Saturday was a busy day for the entire team because of the cross country race and practice for the downhillers beginning at ten. The cross country team had strong showings in all categories and was more than pleased with the results. The course featured a steep climb filled with switchbacks and a fabulous downhill ending on the trail, Silky Johnson. Depending on the category, athletes rode anywhere from two to an unexpected five laps. Later in the day, the Super D event took place at three. The course consisted of multiple trails connecting together to create a fun filled course full of short peddles, rock gardens, jumps, and countless berms. Both cross country and downhill athletes competed in this race, allowing all riders to show off what they are made of. Although the athletes didn’t do as well as they would have liked, they were all pleased to have another start to get the early season race jitters out. As the day come to an end, the team was ecstatic to be having raviolis for dinner rather than the typical spaghetti nights in the past, all being served by our amazing chef and coach, Eddy Cohn.

As Sunday morning rolled around, the cross country riders had an early start with a short track race beginning at seven thirty and the last rider ending around eleven thirty. As short track was going on, the downhill team had their last chance to study the course before the race starting at twelve. Men’s C kicked it off with all the new riders taking their first downhill start, then followed by the Women’s B race where Western rider, Grace Owen, beat the other women by over thirty seconds in her first ever downhill race! This was then followed by Men’s B and A, where Western had good showings in both fields.

     
Overall, the weekend was great success. It was another great race with plenty of fun to be had. Now it’s back to practice in preparation for this weekend’s upcoming race in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. -Jack Thibodeau

The weekend included monstrous hail storms, and camping out among a mass of runners. The team was split into 3 groups – two 8 person open class relay teams and a 4 person ultra-relay team. The course had three loops total – 3.6, 4.6, and 6.2 miles. Each member of the team had to run each lap once (twice for the ultra team).

The final results are still TBD, but prelims show the ultra team sweeping all other ultra-teams away with a first place finish, and the two 8 person open class teams posting strong podium finishes. Overall the weekend turned out to be a success, and a great way to show the trail running community exactly what it means to #GoWestern. -Bryan Schlinkmann

The pond. Be sure to skim around the inflatables.

With no warm up runs, competitors had twenty minutes per heat to make their impression on the judges to qualify for finals. The athletes were scored by their costume and creativity, tricks and style, skimming steez, and crowd engagement. The prize was $500 and a season pass to Copper for the best male/female skier/snowboarder, best trick and best crash.

Grace Owen throws a flat three through the goal post. Photo: David Dieckhaus

Even with competition being tough, Barclay Weyhrauch, Lane Quinn, Grace Owen and Micaela Lambeth skied in the finals. Although none earned a podium spot, everyone was creative with their tricks and no one got too wet.

This was Copper’s closing weekend and the Freestyle Team’s last competition of the season. Time to start preparing for next winter!

Finishing corral for the first day venue. There was quite a large audience.

The team started off the weekend with a inspection day on Friday to get an idea of what line they wanted to take on the venue, located on Rasta Chutes. Conditions were icy and bare, but the sun was out, and the snow softened quickly. This first day venue was very short, so lines were scarce and creativity was necessary.

Peter Noon inspects the Rasta Chutes first day venue

Saturday, the first day of competition, was the qualifying day for finals on sunday. Most of the athletes were not too happy about the icy conditions in the morning but by mid day things seemed to soften up. Up first were the mens snowboarding. Most of the riders had solid runs with the exception of a few falling. Tucker Sargent put down an awesome run putting him in third place for qualifying. Next up was women’s skiing. Sierra Sawyer and Louissa Rozendaal had great runs for qualifiers but with the women’s field being stacked Louissa was unable to make the cut and Sierra very closely didn’t make it. The mens field was quite exciting to watch as there were many great riders attending this competition.

Louissa Rozendaal takes a turn among the scraggle trees on her run

The western athletes all had awesome runs but due to some tricky judging only two of the riders did not make it to finals. Tucker Vollbrecht, Morgan Haymans, and Connor Michael all continued on to finals with Connor currently leading the Western team in 19th place.

Tucker Sargent shoots the Standard drop with the Snowbird tram in the background

Morgan Haymans takes his last air on the finals venue

The finals took place on a previous Freeride World Tour venue, and with its length and difficulty, it challenged all athletes across the board. Luckily, the weather played to their favor, and everyone was able to lay down solid lines in the softer snow. Zach Nehls and Peter Noon both got on the podium, with Zach taking 2nd, and Peter taking 3rd.

Zach Nehls and Peter Noon on the podium

Photos and words by Banks Kriz and Mason Strehl

The first day of competition at Nationals consisted of a rail jam for the ski and snowboard freestyle team, and a 7.5 classic ski for the nordic team. It was a warm and sunny day at Mount Bachelor in Bend, Oregon, and the conditions were great.

The rail jam consisted of three different lines of boxes and rails. Judges wanted the riders to change up their lines and to use all of the features available.

Western had both men and women riders make it to finals, and everyone competed at the top of their game.

Overall, the women’s snowboard team got fourth, men’s skier got third place, and men’s snowboard got second place! It was a good day for Western Mountain Sports.

Western’s large variety of disciplines at nationals included a quick and strong Nordic Team that competed in a 7.5 k classic race. This was first of four events that the Nordic Team competed in during the week.

Racing through Bend’s mossy coated forest provided a series of challenging uphills that the team had to overcome, but the team’s stoke level stayed high and they were happy to race in new territory.

With the 7.5 k classic not being a typical race that the Nordic team competes in, it was a new experience for the crew and was a great way to kick off the week of competition for the team.

The next event that the freestyle ski and snowboard team competed in was an awesome slope style competition on a great course.

The slope style run started with either a rail or a box, into a two jump line, followed by a rail, a pole jam, and ending with a wall ride. Everyone competed well and we had a bunch of W’s in the finals.

It was a full day on the hill, but Western finished strong. For skiing, Dom Pucherelli finished in ninth place overall. For the snowboarders, Hunter Knoll finished in ninth place, Micaela Lambeth in fourth place, and Grady Shoop finished in third place.

The Nordic team broke out the wax and iron early Wednesday morning to prepare themselves for the Freestyle race. The short race tested the team on endurance as each competitor full out sprinted the short lap. With the level of competition stacking higher than last year, the team knew they would have to leave it all on the race course at the end of the day.

Samantha Maddox, or as her friends and teammates know her, “Bob,” held down the fastest time for the women on the team finishing a respectable 19th place out of all 41 competitors.  Although it may not have been exactly what she wanted, she gave it her all and was a perfect example of a Mountain Sports athlete that refuses to quit.

On Thursday the men raced in boarder and ski cross all day. With another sunny warm day. the course was slick and the team went fast.

The competition consisted of a single rider qualification, followed by heats of four depending on qualifying times.

No one from the team made it to finals, but everyone gave it their best.

Friday was a board and ski cross day for the girls, and the mens freestyle team spent the day in the big park at Bachelor filming and progressing tricks. With a blue bird day and a high of 60, it was a perfect day to get some laps in the park.

The Nordic team was at it again Friday morning, and this time it was all about distance. The team competed in a 7.5k race, where each skier had to make two big laps and two smaller laps before finishing the race completely. This race was a mixture of endurance and pacing each lap out.

Instead of doing intervals starts, like the team had been doing the past two races, they all started off at the same time which made for a more exciting and challenging start for all competitors as they sprinted down the start and into the mossy woods. The race streamed in fans that scattered themselves along the course, giving each racer encouragement as they pounded through the lengthy race.

Kevin Geisen lead the Western males in the 7.5k race placing 17th out of 44 competitors and Bob Maddox lead the woman’s standings for Western placing 15th of the 40 competitors.

Western athletes capped off the week with a warm bluebird day as their final day in Bend, Oregon, competing in Nordic, and Men’s and Woman’s Snowboard GS. Athletes race down the course weaving themselves through colored gates, while trying to maintain as much speed and control as possible. Grady Shoop finished with the fastest time for the team finishing 18th out of all 40 competitors in the Men’s Snowboard GS.

Ethan Field taking it tight around the gate with the final turns in sight in the finals of the Men’s Snowboard GS.

Jordan White (red jacket) & Katelyn Novak (grey jacket) and Micaela Lambeth competed in the Woman’s Snowboard GS. Although each of them slightly struggled with the icy course, they still finished strong and plan on coming back stronger next year in hopes of achieving a spot on the podium.

For the Nordic teams last race, they competed in a three person, three lap relay race. The women’s team finished strong in fourth place overall.

It was hard to beat a fun nordic race in the 60 degree sunny weather in Oregon!

Final Results were strong for the Mountain Sports team. Micaela Lambeth finished in the top 10 for women’s freestyle snowboarding. Grace Owen also finished in the top 10 for women’s freestyle skiing. Dom Pucherelli and Morgan Hunter Haymans both finished in the top 10 for men’s freestyle sking. Ethan Field, Hunter Knoll, and Grady Shoop all placed in the top 10 for men’s freestyle snowboarding. Grady took home fourth place overall. The men’s snowboard team took third place over all! Good work everybody!

Overall, Western Mountain Sports had an amazing week at Mount Bachelor in Bend, Oregon, and we took home some medals to prove it. Thanks to our sponsors, and to everyone that was able to come compete!

To see more photos from the trip, check out: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wscumountainsports

Stay tuned for a video from the trip.

Photos / Story by Preston Hoffman and Taylor Ahearn

 To see more information about the USCSA Nationals head over to the events website: http://www.uscsa.com/

The next morning the team woke up to a fresh 8 inches of fresh snow lining the trees, and got up to the mountain for the first day of inspection. As everyone probed the venue for rocks, good drops, and high scoring lines the snow continued to fall. The venue filled in and everyone got in a few powder turns.

The first day of competition was plagued with fog, pounding snow, and general bad visibility. Ideally all of the competitors would have their runs, but with course hold after course hold only the female skiers and snowboarders went. Western Athlete Sierra Sawyer took her run towards the rear of the pack, had an excellent upper run, but fell near the bottom.

The weather for the  second day of competition did not improve. Even so, the men athletes were rushed down the venue. Max Durtschi flowed through the course smoothly, scoring very highly, which eventually led to his first place finish. Also running that day was Morgan Haymans, Tucker Vollbrecht, Ethan Field, and Peter Noon finishing in 56th, 42nd, 19th, and 18th place respectively.

Finals were scheduled to be the next day, but were canceled due to avalanche danger. Scoring defaulted to the previous day’s results. The team packed up and enjoyed an easy ride home.

Writing by Mason Strehl. Photos by Mason Strehl and Banks Kriz

Brundage Mountain Resort reflects in the open water of Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho.

From campus, Brundage Mountain Resort is a fourteen hour drive when the roads are dry. The girls had plenty of time to chat, sleep, watch movies and come together as a team. And they had four days of skiing to race, train, socialize and maybe do some homework. After arriving Tuesday night, Wednesday was a training day. Teams brought gates and coaches set up a giant slalom (GS) course and a slalom course for the athletes to run. With over a hundred racers skiing the same courses multiple times, they got pretty beat up, to say the least.

The ladies are ready to head up to Brundage Mountain Resort for race day.

Thursday was race day for the women. It was a typical GS day: two different courses, one run in the morning and one in the afternoon for a total combined time. The athlete can’t lose skis or miss gates, and must finish to be granted a second run. It’s not to be forgotten that the goal is to be the fastest down the course. With sixty six women competing from about fifteen teams, and of all different racing backgrounds, the competition was fierce. All of Western’s women finished both runs, with Shelbie in 25^th place and Jamie on her tail in 28^th place.

Western’s ladies wait for inspection to open.

The women competed again on Saturday in a slalom race. Unlike the warm, blue sky days of GS racing, Saturday was snowy and chilly. Fresh snow poses a problem for races, it slows down the athletes and created dangerous piles outside the race line. If an athlete becomes late on a gate, and strays from the slipped out race line, the piles of fresh snow can throw the athlete and injure them. While inspecting, racers from every college slip the course to make it safer for everyone. Carley finished in 29^th place and Carmen ended up in 36^th. Shelbie and Jamie both ended up having to hike for gates and finished in 32^nd and 41^st respectively.

Course setters work on the women’s slalom course.

It was an awesome first season for Western’s Alpine Team. Most of the ladies came into it with little or no racing experience and contended with women who had been racing for much longer. With a great coach and community support, the team had a blast racing and looks forward to another great season ahead!

Thankfully, the freestyle team witnessed the best of both worlds. Ten inches of fresh snow coated the extreme terrain and both mornings were filled with powder slashes, face shots and unstoppable ear to ear grins. It is irrefutable that the Western Freestyle Team knows how to enjoy a powder day but these riders also know when to buckle down and lace up for business.

USCSA Nationals begins on March first in Oregon but the team still hammered out training sessions in the terrain park when the sun managed to peak through the afternoon clouds and the snow packed out enough for higher speeds. Dom Purcherelli held no reserves this weekend as he shot for big air time off a hip transition.

Although the fresh snow made it difficult for Western’s finest park skier and boarders to hit the big slope style features they still managed to dominate the the plethora of rails available at Copper. Lane Quinn decided that if he couldn’t hit the jumps with full speed he would air off of the rails instead with a stylish switch landing.

Mecaela Lambeth went all out when she realized there was a camera involved and decided to test the limits of her riding abilities with a method grab combined with a backside 360.

The team decided to live by the saying, “you can sleep when you are dead” after the first full day of shredding and took the the trampolines at Woodward at Copper in order to refine their aerials.

The team referred to him as “Hood Rat” for his unorthodox lines and tricks. Ethan Miller reiterated the fact that his nick name holds true by throwing a rodeo 540 off of the side of a jump into a powder field.

Words by Hunter Gienapp Photos by Hunter Gienapp and David Dieckhaus

Western Mountain Sports Rail Jam 2015 from Mountain Sports Media on Vimeo.

The competition consisted of two rounds, a 45 minute qualifier and a 45 minute final round. Grace Owen won the women’s skiing class. Though she was the only competitor, she continued to improve on her previous runs to heighten her impression on the judges.

Women’s snowboarding was a close battle between Micaela Lambeth and Annie Westbury. In the end, it would be the St. Louis native, Westbury, to claim victory over her classmate in the finals. Men’s skiing was an intense race between some of the best skiers on campus. 1^st place was taken by Canyon Mueller, just above Barclay Weyhrauch and Parker Clarkson. Canyon received a pair of skis generously donated by a local shop, The Hammer.

Men’s snowboarding was no exception to the heated battles of the night. Riders displayed ease, steeze, and everything in between. Ryan Holt came out with everything he had and landed himself in the first place spot, thus earning him a brand new snowboard, courtesy of The Hammer also.

Such an amazing event would not have been possible without the generosity of its sponsors.

Words by David Dieckhaus. Photos by Mason Strehl and Preston Hoffman. Edit by Mason Strehl

The first day of racing started out with a quarter of a mile run, known as a le mans start, racers would then arrive at their bikes and start down the 16 mile loop. With Western’s team consisting of 5 riders, Benjamin Jackson, Kirsten Paulson, Angela Vitulli, Zoe Smith, and Sean O’Donnell, each rider had their chance to make a loop to count towards their overall lap count.

As the sun set, slowly bringing on the first full night of racing, athletes prepared themselves mentally and physically for the long evening of taking turns pedaling down the dark desert trail. Competitors wore a set of two lights to help guide them through the night, and hopefully around the cacti that heavily vegetated the sides of the trail.

The team awoke the next morning, with each athlete having 3 tiring laps under their belts, and going into their final 4th lap before the end of the race.

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Coming into the final hour of the event, Zoe Smith brought it home for the team being the last competitor for Western to cross the finish line. The team was tired, sore, and covered in desert dust, but filled with a sense of accomplishment for taking on the grueling race. The Western team finished in an outstanding 5th place in the 5-Person combined age group with a total of 19 completed laps. The males on the team had an average lap completion of 1hr and 1o minutes and the women with 1hr and 20 minutes. With an improvement on times and places from last years results, the team headed home with their heads held high ready to come back even stronger next year for this unique and challenging event.

Story and Photos by Preston Hoffman