Telluride is host to two mogul events in the next week. Starting tomorrow 110 Rocky Mountain and Intermountain (Utah) athletes from across the region will take to Hermit to test their turns, air and speed on our home course. Telluride will have 15 Champ Mogul Team members on course for mogul competitions on Friday and Saturday and Slopestyle on Sunday. The mogul contests will start with forerunners at 10:15 am each of the two days and run through, until each competitor completes two runs. The skiers will be scrutinized by a panel of 5 esteemed judges seated in their scaffold palace, at the bottom of the course.  Judges examine each run and dole out points based on a scale of 50% for turns, 25% jumps and 25% speed, and at the end of the day, he and she with the highest scored run will walk away with the gold medal! Sunday’s Slopestyle event will begin at 10:45am.  TSSC’s Freeride Team, will be in the Hoot Brown Terrain Park, flying, spinning and riding rails to the finish below Gorrono Ranch.

Next week will bring a fresh batch of Freestyle Mogul athletes to our mountain haven. This time, competitors will hail from around the world-Canada, Australia and Germany and the U.S., as Telluride hosts our first ever FIS Freestyle NorAm Cup! This event will also take place on Hermit with two days of mogul skiing. Telluride proudly takes four of the 100 spots available for athletes at this event.  The NorAm Cup is an invitational event that athletes must qualify for in order to participate. Our NorAm athletes: Wade Parkinson, Troy Tully, Keaton McCargo and Kealey Zaumseil each qualified through stellar performances at the U.S. Selection Event held early this season in Steamboat Springs. The format for this event includes a qualification round, a final round of 16 and a super final with 4 athletes. The women’s field will begin at 9:30, each athlete will ski one run and those placed in the top 16 will begin fresh with run number two. The top 4 finishers of this round will go on for one final run which will determine the athletes who stand on the NorAm Cup podium for the day.

Athletes will be training Monday and Tuesday throughout the day, with the event scheduled to take place beginning at 9:30 am on Wednesday the 8^th and Thursday the 9^th. The venue on Hermit is made for spectators and cheering squads, as the course is easily accessed from the top of the Gondola, Chair 7 and Chair 4. Please come on out and show your support for our local and visiting teams!

Telluride Ski Mountain boasts some of the best recreational mogul skiing in the world. Our terrain lends itself to the natural creation of ripping mogul lines, all over the mountain. It is only with the advent of new and improved grooming equipment and incredible hike-to terrain, that we have expanded our offerings to meet the desires of all types of skiers. But, those moguls still rip and our local kids grow up knowing how to navigate bumps before they can walk to school on their own.

It’s no wonder we have a rich history and a long line of local heroes in the mogul skiing world. Many of whom, remain in Telluride-dedicated to passing on the tradition to our local youth. With the likes of former U.S. Ski Team member and Freestyle Director, Caleb Martin, Head Mogul Coach, Kris Pepe, former U. S. Team athlete, TSSC coach, and course builder extraordinaire, Harold Ehnbom, and local Mogul Guru, Hugh Sawyer on the job, our local kids have nowhere to go but up in the world of Freestyle Moguls!

Although freestyle skiing continues to hold on to it’s free form roots and many participants are drawn to the sport for it’s more casual, fun-loving, free expression-The competitive venues have changed, to a much more structured design, which allows for increased safety for the athletes, whose aerial maneuvers in the bumps have reached levels never thought possible before.  Man and machine-formed mogul lines with jumps and moguls measured to a precise degree, provide a small, chopped landing pad after each of two jumps which gives skiers the opportunity to huck themselves into unimaginable body positions, leaving a split second to regain their feet, before resuming the tight, sharp precision needed to return to the zipper line of bumps ahead.

For the past several weeks our local Freestyle Mogul Teams have had the luxury to train on just this type of course, here at home. Thanks to the Telluride Ski and Golf Company for blasting the face of a grass-covered, Hermit Ski Run, with man’s nearest equivalent to snow from the skies; and hours of cat time to shape and groom, we have a world-class mogul course.

There is no question that it takes a village to host this type of event. Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club has many local and national sponsors and volunteers to thank. Most importantly, none of our events could take place without the support of our Ski Area. Telluride Ski and Golf Company goes out of the way each season to support our Club and the youth in Telluride. Several of our illustrious bakers: Baked in Telluride, The Butcher and the Baker, and Steaming Bean will provide nourishment for our athletes and volunteers. Clark’s Market is providing lunches for volunteers and local restaurants, Honga’s Lotus Petal, La Piazza, The Llama and Los Tres Amigos have provided screaming deals for our visiting athletes each night. Telluride Alpine Lodging and Mountain Lodging have contributed lodging for race officials. T-shirt sponsors include: Community Banks of Colorado, Boot Doctors, FlightOne, Osborne Builders, Liberty University, Mail Tech Racing, Twin Buttes and Hotel Madeline. There will be awesome podium prizes donated by Icelantic Skis, Columbia Sportswear, Hot Chilly’s, Loki, Smart Wool, Telluride Sports and Christy Sports. Goodie Bag Goodie’s: Telluride Truffle, Russell Stover, Bonnebell, Honey Stinger, Celestial Seasonings, Ray’s Jerky, Alpine Bank, Clif Bar and Nature Valley Granola Bars.

I googled freeride skiing in an effort to see how it might be defined. Here’s what I discovered from Pistehors and Igluski:

“Freeriders are not restricted to the runs laid out and groomed by the ski resort. The whole mountain is their playground. They range from laid back types who want to cruise powder linking short turns to veritable snow surfers laying down wide curves to extreme big mountain skiers, hucking rock bands and tackling gnarly couloirs. A combination of attitude, technique and new ski technology has meant that there are no longer bounds to the skiers capabilities, nor to his spirit.”

It’s no wonder we have a thriving Freeride Team in Telluride! As far as I know, this definition fits most of the adventure driven, free spirits drawn to Telluride to experience the mountains and to pass on their knowledge and love of skiing to their offspring.

Enter Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club, All Terrainiacs, Junior Freeride and Champ Freeride Teams. The All Terrainiacs program is an all mountain freeride program. It is geared toward adventurous youth looking to learn to ski the entire mountain and anything it might dish up for snow conditions. These skiers will have fun checking out the hike to terrain, terrain park, moguls and hidden caches in the trees!

The Junior and Champ Freeride Teams will be exposed to all terrain park disciplines including Slope-style, Half-pipe, and Big Air.

Coach Andrew Jodice, a recent transplant and former freeride athlete from Okemo, VT, is working hard with his energetic and dedicated team of skiers, with some impressive results. Two weeks ago at their first Slopestyle event of the season in Crested Butte, Team Freeride saw the following results: (Age group 10-12) Cody Krueger 3rd, Will James 4th, (Age group 13-15) Connor Overly 2nd, Jake Burchmore 3rd, Ian Mitchell 5th, Alex Dwight 13th, (Age group 16-18) Owen Parker 1st. And the following weekend in Purgatory Slopestyle: (10-12) Will James 3rd, Cody Krueger 4th. Flynn Krueger 5th, (13-15) Ian Mitchell 1st, Jake Burchmore 5th, Connor Overly 9th, (16-18) Owen Parker 3rd.

Coaches Jodice, Dan Plumber and former TSSC freerider himself, Walter Kvale, are pumped with the performance of their skiers. We are looking forward to a Slopestyle event at home, on February 5th and them on the 18th and 19th of February our Team will travel to Crested Butte once again for a slopestyle event.

Slopestyle-January 14th

Women;

F4: Ava Jodlowski 2nd

F6: Mackenzie Tharp 1st

Men:

M3: Quillen Kimleigh 1st, Leland Birchmore 2nd, Hayden Page 3rd

M4: Cedar Palmer 3rd, Jackson Tharp 8th, Colin Craft 12th

M5: Scott Roberts 2nd, Carlo Pine 5th, Eric Cummings 10th, Robert Bessera 13th, Kyle Soukup 16th, Andalo Santangalo 20th

Single Moguls-January 15th

Women:

F3: Camilla Gardner 1st

F4: Ava Jodlowski 1st, Brianna Brown 4th

F5: Maya Ordonez 4th

F6: Ruby Humes 3rd, Parker Crawford 5th, Emery Berry 6th, Mackenzie Tharp 7th, Ella Jansen 9th

Men:

M3: Quillen Kimleigh 1st, Tyler Jansen 2nd

M4: Jackson Tharp 4th, Thomas Roberts 7th, Collin Gardner 11th, Dietz Woehle 12th

M5: Will Jansen 1st, Carlo Pine 3rd, Kyle Soukup 4th, Jonah Jodlowski 5th, Andalo Santangalo 6th, Christian Lindler 7th, Scott Roberts 9th, Max Finger 12th, Robert Bessera 14th, Christopher Bratcher 21st.

Dual Moguls-January 16th

Women:

F6-F7: Ruby Humes 3rd

F4-F3: Brianna Brown 3rd, Ava Jodlowski 5th

Men:

M6-M7: Ethan Nguyen 2nd, Declan Jodlowski 3rd

M5: Will Jansen 1st, Andalo Santangalo 3rd, Scott Roberts 5th, Kyle Soukup 7th, Jonah Jodlowksi 9th, Christian Lindler 9th, Max Finger 9th

M4-M3: Will Roberts 7th

It’s a wintery Martin Luther King Jr, weekend here in the San Juans and “I have a Dream” speeches can be heard all round Town. “ I Dream for 5 feet of snow….” “I dream of standing on a podium…”, “I dream our event will go off without a hitch. “ While Telluride may lack racial and social diversity, in a general sense, we have certainly created a diverse and successful Winter Sports Program, that reaches across all racial and social strata to include any child in the region who wants to participate! Dreams of snow and athletic success may seem trivial and they are, compared to the concerns many people face, they are what make our lives in the mountains meaningful and successful. This weekend we have athletes competing all across the state and actually, the world, representing Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club!

Former TSSC bumpster and current US Ski Team member, Joe Discoe hammered the bumps in Mont Gabriel, Quebec Freestyle World Cup and found himself with a season high point, an 11^th place finish in Men’s Duals on Saturday.

Meanwhile former TSSC rockstar, and also a current US Ski Tea member, Gus Kenworthy, carved and spun his way to a Gold Medal in Men’s North Face Super Pipe in Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia on Sunday.

Saturday saw some exciting results from our Snowboard Team. Coach Dylan Cooney reported from Crested Butte and USASA sanctioned, Southwest Series Giant Slalom Slopestyle and Half Pipe Competition: Beecher Cooney 1^st, Hobie Plumber 2^nd, Jack Clark 3^rd.  Riley Doyle 1^st, Lucas Foster 2^nd, and London Albrecht 1^st. Way to totally dominate the podium Team T-ride!

A little closer to home, we had Alpine J2 and J3 racers screaming down the World Cup Super G course in Aspen on Sunday and Monday.  Wilder Dwight Champs Qualifier Sunday results: WOMEN: Maddie Gumerman 1st J2, 6th overall, Mikaela Balkind 2nd J2, 10th Overall, Anna Fake 41st J3, 46th overall, Ebba Green 42nd J3, 47th overall. MEN: Hayden Fake 4th J2, 4th overall, Jack Plantz 16th J3, 25th overall, Malcolm Major 8th J2, 31st overall, Chandler Bennett 45th J3, 57th overall, Theo Rolfs 47th J3, 59th overall!!! Monday results: Maddie Gumerman 1^st, J2 and14^th overall, Anna Fake 31st, Griffin Mueller 38th, Mikaela Balkind 6^th J2 and 66^th. MEN: Hayden Fake 4^th J2 and 9^th overall, Jack Plantz 15^th J3 and 20^th overall, Chandler Bennett 59th, Theo Rolfs 62^nd.

Also in Aspen, for two days of Mogul bashing, our Champ Mogulers gave it all they had, with some fine results posted by end of day yesterday. Keaton McCargo stood atop the podium with a first overall both Saturday and Sunday. Teammate Kealey “Superstar” Zaumseil was right behind with a 3^rd J2 and 4^th overall on Saturday and a 2^nd J2 and 3^rd overall on Sunday.  Newcomers and rising mogul stars Emma Spaulding had a 2^nd J4, 14^th overall and 3^rd J4, 21^st overall for the weekend, Skylar Nunn was 3^rd J4, 15^th overall and 2^nd J4, 12^th overall, Kenzie Zaumseil was 8^th J3, 21^st overall, and 6^th J3, 17^th overall.

The Champ Mogul Men had some strong finishes as well: Benni Solomon 4^th J3, 10^th overall and 2^nd J3, 6^th overall, Morgan Osborne, 3^rd J3, 9^th overall and 8^th J3, 23^rd overall, Nicki Jones, 3^rd J1, 21^st overall and 4^th J1, 12^th overall, Zach Nunn 8^th J3, 24^th overall and 23^rd J3, and 51^st overall, Zane Jackson 15^th J3, 39^th overall and 10^th J3 and 34^th overall, Bridger Johnson, 9^th J1, 49^th overall and 9^th J1, 51^st overall.

Theron Johnson took his new Telemark Team off to their first event ever in Vail. 12 year old Aiden Green danced and carved his tele skis down the course to finish an outstanding 4^th overall! Says Coach Theron about the weekend “TSSC and I are both thrilled with Aidan’s performance at the Vail Sprint Classic Invitational. This was a USTSA sanctioned event with many great athletes. Aidan’s 4th place finish is a tribute to his hard work and commitment. I was cautiously optimistic going into the race, because of Aidan’s ability and dedication in practice. As this is our first year as a team and Aidan’s first year as an tele athlete (and his first race), we could not be more pleased. A top 10 finish is outstanding. (He was also the last man standing in the Dodge ball competition the night before the race.)

Hopefully, Aidan, Connor Hazen and Raina Johnson’s enthusiasm for Telemark and the fun we are having on the mountain will rub off and more kids will join the team. Enrollment is still open to all skill levels 4th – 12th grade! TSSC is open to transfers and so is the Ski P/E program. We also have boots for kids who may need equipment. Come join the Youth Tele Movement. We are looking forward to skiing with professional Tele skiers Josh Madsen and Alex Paul later in the season.”

Finally Telluride’s Competition Hill, was host to over 50 Devo mogulists from across Colorado. These competitors are 8 to 12 years old! They competed slopestyle in the Park on Saturday, a single mogul event on Sunday and Dual Moguls on Monday. Telluride freestylers fared well on their home turf with Camilla Gardner taking first overall for women and Quillen Kimleigh first for men on Sunday.

Full results from the Devo event are pending and will be posted when available!

Although Winter’s white blanket continues to evade us here in Telluride, and many a local can be seen headed to the desert with bike in tow and fist shaking at the blue skies above- TSSC athletes have not been deterred.  Our Teams have taken full advantage of the meager snow pack and made the very best of the training opportunities available.

Our mogul skiers have been training “fun”damentals on the flats, relentlessly hiking their jump training site on the Plunge and enjoying “tourist” moguls in Revelation Bowl and on Chair 9. The lines on Mammoth, with the frequent surprise rock or stump rearing it’s head, in the rut-lines, have fostered a better, quicker response and a more genuine turn than can usually be found on a man made mogul course.

Our alpine racers have had “real ice”-not just the stuff we westerners call “ice”, but truly, firm conditions. They’ve sharpened their edges and honed their skills and headed off across the state more prepared than ever!

This past weekend, we sent 28, J-4 and J-5’s racers, ages 9 to 13 years old, to Crested Butte to compete against kids from across the state, in the Bolle Age Class Giant Slalom. Four GS races over the course of the weekend brought podiums and pride to our mighty Telluriders, “we totally dominated the top 10 in each race this weekend,” said Coach Bowman.

TSSC also sent 12 members of our Champ Mogul Team (ages 11-23) to Steamboat for a Rocky Mountain Division weekend of single and dual mogul action and 10 members of our Freestyle Junior Mogul Team (ages 8-10), to their first event of the season, also in Steamboat Springs.

All totaled, that means 50 TSSC athletes were on the road competing, creating and upholding the TSSC tradition!

 Team Accelerate and Team Velocity in Crested Butte

Coaches Ashley Babcock, Lange Schuler, Kevin Riley and Sheilagh Roufa accompanied our skiers along with their many fans, to coach and cheer our Telluride racers.  The snow, like across the rest of our state, was a little sparse and as a result the race organizers chose to use the same course for both boys and girls.

J-4, Will Plantz, was the talk of the weekend. Will stood atop the highest tier of the podium three out of four times! He was 5^th after his first run, skiing practically blind, with fogged goggles. Coach Kevin set him up with a fresh pair of eyes and Will was virtually unstoppable! Teammates, Finn Bailis and Alby Rolfs followed close behind Plantz with strong finishes in each of the four events Bailis with two 3^rd place and 2 4^th place finishes while Rolfs put down a 5^th and 6^th place run.  “They were just on fire,” said parent and TSSC Board President, James Lucarelli. Notable top ten finishes for the boys went to Marco Canclini and Morgan Bradley.

Telluride Alpine girls were impressive, with a first ever podium for Thea Lucarelli. Lucarelli and Soleil Gaylord each found their way to the podium twice over the course of the weekends’ events. Kendahl Roufa stood atop the J5 podium with a second place and Caroline Lucarelli, Gabrielle Chamberlain, and Morgan Omer all had impressive top ten performances each of the two days!

Team Accelerate (J5) Racers in attendance:

Ladies: Kendahl Roufa, Caroline Lucarelli, Madalyn Regrut, Caitlin Regrut, Ashlyn Marshall, Parker Crawford

Men: Bryce Lambert, Christian Hilbert, Zach Davis, Peter Spencer, Roc Repola, Michael Hild, Ned Buxton, Simon Rolfs, Merrick Spitzer, Alex Buxton

Team Velocity (J4) Racers in attendance:

Ladies: Thea Lucarelli, Soleil Gaylord, Morgan Omer, Gabrielle Chamberlain

Men: Will Plantz, Finn Bailis, Marco Canclini, Luke Preble, Morgan Bradley, Spencer Keating, Drew Keller

Freestyle in Steamboat

In Steamboat Springs the bumps were huge and the ruts deep, as little snow has graced “The Boat” thus far, this season. Telluriders took to the course en force with coaches Caleb Martin and Kris Pepe, to bring home a couple podiums and some strong, first time, Rocky results for our youngest Champ Mogul members.

Wade Parkinson ripped to a strong, second place finish on Saturday, as teammate Morgan Osborne landed not far behind, with an impressive twelfth place finish in a stacked field.  Benni Solomon finished in 23d, Nicki Jones 25^th, Bridger Johnson 41^st and Zach Nunn 61^st.

Keaton McCargo skied two solid runs on Saturday to land her on the podium in 2^nd place, she was followed closely by teammate Kealey Zaumseil in 9^th.  This was the first Champ mogul event, away from home, for newcomers to the Champ Team-“all three girls skied solid, top-to-bottom runs,” said Coach Caleb Martin, they are off to a great start for the season.

Full Results Saturday Single Moguls:

Morgan Osborne 2^nd M3, 12 Overall

Benni Solomon – 5th M3, 23rd overall

Zach Nunn – 24th M3, 61st overall

Nicholas Jones – 9th M1, 25th overall

Bridger Johnson – 13th M1, 41st overall

Keaton McCargo – 1st F2 – 2nd overall

Kealey Zaumseil – 3rd F2, 9th overall

Skylar Nunn – 2nd F4, 20th overall

Emma Spaulding – 3rd F4, 29th overall

Kenzie Zaumseil – 6th F3, 31^st  overall

Sunday Dual Moguls saw quite a few of our skiers eliminated in round one or two of their pairings. However, Troy Tully skied well and brought home a 3^rd place finish for Team Telluride Men and Keaton McCargo brought home a 2^nd place finish in Women’s Duals.

Our Junior Mogul Team “crushed it” on Sunday in Steamboat Springs! The course was extremely challenging with a steep pitch, deep and icy ruts and big jump onto a difficult landing pad.  Despite Telluride’s lack of an early season mogul course, the young Telluride athletes coached by Nori Lupfer and Tobin Taylor, were prepared and fearless.  All ten Telluride athletes skied aggressively, posting impressive results.  The Jansen family dominated the podium with a second place and two first place finishes.  Ella Jansen took 1^st in the F6 category, followed by teammate Ruby Humes in 2^nd. Will Jansen blew away his age group, taking 1^st in M5s by almost three points.  Will was joined in the top ten by teammates Carlo Pine 4^th, Andalo Santagelo 7^th and Johan Jodlowski 9^th.  In the J3 category, Tyler Jansen took 2^nd place in M3s and Ava Jodlowski took 5^th in the F3s.   In the overall, Will Jansen (10 years old) placed an impressive 2^nd place against nearly 70 competitors in the men’s division.

Look for more exciting reports on our athlete’s success as our Alpine Teams head to Breckenridge and Winter Park this week for FIS series Slalom and GS events. Champ Mogul Team will be in Aspen this weekend and Vail the following weekend.

Our Junior Mogulists will host a  Rocky Mountain Devo event right here at home this weekend with Slopestyle on Saturday, Moguls on Sunday and Dual Moguls on Monday, on Competition Hill-Come out and show your support!!

December signifies the beginning of winter-it brings the shortest and coldest days of the year, the lifts are running, and ski legs are beginning to get warm. It promises snow, family and holiday fun.

For several of our freestyle athletes, it means US Selection Event.  Aptly named, “Selections” is an invitational FIS(International; Federation of Skiing) event that attracts top athletes  from the US and several other countries, all of whom are vying for either a spot on the US Team, World Cup starts or a spot on the NORAM (North American) Tour. This year there were well over 100 athletes at the event with Japanese and Australian Freestyle teams attending.

The format for this event and the fact that it falls early in the season, for athletes relying solely on summer/fall training opportunities on water and early season snow, adds to it’s intensity and difficulty. From a strong field of approximately 55 women and 70 men-athletes must perform, out the gate, to the very best of their ability in order to land within the top 16 finishers and to qualify for a second run.  The top 16 skiers then vie for the coveted podium finishes, in order to earn a World Cup start or a spot on the US Ski Team.  This year, the two women and men with the highest place points during the first two days of competition combined, would earn a World Cup start while, the top 20 American women and men from all three days combined, would earn a spot on the NORAM Tour.

The women’s podium was dominated by former World Champs and Olympic Gold Medalists from Australia and Japan, leaving even less room for American women to meet their mark.  Keaton McCargo, skiing for Telluride, skied her way into finals with a 5^th place the first day and a 13^th on day two. After her finals run, McCargo finished in 16^{th ,}  with an unfortunate crash off the bottom air, and a 10^th  place respectively. Kealey Zaumseil, attending her first US Selections, missed the qualifying rounds, but finished with a highly respectable 25^th and 27^th on day one and two. The third day, slotted for a Dual Mogul competition, was thwarted by an extremely late start due to high winds and thus the event organizers chose to add an additional single mogul event with a top 8 cut for finals. McCargo finished in 14^th with Zaumseil in 23^rd.

Telluride men Wade Parkinson and Troy Tully posted awesome qualifying runs on both first days of competition with Troy in 4^th and 5^th respectively and Wade in 7^th  and 8^th going into finals…On day one, Wade finished in 8^th and Troy in 16^th ,with a spectacular crash off the bottom air. Day two saw similar results with Parkinson in 12^th and Tully with a front flip into the bottom jump finished in 14^th. The final day of competition, Parkinson missed the top 8 cut and finished in 15^th with Tully coming back to bring us a podium finish in 2^nd place for the day!

Although none of our skiers put together the consistently perfect runs, over the course of the event, needed to earn them a World Cup start, all four of them qualified to participate in the NORAM Tour! Proving yet again, that Team Telluride is a small, though mighty force in the world of mogul skiing!  The NORAM Tour kicks off this season on February 5^th in Telluride. Our team will then head to Apex Canada,  Val St. Come, Quebec and Killington, VT for the remaining NORAM events!!! Let the season begin! Good Luck Team Tell

Team T-ride was represented by Keaton McCargo and Kealey Zaumseil among the women competing. They were joined by Wade Parkinson, Troy Tully, Benni Solomon, Morgan Osborne, Bridger Johnson and Zachery Nunn in the men’s field.

Winter Park Resort reported a meager base of 18″ mid-mountain, on Ambush, where the comp was held. However, Team Winter Park staff and volunteers scraped and shaped enough snow to make a mean mogul course, on which our athletes could test their mettle.

Telluride took to the course on Saturday with one man down. Wade, Telluride’s senior competitor, fell in practice, re-injurying an old shoulder wound, which sidelined him for the weekend-hopefully, he’ll be back in action this week.

Keaton and Kealey posted strong finishes on Champ Day with a 4th and 7th place respectively.  The Men were led by Troy in 5th, Benni 14th, Morgan 25th, Bridger 37th and Zach Nunn in 40th. Sunday open mogul results were as follows: Keaton 2nd, Kealey 8th, for women and a solid showing for Benni in 13th, Bridger 23rd,  Morgan 25th, Zach 27th and Troy 46th.

Stay posted for results from next weeks US Ski Team Selection events in Steamboat Springs. Parkinson, Tully, McCargo and Zaumseil will compete on the 19th, 21st and 22nd against some of the nations best, for spots on the US Team and the Noram Tour.

Click to view slideshow.
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The genesis, the actual birth of all skiing harkens, literally thousands of years to Scandinavian design. Originally, invented solely as a means of commuting across the winter landscape, “Nordic,” or cross-country skiing, has evolved to become a popular form of exercise, competition and enjoyment of our wintery wilderness.

Lance Waring and Tony Forrest, long-time locals, and enthusiastic modern-day Norse Gods, along with the Telluride Nordic Association and Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club, have convened to re-energize Nordic skiing opportunities for Telluride youth!

TSSC will host a cross-country ski team this season. Both skate skiing and classic disciplines will be employed. Practices will be offered twice per week in the Town Park, and on the Telluride Nordic Association trails on the Valley Floor and Lizard Head Pass!

Wednesday practices will be frolicking and fun with Tony and Lance in the Park. Skiers of all ages will learn to ski with free heels and skinny boards on and off-piste in any and all conditions. These skills will last a lifetime, whether these skiers choose to follow a competitive Nordic track, or not.

Monday practices, with Lance, will be geared toward older, high school age skiers who may be interested in learning how to navigate long-flowing ribbons of track, grueling ascents, fast, sometimes icy corners and descents and the frozen drool that comes with Nordic racing.

The season will culminate with the opportunity for all athletes to compete in the historic Butch Cassidy Chase-a long time local cross-country race, which draws Nordic skiers of all ages from across the state. Learn to kick and glide and swoosh your way to Norse God and Goddess status with Lance and Tony on some of the most beautiful Nordic trails anywhere! For more information on this program, please contact Coach Lance at 708-0629

Team Gravity is the program offered through Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club, that draws these little rippers in. They come in as newbies, in 1^st grade, and they are ushered out by 3^rd  or 4th grade, seasoned, all mountain skiers ready to tackle any conditions with confidence. “Team Gravity is a fast paced, fun program rooted in skiing all terrain and building skiing fundamentals. The philosophy of Team Gravity is to create a community of young athletes who love everything about skiing – the snow, the glide, the adventure, the camaraderie, the mountain, the weather.” (MP)

Mom, photographer, athlete and Team Gravity Guru, Melissa Plantz, has been at the helm of this program for nearly 10 years. She has seen a number of her “graduates” go on to accomplish great things in the ski discipline of their choosing. It is her number one goal to hire energetic, enthusiastic coaches who possess the ability to develop great fundamental skiing skills. These coaches work with her young skiers and inspire them first, to love the sport and then, potentially, to discover an area of specialization and a competitive desire that can launch them into the next Club program, prepared for a highly competitive level of skiing.

This season, Gravity welcomes two new coaches, look for Julie Nave from Alaska and Jared Bicknell from Salt Lake City chasing your youngsters down the slopes! And new this season, is the addition of a back country day, where Gravity kids will hike to an appropriate run, ski some rad chutes and drops and then have a picnic lunch together out in Palmyra basin.

TSSC is lucky to have this extremely successful program as a “breeding ground”, which fosters a love of snow and a love for the sport of skiing and starts our young, local athletes on a lifetime journey of discovering what this sport has to offer.

Happy 2011/12 Donation Day-November 23rd!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club is thankful!

There has been many a November past when Club members and local ski enthusiasts could be found staring dolefully at the heavens, praying for snow, a flake, a sign, something, anything to indicate we may be able to open a run on the mountain for our season to begin!

Not this season. Indeed, there are those of us who continue to look skyward in anticipation of more of the white stuff that puts smiles on our faces and skis beneath our feet…but, thankfully, this year, we’ve got it-a base, a 22inch base, and cold weather for adequate snow making conditions-plenty for the Mountain to open Chair 4, for our annual Donation Day on November 23rd.

Thank you Telluride Ski and Golf Company!

Our Club is so fortunate to have the generous support of our ski company in many ways throughout the season. “The support shown to our Club by the Ski Company in providing Donation Day, says everything about the organization and the importance they put on the needs of our youth,” says Justin Chandler, TSSC Executive Director.

Donation Day is a long-standing tradition-“it is a huge fundraiser for us,” says Chandler. The Ski and Golf Company will open the lifts a day early. The cost for a ski pass for the day is a mere $25 for everyone, including pass holders. Every penny of the proceeds from this day is donated directly to Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club and those dollars comprise our financial aid and scholarship fund. This benefit is of particular importance this year in our challenged economy, as TSSC has seen the need for financial assistance more than double from that of recent years. Our Club is proud to claim that for last 10 years, not one child has been turned away from TSSC because they couldn’t afford to join!

Please help us show our gratitude and spread the word-this is an amazing opportunity for our kids! And, the skiing is going to ROCK!