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PCSS Newsletter March 3, 2020

By PCSS, 03/03/20, 9:00PM MST

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  • It's Championship Season!
  • Club News
  • Team Updates 

IT'S CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON! 

A message from Executive director , Christie Hind

 

It's peak season at PCSS with athletes training hard and participating in championships across divisions! We have athletes far and wide doing what they do best: showing up, skiing/snowboarding hard and demonstrating grit and character. I continue to be humbled and honored by our athletes and by our coaches, parents and volunteers all of whom have helped make this season so successful.  

There are lots of mid-season updates in this newsletter, including a progress report on our fundraising for the Utah Olympic Park Expansion Project and notes from each of our divisions. I’d also like to thank retiring members of the PCSS Board of Managers, Marie Jackson and Pat Quigley, for their dedicated service and announce and extend a warm welcome to four new board members: Christie Babalis, Emily Cook, Ehlias Louis and Garrett Lang. Welcome to the PCSS family!

Thank you for being part of the PCSS community and supporting our athletes and coaches. I hope to see everyone at our end of season celebration on March 29th!

– Christie Hind, Executive Director

 

 


CLUB NEWS

 

 

PCSS on KPCW Winter Pledge Drive

PCSS will be on air TOMORROW, March 4 at 10 a.m. during KPCW’s Winter Pledge Drive. Tune in to KPCW (91.7 FM or 88.1 FM) to hear from a few of our program directors and show your support for our public radio station. You can help PCSS win free underwriting on KPCW if we have the most calls or raise the most money during our hour. Not in the Park City area?  Don’t worry! You can stream our hour live on KPCW.org or tell your smart speaker to play KPCW. Call in at 435-649-9004.


Save the Date – End of Season Party

Mark your calendars! Our end of season celebration, the PCSS Clubmeister, will take place on Sunday, March 29 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Utah Olympic Park! The event is open to all PCSS athletes and families. Activities include: 

– Skimeister race course for 300 participants including cross country, downhill slalom, mogul run, and/or ski jumping elements and a pond skim

– Awards for Best Costume

– Food trucks, Music and More!

Details on admission tickets will be shared in our next newsletter. Stay tuned!


Kristi Cumming announcing the grand opening of "Hyeway" the Intermediate Hill at the UOP - Photo Credit: Steve Earl

UOP Expansion Update

“Hyeway,” the Intermediate Hill at the UOP has been open for training since early January and has exceeded expectations in every way as a state-of-the-art training venue. The facility features 11 acres of lighted terrain with 6 alpine training lanes, 2 mogul lanes and freeski/snowboard features. Our partners at Romark, the University of Utah and the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation celebrated at a Grand Opening on January 23rd at the Olympic Park. 

We are just $1 million short of our overall $3 million fundraising goal. Thank you to everyone who has supported this amazing project so far. For information on how to donate, visit parkcityss.org/uop.


TEAM UPDATES


Coach Jana Johnson poses with (l to r) Dani Loeb, Karenna Elliot and Tasia Tanner in Quebec.

Aerials TEAM UPDATE

The aerials team is coming off a successful showing with five podiums at the NorAm stop in Quebec. Congratulations to Dani Loeb, Karenna Elliott and Tasia Tanner on their podium finishes. Next up is NorAm finals (March 7-8) followed by Nationals and Junior Nationals (March 14) at Bristol Mountain, NY. Good luck to all of our athletes!
Quebec NorAm Results



PCSS development athletes, shown here at White Pine Nordic, had 18 participants in the Intermountain Youth Championships Feb. 28 – March 1.

Cross Country team update

The Soldier Hollow Super Qualifier took place February 14-15, with 38 PCSS athletes competing in what was the largest junior cross country ski race in the West and the last Junior National Qualifier of the season. A highlight was qualifying a record eight athletes to Junior Nationals, taking place in Truckee, California March 7-14.

PCSS cross country programs will wrap up winter programming the week of March 3rd.
We will be hosting the Western Nordic Club Championships March 14-15 at Soldier Hollow.


freeski team update - big mountain and Park & Pipe

The Big Mountain Team had our first sessions in the backcountry with trained athletes and coaches. PCSS athletes completed the Level 1 avalanche course with the Utah Avalanche Center to further their education in the backcountry safely and efficiently. After determining safe routes and finding and accessing the slope for avalanche hazard, they got to ski some nice backcountry lines. These athletes have been practicing avalanche safety and rescue several times a week since December. Now they are proficient in these skills and are able to further their education outside the resort boundaries.

 

 


Ben Fethke stands on top of the podium at the Futures Tour.

The Park & Pipe Team hosted the FIS-level Futures Tour February 28 – March 1 with events for halfpipe and slopestyle. PCSS had a strong showing on both the men’s and women’s sides. Ben Fethke took the win in men’s halfpipe. Mitch Zyzelewski took the win in men’s slopestyle and earned a U.S. Revolution Tour NorAm start for next season. Congratulations to all the athletes!


snowboard team update

The Futures Tour took place this past weekend (Feb. 28 – March 1) at Park City Mountain. Events included halfpipe and slopestyle. This week (March 1-6) the Revolution Tour is in town. Woodward Park City will be hosting a big air and two slopestyle competitions. We will share the results in the next newsletter!

PCSS athletes have had some great results at events across all disciplines this season, including four podiums! Click on each event below to take a deeper dive on those results.

Mammoth Mountain Grand Prix - Halfpipe + Slopestyle
Mammoth Mountain Rev Tour - Halfpipe, Slopestyle, Big Air (Jade Thurgood, 1st)
Gore Mountain NorAm - SBX (Livia Molodyh, 2nd)

Ski Cooper NorAm - SBX (Mikey LaCroix, 2nd + 3rd)


PCSS athletes (l to r) Annika Hunt, Sierra Scanlan, Kasten Schillinger, Jonas Touchette, Parker Davis, Jackson Murakami and Owen Platt celebrate great finishes at the David Wright Memorial races.

ALPINE TEAM UPDATE

PCSS hosted the David Wright Memorial/Junior IMC race series February 28 – March 1. The event, which consisted of one slalom and two giant slalom races, served as the final qualifier for U14 Regional Championships and Tri-Divisionals. Our PCSS athletes skied very well and won the overall team award by a large margin.

Lauren Macuga was named to the 2020 FIS Alpine Junior World Championship team. Lauren will not attend the championships due to a knee injury that she sustained at World University Games earlier in the season. We wish her a speedy recovery!


devo Freestyle team update

Last month we hosted the first of two devo series competitions at the UOP, including a slopestyle competition under the lights and a moguls event on our new, full length course. Around 70 athletes aged 6-12 came out to compete for one or both days. It was an amazing event!

We will be hosting the second devo series March 6-7. Friday, March 6 will be another slopestyle night event at the UOP. Saturday, March 7 will be a halfpipe competition on the 13-foot pipe at Park City Mountain. All PCSS athletes and/or siblings aged 6-12 years old are welcome to compete! Click here to register and get more information.

 


Mogul team update

The mogul athletes have had a great showing at the FIS NorAms including second place finish at Val St. Come by Jack Kariotis and a second place finish in duals from Alli Macuga at Deer Valley. The next stop on the NorAm tour is Killington, VT.

Deer Valley NorAm Results
Calgary NorAm Results
Val St. Come NorAm Results

The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Junior National Championships are next week (March 11-15) in Winter Park, Colorado. Moguls athletes that have qualified include Alli Macuga, Zoe Dwinell, Cameron Solomon, Erin Stotts, Julien Markewitz, Cole Ward and Jackson Crockett.


ski jumping and nordic combined team update

The 2020 Junior Championship team has been named! The event will take place March 17-21 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This year we have a strong group of newcomers joining the veterans on the team, which includes 14 athletes total. Anders Johnson and Hyrum Bailey will be coaching the team.

Athletes qualify through two events throughout the winter domestically in the Intermountain Division as well as the Rocky Mountain division. Any athlete on the USA Nordic Junior National Team earns a spot due to team status as well as results in FIS level events nationally and internationally.

This year’s roster will be (from youngest to oldest): Ryder Olden, Josie Johnson, Root Roepke, Tyler Phillips, Macey Olden, Jillian Highfill, Rachael Haerter, Zach Selzman, Paige Jones, Greyson Scharffs, Cara Larson, Anna Hoffmann, Sam Macuga, Beckett Ledger.