owen Ciaglo, 6th Overall

2nd Josh Jamieson