On The Podium

The Big Mountain Team traveled to Snowbird, UT last weekend for the Junior Freeskiing Tour stop. The level of competition was very high and fields were stacked. Squaw sent 13 competitors total, and all but 2 advanced to the finals on day 2! Click here for more pictures and full results:
http://freeskiingworldtour.com/article.php?id=172
http://freeskiingworldtour.com/results.html?id=18\\\%22&resultID=207

When all was said and done, these are your winners:
Boys 15-17
Girls 15-17
From Squaw: 3rd Place, Emily Nall
Boys 12-14
Girls 12-14
From Squaw: 1st Place, Zabie Elmgren, 2nd Place Natalie Bogardus

G.N.A.R. Points

On Sunday, the team hiked Mainline Pocket 3 times because it was so good! The lines up there have set up perfectly and the snow has held in tact for nice steep soft landings.
Wildon DesLauriers and Ryan Faye launched a sizeable drop with a very calculated landing known as "Far Right Rock" according to the book of Squallywood, thus accumulating some points in the game of G.N.A.R. Here is what Squallywood has to say about this line:

"Area: Mainline Pocket
Line: Far Right Rock
This is a blind but kind air and can be hit many times before the landing gets tracked out. You can take off from the rock itself or from the cornice above. In low snow, your trajectory must be precise, as several rocks are scattered in the landing. In medium to high snows, it can be hit in nearly any direction except hard left. In low snow, the air is 35 to 40 feet. It drops 20 to 30 feet in medium snow and sometimes disappears at high snow levels.
Difficulty: Low snow, 7. Medium snow, 6. High snow levels, 2.
Hero factor: Generally high. Very high if taken from the cornice.
Fun Factor: ****"

And here is the evidence! Wildon and Ryan skied this line in medium snow levels. The air was around 30+ feet, and they both stuck it TWICE:




Great job guys- nice skiing! Hope you're keeping track of your G.N.A.R. points!

Avalanche Safety Training

During ski/skate week the Big Mountain Team had the opportunity to attend an avalanche and snow safety session with the Ski Patrol. The 50 degree weather was perfect for getting outside to the Beacon Basin Training center as well. Above, Zeb presents a slide show for the team with some informative pictures and diagrams.

After the slide show, we focus more on beacon rescue. Here is a floor mat displaying the path of the signal transmitted by an avalanche beacon.

After the informational session, the team moves outside for some hands on training. Here, Zabie Elmgren and Sarah Williams perform the initial search in order to pick up a signal from one of the transmitters buried under the snow in the beacon basin.

Tyler Olk, using a digital beacon to narrow down his search.

This was a great training session for the team! We are looking forward to learning more about avalanches, snow safety, recognizing hazards, and what to do when an avalanche occurs. We appreciate all the hard work that the Squaw Ski Patrol does to keep us safe and informed!

Team Rider of the Week: Erik Johnson

Erik Johnson, age 15, rides for the Squaw Valley Big Mountain Team. Erik comes from a strong racing background and brings solid fundamentals to Big Mountain skiing. An all around talented athlete, Erik likes to ski fast and hike fast (at Squaw or in the backcountry). Feeling on your game? Challenge him to a race up Granite Peak... Keep an eye out for him at Junior IFSA competitions this spring!

Here's a bit more about Erik:

Name: Erik Johnson
Nickname: EJ
Hometown: Incline Village, NV
Age: 15
Years skiing: 12
Favorite run at Squaw: Any line off of Granite Peak
Ski of choice: Any off-piste ski from Salomon
Line you really want to ski/ Cliff you want to hit that you never have: Every line off of the Squaw Palisades
Craziest thing you have skied at Squaw: Still waitin’ for this one…
Favorite trick: The 360 looks good on any air
Trick you would like to learn: Back flip/Front flip
Preferred breakfast on a powder day: Bagel w/ cream cheese and power bars
Who is your favorite Pro skier(s): Glenn Plake (he’s just sick), Shane McConkey, JT Holmes
Other sports/ activities you participate in: Mountain Bike racing, Ski Racing, Tennis
Craziest thing you’ve ever done (skiing, or non-skiing): Jumped into Lake Tahoe in January
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? New Zealand and Northern Italy (Dolomite Region)
Biggest fear: Clowns
Biggest accomplishment: Getting physically and mentally back into the ‘09-’10 ski season after breaking both legs in an ’08 ski accident
Favorite thing from Wildflower bakery: Bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast bagel
Goals for 2010: Place at least top ten in all mountain bike races and kick butt in ski competitions
Which competitions will you be traveling to this year?
Kirkwood
Grand Targhee
Snowbird

Photos: EJ sending it on Granite Peak and in the Shirley Chutes

North Tahoe Invitational Stop #2 Results

Bib #	Name	Team	Run 1 Score	Run 2 Score	Total Score
237	Chance Deschamps-Prescott	OVFT	38.67	43.00	81.67
275	Tilen Lane	SVST	31.00	38.33	69.33
284	Ross Tester	SVST	36.00	32.33	68.33
263	Xander Guldman	SB	31.33	31.33	62.67
26	Cole Harrity	SB	27.00	29.00	56.00
279	Reef Schott	SVST	26.33	28.00	54.33
175	Andre Tsaniff	SB	26.33	28.00	54.33
325	Wildon Deslauriers	SVST	23.33	30.33	53.67
154	Ben Knauss	SVST	23.00	23.67	46.67
347	Emmett Seely	SB	23.33	21.67	45.00
41	Nathan Chen	OVFT	20.67	24.00	44.67
371	Blake Lawton	SB	28.67	15.00	43.67
365	Ethan Faye	SVST	23.00	20.00	43.00
109	Austin Nall	SVST	16.00	26.67	42.67
315	Kyle Fowler	SB	21.00	21.33	42.33
172	Louise Norris	SB	20.67	21.33	42.00
368	Liam Forsyth	OVFT	25.00	16.33	41.33
256	Jackson Chou	AM	19.67	21.00	40.67
58	Drake Dahl	SB	19.67	20.67	40.33
621	Hunter Edelen	OVFT	18.00	21.33	39.33
296	Will Tully	AM	14.00	24.00	38.00
148	Cameron Onaga	ASC	23.00	14.67	37.67
84	Logan Laplante	AM	22.67	14.67	37.33
391	Adrian Jeffries	OVFT	19.00	17.67	36.67
173	Dan Mein	AM	19.33	17.33	36.67
221	Evan Olsen	AM	19.00	17.33	36.33
63	Colton Morris	OVFT	15.67	20.33	36.00
233	Brandon Flora	AM	17.33	18.67	36.00
348	Griffin Spurr	OVFT	22.00	14.00	36.00
623	Chris Verrue	AM	14.67	21.00	35.67
268	Ian Scott	SB	17.00	18.00	35.00
583	Quinton Poncelet	SB	18.33	15.33	33.67
292	Conner McEldowney	AM	17.00	15.67	32.67
25	Henry Bogardus	SVST	15.33	17.00	32.33
182	Fletcher McConnell	OVFT	13.67	16.00	29.67
612	Thor Retzlaff	OVFT	27.00	0.00	27.00
272	Daniel Costa	SB	22.00	0.00	22.00
53	Louis Cashell	SVST	0.00	21.00	21.00
158	Ben Spurr	OVFT	0.00	20.00	20.00
122	Tyler Olk	SVST	17.00	0.00	17.00
Bib #	Name	Team	Run 1 Score	Run 2 Score	Total Score
622	Bria Riggs	SB	29.00	22.00	51.00
278	Sarah Williams	SVST	32.67	18.00	50.67
626	Zabbie Elmgren	SVST	32.00	18.00	50.00
270	Taylor Briggs	AM	22.33	25.33	47.67
281	Annika Winans	OVFT	23.00	23.67	46.67
286	Skylar Flora	AM	24.33	22.00	46.33
358	Cassi May	SVST	22.00	23.33	45.33
383	Hope McGowan	OVFT	26.67	17.33	44.00
80	Nicole Persons	SVST	20.33	21.67	42.00
265	Lauren Huseby	SB	20.00	22.00	42.00
239	Camille Hartley	SB	22.33	19.00	41.33
219	Jordan Briggs	AM	21.33	20.00	41.33
269	Mia Winans	OVFT	21.00	20.00	41.00
38	Julie Nierenberg	SB	19.00	21.33	40.33
625	Alexandra Lawton	SB	13.00	21.00	34.00
159	Natalie Bogardus	SVST	14.33	17.00	31.33

Video Edit from North Tahoe Invitational

This video clip was created by UnofficialSquaw after Stop #2 of the North Tahoe Junior Big Mountain Invitational, held at Squaw on February 7th.

Teams from Squaw Valley Ski Team, Olympic Valley Freestyle Team, Sugarbowl, Alpine Meadows, and Auburn Ski Club, each sent their top 10 boys and top 5 girls to compete.

Overall winners after 3 stops will be awarded a qualifying spot at the Junior Silver King Freeride Competition in Crystal Mountain, WA in April.

Squaw Kids Go Huge! Intermountain Youth Comp. from UnofficialSquaw on Vimeo.

Intra- Squaw Comp Results 1/31/10

Boys: 13-15
Place:	Age	Last	First	judge 1	judge 2	Judge 3	Score
1	15	Faye	Ryan	35	34	35	34.67
2	14	Olk	Tyler	29	25	28	27.33
3	13	Faye	Ethan	28	24	26	26
4	13	Peters	John	27	24	27	26
5	13	Nicolaou	Demetri	25	21	24	23.33
6	15	Johnson	Erik	24	22	20	22
7	13	Lane	Tilen	25	18	18	20.33
8	14	Ostrie	Brennan	19	20	17	18.67
9	13	DesLauriers	Wildon	19	22	15	18.67
10	13	Schwarz	Michael	19	19	18	18.67
11	13	Fife	Tucker	19	12	15	15.33
Girls: 13-15
Place:	Age	Last	First	judge 1	judge 2	Judge 3	Score
1	14	WILLIAMS	Sarah	34	33	33	33.33
2	13	Persons	Nicole	23	24	21	22.67
3	13	May	Cassie	23	22	22	22.33
4	14	Elmgren	Zabie	19	26	14	19.67
5	15	Nall	Emily	20	17	21	19.33
6	13	Englert	Katherine	16	16	15	15.67

Boys: 11-12
Place:	Age	Last	First	judge 1	judge 2	Judge 3	Score
1	12	Whitney	Chase	33	35	32	33.33
2	11	Cashell	Louis	29	26	28	27.67
3	12	Syben	Dylan	26	24	27	25.67
4	11	Butterworth	Nicholas	26	25	24	25
5	12	Nall	Austin	23	24	24	23.67
6	11	Netherby	Cody	24	23	24	23.67
7	11	Victorino	Jonathan	26	14	26	22
8	11	Pereira	Greg	22	22	22	22
9	11	Olk	Brandon	21	21	23	21.67
10	11	Englert	Jack	23	20	22	21.67
11	12	Knaus	Ben	21	23	20	21.33
12	12	Ralston	Nicolas	22	20	20	20.67
13	11	Muschott	Austin	22	19	21	20.67
14	11	Stern	Jordan	18	18	17	17.67
15	11	Morgan	Andrew	18	14	16	16
16	12	Schwarz	Thomas	17	15	15	15.67
Girls: 11-12
Place:	Age	Last	First	judge 1	judge 2	Judge 3	Score
1	12	Welch	Sadie	23	22	21	22
2	12	Dailey	Anna	18	19	18	18.33
3	12	Mowris	Sarah	18	18	18	18
4	12	Giacomazzi	Isabel	18	17	17	17.33
5	12	Schwarz	Erin	17	18	15	16.67
6	11	Seelenfreund	Natalie	21	22	21	21.33
7	11	Gold	Isabella	21	19	21	20.33
8	11	BACKHUS	ERICA	21	20	20	20.33
9	11	DesLauriers	Emma	19	21	19	19.67
10	11	Downing	Emmylou	18	19	17	18
11	11	Laferriere	Alyssa	19	18	15	17.33
12	11	Talwar	Allie	18	17	16	17
13	11	Wells	Madison	16	17	16	16.33
	12	Muschott	Paige	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF

Boys: 9-10
Place:	Age	Last	First	judge 1	judge 2	Judge 3	Score
1	10	Tester	Ross	33	32	33	32.67
2	10	Atwood	Cody	27	27	25	26.33
3	9	Souza	August	22	24	27	24.33
4	10	Siri	Conner	25	24	23	24
5	10	WILLIAMS	Zach	23	24	22	23
6	9	Mercogliano	Thomas	23	23	23	23
7	9	Mcbride	Cobi	22	24	22	22.67
8	10	KROMMENHOEK	CURTIS	24	20	23	22.33
9	10	Elmgren	Ollie	23	22	21	22
10	10	Flagg	Zachary	22	21	23	22
11	10	Frankel	Diego	20	23	22	21.67
12	9	Converse	Ian	22	21	21	21.33
13	10	Commendatore	Jayden	21	20	22	21
14	8	Schot	Reef	25	18	20	21
15	9	Gold	Josh	22	21	19	20.67
16	9	Pollak	John	19	21	20	20
17	9	Napper	Jack	19	22	19	20
18	9	Silverman	Trevor	20	20	18	19.33
19	9	Urban	Cole	19	21	18	19.33
20	9	Settlemier	Hunter	19	24	15	19.33
21	10	Tunney	Henry	20	19	18	19
22	9	Lewis	Jack	14	26	16	18.67
23	10	Abell	Nick	18	18	18	18
24	9	Gaffney	Noah	20	19	15	18
25	9	Victorino	Christopher	18	19	16	17.67
26	9	Schwarz	Connor	18	18	17	17.67
27	9	Russell	Parker	20	18	14	17.33
28	9	Eggerland	Samuel	19	17	16	17.33
29	10	Baker	Bennett	19	16	16	17
30	9	Gardner	John	17	18	14	16.33
31	9	Bourdel	Oliver	17	16	16	16.33
32	9	Underwood	Parker	16	17	14	15.67
33	9	Warmoth	Eric	18	14	12	14.67
34	9	Green	Trent	14	14	12	13.33
	9	Sharpes	William	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF
Girls: 9-10
Place:	Age	Last	First	judge 1	judge 2	Judge 3	Score
1	9	Platter	Hannah	23	25	21	23
2	9	Hayes	Hannah	23	23	22	22.67
3	9	Jahchan	Camila	22	23	21	22
4	9	Syben	Camille	20	22	21	21
5	10	Kip	Hannah	22	19	20	20.33
6	10	Elmgren	Anna	20	21	20	20.33
7	9	Mowris	Anna	19	21	21	20.33
8	9	Bryan	Emma	20	20	20	20
9	10	Belden	Luca	20	21	18	19.67
10	9	Green	Riley	20	20	19	19.67
11	9	Nall	Jane	21	18	19	19.33
12		Urban	Kelsey	19	20	18	19
13	10	Read	Darby	19	19	16	18
14	10	Ricci	Juliet	18	19	17	18
15		Spangberg	Gustav	17	18	18	17.67
16		Kalra	Alya	20	16	16	17.33
17		Weiss	Leo	19	16	16	17
18	10	Alekna	Sofia Elena	19	16	15	16.67
19	9	Plexico	Katie	16	18	16	16.67
20	10	Peters	Sophia	18	14	16	16
21	9	van Gerren	Helena	13	13	12	12.67