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PCSS Newsletter - October 2022

By Park City Ski & Snowboard, 10/28/22, 3:45PM MDT

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  • Message from Christie Hind
  • JANS Winter Welcome
  • Mandatory Athlete Health Screening
  • Fall Trail Series Recap
  • Coach Spotlight - Adam Loomis
  • Division Updates
  • Scholarship Opportunities



message from executive director, Christie Hind

As I write this message from the UOP, the snow is falling, swirling, drifting ... winter is underway in a big way and we could not be more excited! We are looking forward to the shift from dryland training/water ramping to working out on the snow. And, things are really bustling as we prepare for JANS Winter Welcome on Oct 29th, Live PC Give PC on Nov 4th, and the 50th Annual Park City Ski Swap from Nov 4th-6th. We hope everyone club-wide will participate in these mission-critical fundraising events. 

In addition to all these activities, we held a PCSS Board Retreat several weeks ago to update board members on our programs, Phase Two of the UOP Mountain Expansion, as well as our fundraising and sponsorship opportunities. We also spent time reviewing and gathering feedback regarding potential changes to the PCSS Mission Statement. The final portion of the retreat consisted of an athlete panel that discussed the importance of culture to the success of clubs and athletes. A huge shoutout to board members Ted Ligety and Trace Worthington, PCSS Coach Liz Stephen, and Emily Cook and Hannah Kearney for being part of the panel -- we are so lucky to have each of you as part of the PCSS community!


JANS Winter Welcome

The 42nd annual JANS Winter Welcome will be held on Saturday, October 29th at Stein Eriksen Lodge. This event provides significant funding for our programs and there are several ways you can help in that effort. The JWW Online Auction is now "live" so please browse through the amazing list of available items, services, and experiences and bid on the items of interest to you.

You are also encouraged to support the fundraising effort by purchasing Opportunity Drawing Tickets which offer a chance to win a 4-day stay at the Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita in Mexico. Tickets are available for purchase until midnight Friday, October 28.


Live PC Give PC

Park City’s largest day of community-wide giving, Live PC Give PC is rapidly approaching. Next Friday, November 4, our community will come together to support the organizations we love. We know that there are many incredible and impactful nonprofits to choose from in our community. When deciding which nonprofits to support on November 4, we kindly ask you to consider Park City Ski & Snowboard.

With over 1,000 athletes in our club spanning over 7 disciplines plus our Youth Development program, tuition fees do not fully cover all operating expenses, which means that every athlete is subsidized. In order to be the best club in North America and provide the highest level of training opportunities to our young athletes, we need your community support. 

Donations to Live PC Give PC will directly support our athletes, the best coaching staff around, and ultimately the best programming. We are also excited to share that we have a $25,000 matching grant for the club overall plus an additional $20,000 match specific to the Alpine group. Let’s get these matches and help foster athletes of TODAY, TOMORROW AND THE FUTURE!

Our donation site for Live PC Give PC is live now and we sincerely appreciate your donations of any size at PCSS Live PC Give PC. Thank you!


50th annual PCSS Ski Swap

The 50th Annual Park City Ski Swap and Sale is slated for November 4 - 6 at the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse! This is the largest single fundraiser for PCSS and a number of volunteer positions are open where we need your help so please sign up to lend a hand.

Please encourage your friends, family, and acquaintances to attend! The Park City Ski Swap is a fantastic opportunity for people who want great deals on a terrific selection of new and used skis, snowboards, boots, poles, apparel and accessories.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS AND FOR MORE INFORMATION


Mandatory ATHLETE Health Screenings

To help ensure the health and safety of our team members this season, we are requiring all athletes aged 12 and up to complete a mandatory, pre-participation Health Evaluation to review the athlete's medical and mental health. In addition, we highly recommend completing a Brain Health/Concussion Assessment

The forms that will be sent by your team Director are to be completed and signed by your preferred health care provider(s) and then returned to your team Director no later than December 15, 2022. 

If an athlete has completed these screenings within the past year, a new appointment is not necessary and the health care provider(s) can sign the form(s) based on that visit; otherwise, new screening(s) must be completed. Due to time constraints, we are not able to offer clinics at the UOP so if you are looking for a provider, please consider making appointments with our partner providers:

  • Health Evaluation and Brain Health Assessment – Gallagher Pediatrics, 1441 W Ute Blvd, Ste 220 – (435) 602-0187
  • Comprehensive Brain Health Assessment – Kutcher Clinic, 1154 Center Drive – (385) 246-5971

Medical assessments and concussion baseline testing are also available at Intermountain Healthcare, Dr. Carrie Jaworski, 900 Round Valley Drive – (435) 333-3535

We sincerely appreciate your assistance in making sure these evaluations are completed and the forms are returned quickly. 


Park City Fall Trail Series Recap

The 2022 Park City Fall Trail Series presented by Westgate Resort came to a close on Saturday, October 22 with the Ski Jump Challenge at the Utah Olympic Park. More than 120 people signed up for the race event though it was forecast for inclement weather. 

Participants tested their legs and lungs in this unique race up the snow nets covering the K120 Olympic Ski Jump landing hill and then switched to the stairs on the in-run to get to the top. The uphill-only race consisted of a qualifier heat in each division, and then a final heat for all the top racers. 

The fastest time of the day in the men’s division was clocked by Ski Jump Director Adam Loomis with a time of 4:15.63. The fastest time in the women’s division was Anna Nosek at 7:27.95. The fastest junior times were accomplished by Tory Hoffman with a time of 5:06.00 and Phoebe Zaniello with a time of 6:07.88.

Overall Trail Series winners for the Adult category were Jean Traub and Pete Stoughton. In the Junior division, Nordic athlete Rhy Weidenhamer and Skimo athlete Ethan Romer took the overall Series titles.

After the race, we crowned our overall podium as well as awarded the Ski Jump Challenge podium places. Awards included handmade, fall-themed pottery; gift cards to The Feed for our Ski Jump Challenge winners; and gear from Black Diamond, Polar and Kodiak Cakes. Two lucky participants walked away with a staycation package from Westgate Resort Park City. In addition to US Ski Team and PCSS gear, we also handed out a pair of Hoka shoes and a Polar GPS watch in our opportunity drawing.  

We want to extend a big thank you to our community, volunteers, coaches and sponsors who made this series a success. We look forward to the fourth annual PC Fall Trail Series in 2023.

Coach Spotlight - Adam Loomis

What did you do this fall? For Coach Adam Loomis, Director of PCSS Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, and Skimo, it wasn’t enough to just keep our athletes active – he used his spare time to make plans for an epic trail run through the Wasatch Mountains that he has dubbed the “Wasatch Back to Front to Timpanogos (BFT).” The route he mapped out was approximately 100 miles in distance and he hoped to complete the run in less than 24 hours.

While Adam has run organized ultra trail races in the past, the Wasatch BFT was entirely his own route and certainly did not include the multiple aid stations that are required to support racers along the way. To make things more difficult, Adam broke a few ribs in late August, which led to him turning his eyes from racing and towards this personal challenge. Ultimately, he was able to complete a few weeks of training and was incredibly thankful for the 12 people who provided support by meeting him with supplies along the route and/or pacing him as he ran.

His run started in Park City at 7:00PM on Saturday, October 8th where he climbed to and across the Wasatch Crest Trail before descending into Millcreek Canyon. He next ascended back up through the Mount Olympus and Twin Peaks wilderness areas and used the available daylight to cross the technical, knife-edged ridgeline between Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon finally descending into Alta. From there, he climbed back through Albion Basin and followed American Fork before finishing at Mount Timpanogos at 9:45PM on Sunday, October 9th with 16-year-old PCSS Skimo athlete, Griffin Briley, at his side.

Adam doesn’t think his route has ever been completed before, but he would love to have others follow his Wasatch BFT path. Perhaps someday the Wasatch BFT may even become an official epic run!


Mountain Expansion, B-net Rolling

The new West Peak Expansion is a massive feat from both a construction standpoint and the logistics angle. UOP COO and PCSS parent Calum Clark was able to wrangle a B-Net building party with PCSS staff, volunteers from multiple PCSS divisions, as well as other resident clubs and volunteer parents. Of the 259 nets, our crew was able to build, roll, and stack just over 200 nets to be put up as soon as the snow is deep enough. These nets will be our first line of defense in building a safe and consistent training environment for all athletes training on the UOP West Peak!

Below you can see some of the 13 stations we set up to insert poles and clips into the nets at strategic points and weave them all through. 


PCSS Store Now Open!

The PCSS Store is now open and taking orders for PCSS team-based apparel and gear! The new store was built to facilitate the inquiries we received for more apparel and gear options that our existing uniform suppliers could not meet. Hoodies, beanies, hats, bags, packs, and more are available. Nearly all items can be made with the logo for the team you want to represent, and many can also be personalized.

Check out the PCSS Store and shop for gifts or maybe something for yourself!  A portion of all proceeds goes directly back to PCSS to help offset programming costs.

Please note that the new store and all transactions run through Alpine Promotions in Salt Lake City, and the owner of Alpine Promotions is a PCSS alumni.

Division Updates

Aerials

We finished our water ramping training on October 16. We are now looking forward to a ski skills weekend trip to A-Basin starting on October 29. In addition, we are planning to build the UOP Aerial Junior and Senior Aerial Site on December 1, 2022.

Looking a little further out, Connor Curran will compete in the World Cup in Ruka, Finland on December 4, 2022. We will also have Connor Curran, Ashton Salwan, and Ian Schoenwald competing the Europa Cup in Ruka, Finland on December 10, 2022. 

alpine

Colder nights are coming and all our groups have been hammering the dryland sessions from the South Series to FIS.  We’ve got our first groups traveling to Copper now to start on-snow training in the US, and our IMC and FIS groups are beginning to head that same direction soon to start their training. 

Our venues continue to come together, with visible changes taking place daily. Be on the lookout for haying and seeding parties to happen soon.

cross country

PCSS Nordic is wrapping up Fall programming on Friday October 28, and our winter season starts November 7. We were able to get a lot of quality practices this fall due to the warm and dry weather. Highlights included getting to meet PCSS alumni and Olympian Rosie Brennan who came to our Devo practice, and having the opportunity to rollerski with Olympian Gus Schumacher. 

The Comp Team competed with some of the top cross country skiers in the country at the Shutzenski Rollerski Festival at Soldier Hollow October 21-23. Highlights included Comp team athletes Lucas Fassio taking the win in the skate distance mass start race, and Jack Tooley taking 2nd place in the junior classic sprint. Comp athlete Elsa Futch was thrilled to toe the line with Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins in her classic sprint heat.

We also had many PCSS members come out to the Fall Trail Series -- either as competitors or volunteers -- to help make this annual fundraiser a success. Sincere thanks to all who participated!

To continue to support our athletes and coaches, please consider purchasing a JANS Winter Welcome opportunity drawing ticket. We would also appreciate you keeping the PCSS Nordic Team in mind when making a donation to Live PC Give PC.

moguls

The Moguls team just wrapped up the last days of water ramping for the summer and now we anxiously await some cooler temperatures and snow! The FIS Elite and Full Time teams are hoping to head to Colorado at the end of the month for some on-snow days ahead of a big training camp and FIS competition in Sweden in November. Everyone get your gear ready, and do your snow dance please! In the meantime, we will continue enjoying the beautiful fall foliage during some of our dryland training sessions as we prepare for the upcoming season.

Park & Pipe / Big MOuntain

With water ramps wrapping up earlier this month and the temps dropping (yay!), we have been doing a lot of dryland training from strength training at the COE to pickleball and inline blading at Woodward.

A handful of our Pipe athletes are headed to Austria at the end of the month for a few weeks to train halfpipe at Kitzsteinhorn. 

Please be sure you are registered for programs, as winter is approaching fast!

Ski Jumping / Nordic Combined

Our Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined athletes wrapped up the fall season just in time for the first snow to fall. Ten of our athletes participated in the annual October trip to Steamboat over UEA weekend where we enjoyed perfect conditions for training and a fun competition with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club athletes. The athletes competed on their HS45 and HS75 jumps and ran a fun and challenging obstacle course foot race for the Nordic Combined portion. Throughout the course, the athletes tested their agility while jumping over and crawling under hurdles, running through slalom gates, hopping across a row of swiss balls, dancing through speed ladders, and even testing their hand-eye coordination with a biathlon-style ball toss. 

Back in Park City, we had our final jumps on plastic last week and many of our athletes and parents participated in the PC Fall Trail Series Finale -- the Ski Jump Challenge -- climbing up the nets of the K120 Ski Jump. We’ll spend the month of November training in the Center of Excellence as well as rollerskiing, running and skiing as snow as the conditions permit until the season kicks off in early December.

Skimo

PCSS’s Skimo athletes might win the award for participating in the greatest variety of activities in the final weeks of October. Just last weekend, many of our athletes raced at the Mountain Bike State Championships in St. George while others raced in the Ski Jump Challenge at the UOP.  You may also have spotted two of our athletes rollerskiing up the UOP road to cheer their teammates on at the top of the jump, or out in the backcountry making turns in the first snow of this winter. With Friday evening and Monday morning, our team activity count goes up to six, with mountain running and strength training thrown into the mix.  Our athletes have enjoyed mixing in with the greater PCSS Team at the Trail Series and in the gym.

At Mountain Bike States, our athletes helped propel PC High to a great 5th place finish in the D1 division against 23 teams. Addisyn Lundberg and William Hanley led the way, placing 3rd in JV A Girls and 3rd in JV B Boys, respectively.  Now that the competitive running and biking seasons are officially finished, our eyes are turned towards winter, and it looks like we’ll have some opportunities to get on snow to supplement dryland training throughout the next month.

Snowboard

As you are reading this, Snowboarding is happening! Pops and the crew are riding in Hintertux, Austria as part of a two-week, on-snow camp in the beautiful Alps. Rest assured that the Park City Snowboard crew is out in the world making things happen. These training opportunities are a great way to get a head start on the season. Sam and the 'home crew' have been 'drylanding' it up here in Park City. The sessions at Woodward have been very productive and the team is coming together over some flips and spins!

The PC Ski and Snowboard Swap is fast approaching on November 4-6, so please let coaches know if you are interested in volunteering or are in need of gear. 

We also have another Milo Sport night for gear purchasing coming up on November 10. If you missed the first opportunity, please make the effort to come down. The coaches will be available to help with your questions and provide additional information about equipment. It's also a great opportunity to get the gang together!

Youth Development

Registration for the new Youth Development division is open! We have various program options covering all disciplines for young skiers and riders that take place on weeknights at the UOP and Woodward. These programs are perfect for athletes 7-10 years old wanting to get into the sport but don't know which discipline they like and want a multi-sport experience to sample different disciplines. Programs are filling up fast so don't wait to register! You can check out all the program options on our website, www.parkcityss.org under “Youth Development” or email Ryan DeVine at rdevine@parkcityss.org with any questions.

Scholarship Opportunities

Following is a summary of a variety of scholarship opportunities that are currently available. Click the name of the organization for additional details about each scholarship offered, and to complete the application process. Additional scholarships will become available within the next few months, and we'll be sure to let you know about those opportunities when we have more details!

Scholarship/Link Description Eligibility Important Dates
The PCSEF Board of Trustees is committed to providing financial assistance to PCSS Alpine athletes in order for them to pursue ski racing excellence. These scholarships provide critical funds for qualified, talented athletes who otherwise would be unable to pursue their ski racing ambitions. Award will be applied directly to participant’s PCSS Alpine tuition expense, camps, competitions or other projects PCSS Alpine athletes enrolled in a full-time U14, U16 or FIS level program Applications accepted on a rolling basis
The i9 Sports Association offers scholarship grants of up to $150 to offset youth sports program participation fees Athletes under age 18 Applications accepted on a rolling basis; grants awarded in Feb, May, Aug, and Nov
The Lindsey Vonn Foundation offers two types of scholarships. Enrichment scholarships are intended to enable applicants to pursue their passion in academic and enrichment activities to reach their goals. Another scholarship offered is the Sport Scholarship which enables athletes to improve their technique, build confidence, and reach their goals. Athletes may only apply for one of the above scholarship types per funding round Athletes aged 10-18 who demonstrate financial need based on household income, number of dependents, and location/cost of living Applications currently open for Winter 2022 programs