Ski & Snowboard Club Vail

Beaver Creek, 4/7 – spring was in the air for the start of the two-day GS Spectacular at Beaver Creek. More than 250 racers in total from Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado, braved the long course from the top of Beaver Creek’s Nastar course to the bottom of Bear Trap, a vertical drop of 270 meters.

Saturday morning saw the J5/J4 girls take their two one run GS races, followed by the J3/Senior girls with their two run combined race. Conditions were slightly challenging, but Ski and Snowboard Club Vail’s J5 girls took eight of the top ten places in their first race. Caroline Jones took the top step on the podium with teammates Cleo Braun and Kaitlyn Harsch placing second and third, respectively.

For the J4 girls, Jessica McMurtry of SSCV was the leader of the pack in the first run followed closely by Brianna Trudeau in second and Nellie Talbot in third

In the J3 through senior girls combined event, SSCV’s Anna Martin place second in the J3 age category and Georgia Wettlaufer, a J3 coach with SSCV, placed first.

The second race for the J4/J5 girls saw SSCV’s Caroline Jones ski aggressively to resume her winning place on the podium with teammate Cleo Braun in second place.

A few position changes took place in the second race for the J4 girls. Brianna Trudeau came in first for the J4 girls in the second race with Jessica McMurtry in second,

With the snow getting softer by the minute, the Beaver Creek Race Department did everything in their power to keep the course in top condition for the boys’ afternoon races.

The J5 boys got underway and taking the top three places on the podium were Henry Heaydon, Zane Worrell and Kellen Kinsella.

SSCV’s J4 boys took five of the top 10 places in their first race. Colby Lange placed first, Bridger Gile in second, and Brendan Keane took a close third

The J3/Senior boys raced next with their two run combined event, and SSCV’s River Radamus took first with Tagert Mueller in second and Logan Martin in third for J3 boys.

For the seniors, the University of Denver boys took the top two places with Max Marno in first and Kitt Flowers in second.

With the course still in great condition, the boys’ second race began. Henry Heaydon took first again for the J5 boys with teammate Zane Worrell placing second.

The J4 boys had Colby Lange skiing to first in their second race of the day with Bridger GIle in second, and Brendan Keane in third.

Beaver Creek, 4/8 – Day 2 had the boys racing in the morning. Starting with the J5 boys, Henry Heaydon placed first, Zane Worrell in second and Fletcher Holm rounded out the top three coming in third.

Colby Lange, Bridger Gile and Brendan Keane took the top three places on the podium for the J4 boys in Sunday’s A.M. run

The J3/Senior boys raced their two run combined race on the slick Beaver Creek racecourse and River Radamus placed second and Sands Simonton came in third in the J3 age category, while Denver University took the top three places in the senior race.

The second race for the J5 boys saw Henry Heaydon taking top honors on the podium for the fourth time this weekend. Heaydon’s teammate, Fletcher Holm, came in second.

The top three places in the J4 boys second saw Colby Lange in first for the fourth time this weekend. Brendan Keane took second and Bridger Gile finished third.

The J5 girls started their race on Sunday with Caroline Jones placing first and Allie Resnick in second,

The J4 girls had Nellie Talbot placed first, with Brianna Trudeau on her heels in a close second.

As the second race of the J5 girls got underway, the course was getting very rutted, but that didn’t stop Caroline Jones from taking her fourth first place on for the weekend.
Nellie Talbot took the top spot on the podium in the J4 girls second race, Brianna Trudeau came in second, Paula Cooper placed fourth and Jessica McMurtry placed fifth. While Sylka Snyder raced to a sixth place finish, Anneli Holm came in seventh and Haley Frischholz placed tenth.

In the J3/Senior girls GS, Rachael Desrochers took the number one spot on the podium with Abigail Murer in second place for the J3 girls. SSCV’s US Ski Team member, Katharine Irwin, took top honors in the senior age category for the women with SSCV coach Georgia Wettlaufer in second.

“It was great to see all athletes, nine year olds and 21 year old college stars, male and female, competing all on the same course,” said coach Rika Moore. “It’s fun for the younger racers to measure up to the older more experienced ones. In the end, they all still compete in their own age groups and genders. We saw some incredible skill levels displayed at this fast gaining prestigious event.”

The Surefoot Colorado Ski Cup Championships finished off on Saturday with slalom racing for the men and women on Vail’s Golden Peak.

SSCV’s Paula Moltzan, representing the U.S. Ski Team, and third in Friday’s slalom, reached the junior podium in third with a seventh place overall finish. Katharine Irwin, another SSCV U.S. Team member skied from a start of 55 to place 14th on the day. Greta Byrne finished 16th overall.

“Even though Moltzan has been pushing through some pain with a shoulder injury, she has skied really well the past two days,” said coach Dan Stripp. “And for Irwin to come from 55th to have the 13th fastest second run is pretty awesome. Byrne also had a couple of solid runs to finish in16th.”

Tii-Maria Romar, hailing from Finland and skiing for the University of Utah, took her second slalom gold in as many days for the women, with Burke Mountain’s Maise Ide in second and Katie Hartman, skiing for the University of Colorado, in third.

For the SSCV men, Alex Leever was the top finisher with a fourth for the juniors and 20th overall. Leever’s teammates, Christoph Niederhauser and Nick Braun, finished 29th and 30th, respectively.

For the men’s overall podium, Norway’s Andreas Adde took the gold, Petter Brenna, also from Norway, placed second, and Finland’s Joonas Rasanen placed third.

The Surefoot Colorado Ski Cup Championships took to the hill at Golden Peak for the men’s and women’s slalom race on Friday, 4/6, and when the day was done, SSCV’s U.S. Ski Team member Paula Moltzan came away with a second for the junior women and third overall.

“The first run was set with lots of turns and I ended up a little farther back than I wanted to,” said Moltzan.

Starting 13th, Moltzan skied to ninth after her first run at the track.

On her second run, the course was set a little straighter, and Moltzan charged the hill with the second fastest run to put her onto the podium in third place.

“My mindset for the second run was to go as fast as I could,” said Moltzan. “I’m really happy with my result today.”

Taking first for the women on Friday was Finland’s Tii-Maria Romar racing for the University of Utah. Second went to Maisie Ide from Burke Mountain Academy.

“Romar is really good and I admire her a lot,” said Moltzan. “And Ide is my best friend.”

SSCV’s Greta Byrne finished 21st with SSCV alums Sarah Schleper in eleventh, and Erika Ghent in 12th.

For the SSCV men, Taylor Shiffrin finished 21st, fourth for the junior men, Alex Leever placed 23rd, first for the J2 men, Christoph Niederhauser took 27th, and Cannon O’Brien finished the day in 30th.

The Surefoot Colorado Ski Cup Championships continue today with another slalom race on Golden Peak for the men and women