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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 5th 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 3rd place and 2 4th place finishes while Rolfs put down a 5th and 6th 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 25th, Bridger Johnson 41st and Zach Nunn 61st.
Keaton McCargo skied two solid runs on Saturday to land her on the podium in 2nd place, she was followed closely by teammate Kealey Zaumseil in 9th. 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 2nd 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, 31st 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 3rd place finish for Team Telluride Men and Keaton McCargo brought home a 2nd 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 1st in the F6 category, followed by teammate Ruby Humes in 2nd. Will Jansen blew away his age group, taking 1st in M5s by almost three points. Will was joined in the top ten by teammates Carlo Pine 4th, Andalo Santagelo 7th and Johan Jodlowski 9th. In the J3 category, Tyler Jansen took 2nd place in M3s and Ava Jodlowski took 5th in the F3s. In the overall, Will Jansen (10 years old) placed an impressive 2nd 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!!
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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 5th place the first day and a 13th on day two. After her finals run, McCargo finished in 16th , with an unfortunate crash off the bottom air, and a 10th place respectively. Kealey Zaumseil, attending her first US Selections, missed the qualifying rounds, but finished with a highly respectable 25th and 27th 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 14th with Zaumseil in 23rd.
Telluride men Wade Parkinson and Troy Tully posted awesome qualifying runs on both first days of competition with Troy in 4th and 5th respectively and Wade in 7th and 8th going into finals…On day one, Wade finished in 8th and Troy in 16th ,with a spectacular crash off the bottom air. Day two saw similar results with Parkinson in 12th and Tully with a front flip into the bottom jump finished in 14th. The final day of competition, Parkinson missed the top 8 cut and finished in 15th with Tully coming back to bring us a podium finish in 2nd 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 5th 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
Eight members of TSSC Freestyle Team traveled to Winter Park, CO this weekend to attend the season kick-off for Rocky Mountain Division events. Saturday saw 72 skiers on course for “Champ Mogul Day, while Sunday inspired 87 competitors from across the state!
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.
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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
Children love SNOW! It seems we enter the world, nonplused by the elemental extremes-ready to build snowmen, make snow angels and of course, drink cocoa. In Telluride, the lure of the mountain strikes early…in some cases, as early as two years old! Little ankle biters can be seen all over town, bundled and clomping around assuredly, in ski boots that appear to swallow little legs whole, skis over shoulders, or in many cases, dragging behind, like a beloved pet on a leash.
Team Gravity is the program offered through Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club, that draws these little rippers in. They come in as newbies, in 1st grade, and they are ushered out by 3rd 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!
November is notorious for the beginning of “Dryland training”. For some these words conjure images of a blood-pumping, ab-aching, series of conditioning exercises to whip summer-tanned,shadows of former athletes, into shape before the first snow hits the ground and the lifts crank into service for the winter competition season. My most memorable dry land sessions involve relentless pounding up and down aluminum stadium stairs-until legs would no longer make the step up, and lungs burst. Or, bounding up the the sides of the sand pit with a fellow skier on my back, while grains of sand below our feet worked with gravity to keep us from reaching the firm turf at the edge of the pit! Mostly, I remember the merciless coaches who encouraged and supported my efforts and who maintain heroic status in the history of people who have influenced my life.
We have been fortunate this season, to have an early season snow pack regionally and we have mountains for a training ground rather than stadiums or sand pits. This factor, along with the energy and creativity of our coaches, has allowed some of our athletes to begin their winter training regime with actual turns on snow and a thrilling, albeit grueling at moments, scenic bike tour. This week Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club, Alpine Team athletes, participated in an Alpine Fundamentals training camp, on snow, with Alpine Director, Mike Bowman. Maddie Gummerman, Jayleen Troutwin, Alby Rolfs, Theo Rolfs, Ebba Green, Spencer Keating and Marco Canclini were treated to fresh powder turns while training in Winter Park, CO.
At the same time, Wade Parkinson, Troy Tully, Zane Jackson, Quillen Kimleigh, Benni Solomon and Zak Nunn, members of the Freestyle Team joined coaches, Kris Pepe, Nori, Lupfer and Freestyle Director, Caleb Martin in biking the famous, 105 mile White Rim loop in Moab, UT this weekend. While snow flew and wind howled here in Telluride-Caleb reported that the team “fought some tough headwinds on the first leg of riding on Friday but enjoyed warm temperatures at camp that night. Unfortunately heavy rain and wind descended in the middle of the night which made for sloppy, muddy conditions on the second leg of riding. The rain let up early in the day and the team was able to dry out at camp Saturday night and enjoy a tremendous shooting star spectacle. Sunday proved to be the day, as the team shed layers down to riding shorts and T-shirts.”
These athletes return to a more typical dry land regime today- sprints, fartleks, weight training, core workouts, plyometrics, spinning and trampoline work; more the norm for this time of year. We are lucky to have real mountains and live in close proximity to other environs which allow us to diversify our routines and make getting in shape a lot more fun for our athletes.
Looking forward to turns on our home mountain in two short weeks when TSSC celebrates opening day with Donation Day-one of our most important fundraising events of the year, as 100% of the proceeds go toward scholarship and financial aid for our regional youth! Stay tuned for more info on Donation Day, November 23rd!
Welcome! This is the official Blog of the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club. It’s hard to believe winter is truly upon us and in a few short weeks our ski area and ice rinks will be heavily populated by our membership! TSSC is a local, non-profit youth, sports organization. We offer opportunities for children of all ages, in our region to pursue their winter sports passion in numerous ski and snowboard disciplines including: Alpine, Freestyle, Snowboard, Freeride, All-Mountain, Nordic (Cross-Country and Telemark) and we’ve recently added Figure Skating to our program offerings! We work with young kids starting at the age of 5 years old to inspire and mentor them in the winter sport of their choice-It is the mutual goal of all our directors and coaches to instill a love of winter sports and to share the joy that participating in these healthy and rewarding activities can bring. Kids in all disciplines are encouraged and taught to learn how to ski the entire mountain with ease. As they mature and progress they are offered opportunities to specialize in a discipline and to take that discipline to a competitive level; from local, regional, national and ultimately international and World Cup level competition, if this is their desire. We are proud of our accomplishments as a Club-we have inspired thousands of youth, over the years, to love winter sports and we have led numerous athletes to success at high levels including National Championship and World Cup levels! This Blog will be dedicated to our Club, our athletes, our coaches-our community. We’d like to keep you informed of what we are doing this season! Here’s to 2011/12 Let it Snow!
Keaton McCargo training "Back lay" on Paradise Glacier
The Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club Freestyle Ski Team just returned from a
2.5 week training camp in Zermatt, which has become a pre-season tradition.
This was our fourth season in a row traveling to Zermatt. Every October a
freestyle mogul course is built high up in the Alps on the “Zermatt Glacier
Paradise.” Since this is the only mogul course available to ski teams
worldwide, in October, the course draws most of the top freestyle skiers
from around the world.
“It was pretty cool to be at the top the mogul course hearing like, seven
different languages” says Kealey Zaumseil
The course itself meets World Cup specs at 250 meters long. After a short,
somewhat flat top section, the course rolls over to a 30 degree pitch after
the top jump. This season the fall snow pack was quite thin, and glacial
ice existed throughout the course, between the faces of moguls. These
factors made for an extremely difficult course but also excellent training.
“I think it was quite intimidating for our team the first few days on the
course. They hadn’t skied since July in Mt. Hood, where the pitch is 21
degrees and conditions slushy. This course had some serious teeth, yet at
same time, the World Cup skiers were absolutely shredding it.” Caleb Martin
A two day storm halfway through the trip brought heavy snow and wind which
completely buried the course. The dense snow covered up the glacial ice
nicely and made for an exceptional final block of training.
Five TSSC members have qualifed for the U.S. Selection events coming up
December 19th – 22nd in Steamboat Springs, CO. Keaton McCargo, Kealey Zaumseil, Wade Parkinson, Troy Tully and Nick Keatong attended the Zermatt camp. Since time is limited before this major event, and mogul course training is hard to find during the early season in Colorado,the Zermatt trip has become an important staple towards Telluride success at the Selection Events in the past.
More to come on preparation and outcomes of U.S. Selection events!
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