Aspen Open Update

Hello from Colorado.. Although we do not have the all the snow that Okemo has received, we have the sunshine and warm temperatures. The great weather has led to a very progressive 10 days so far. Everyone has learned new tricks and is ready and prepared to compete in the Aspen Open qualifiers this Saturday.


The guys have had 3 days to prepare on the course so far and one final day tomorrow to polish their runs. The course is holding up great and it is just as big and impressive as it looks on tv. We have also been training and sessioning with two OMS Alumni Sean Ryan and Brain Tempini. Unfortunetly Brian fell on both of his slopestyle runs today but Sean was able to hold it together and qualify 3rd in his heat, advancing him to the semifinal tomorrow.

Good luck to to all fellow Okemo freestyle athletes competing this weekend.
More news and pictures to come......

2/2/09 WEEKLY UPDATE

OMS Freerider Andrew Holson enters

Level 1 Productions' Superunknown Contest

check out... http://www.level1productions.com/news.php?id=197&y=2008&m=11

We'll know the finalists by March, so wish Andrew luck!

A Freeride...

RT brought Jeremy Peterson and Tyler Galloway up to Sunday River for the USSA A Slopestyle this past Saturday. In addition to battling the Mt. Snow team in a vicious game of Laser Tag, the team put down some solid runs on the slope course as well. Jeremy snagged a 15th place, missing the top 10 by less than 2 pts., and Tyler earned himself 37th place. All were pleased with their performances, and are excited to get back at it this weekend at Waterville...

This Weekend:

• USSA A slope at Waterville on SUNDAY. REGISTER by Wednesday. Will email with logistics... potentially looking for a parent to drive over on Saturday morning...
• Wish our OMS crew luck at Friday's Slopestyle qualifiers in Aspen!
  

A Moguls...

The A mogul team was just up the road at Killington this past weekend, where White, Heitsmith, and Conroy took on monster field of 77 males in singles. They placed 30th, 28th, and 57th, respectively. Duals on Sunday brought the real excitement, with Heitsmith advancing to the second round and White crushing his way into the top 16.

This weekend:

• Singles at Waterville, Saturday. Please register by Wed. We will be leaving Ludlow early Friday morning to train.
  

B Moguls / Freeride...
The bulk of the B squad will be at OMS this week for the February Freestyle camp, working on their turns and airs, preparing for championship events like Regionals and Easterns, and getting a taste of what it's like to be an OMS student. So far, we're having a blast and we're excited to have you guys here!

There seems to be some confusion regarding Sunappee or Mt Snow this weekend for the B Team... PLEASE check with me before registering so we can get the whole team to the same comp.

Fresh Start Freestylers (and some B's, too...)...

Report from Coach G:

"Sunday was one of my favorite days of the whole season. We dug out the jump on Black Out (with a super sweet, soft landing) and the B's and the Fresh Starters came to have fun and get their airs ready for the Okemo comp on Feb. 14^th and 15^th. Jace, Kyle, Christian and Sam all landed and skied out of sweet 360s and are ready to go for Mt. Snow next weekend. Maggie tried her first 360 and made it to 270! Both Jia and Matt also tried 3s and made it to 90! I'm thrilled that everyone gave it their all. Keep it up guys!"

Thanks and have a great week!
-Marks

FYI..

please scroll down to next post for this week's freestyle updates...

1/26/09 WEEKLY UPDATE

CONGRATULATIONS to our TOP FINISHER of the week

KATIE CRAIG
with her 6th place run at the Stratton B Mogul event on Sunday

**REMINDER**
All Okemo Freestyle sweatshirts that were ordered earlier this year are IN and can be picked up at the Timber Inn

A Freeride...
Here is a look at a few of the features from the Aspen Open course where our OMS boys will be competing next week (if pics don't come up right away, try refreshing page)...

*RT will be taking those A Freeriders who are not in CO to Sunday River for Saturday's USSA slopestyle event.

• Please register at easternfreestyle.org/schedule (click on green 'register' button next to Sunday River event, NOT SUGARLOAF) no later than Wednesday of this week!
• Friday is a training day and is strongly encouraged, if you can get the time off from school.
  
• Please email me if you are going and I will be in touch with departure/accommodation plans.
  

A Moguls...
It was a bizarre and challenging course at Whiteface this past weekend, one on which less than half of the field could stand up a run or stay in a line. But Heitsmith was one of those talented few, laying down a clean run and landing himself 20th in singles. Karns had an equally good run in singles, but dragged a hand after the bottom air, plunging his score down into the lower half.

Duals was even more interesting on said course, but Heitsy proved hardy once again, beating his first two opponents and almost a third, earning himself 17th place. Karnsy, unfortunately, fell victim to the dreaded stomach bug (or bad taco...) leaving him in no condition to compete on Sunday. But he will be back, and hungry (no pun intended!), for this weekend's Killington event.

This weekend's A mogul event is at Killington on Conclusion... should be a great spectator venue for any who care to come over... Saturday singles and Sunday Duals. 'A' skiers, please register by Wednesday of this week!

B Moguls / Freeride...

"First of all I would like to congratulate ALL of our competitors who competed this weekend. It was a frigid couple of days and kudos to those of you who persevered. Secondly I would like to tell all of you how proud I am of those who competed at Stratton. That was a steep A course with tight turns, big airs, with no transition into the jump and all on a 191 meter coarse (long).

Stratton Mountain Sunday-

Katie Craig was our lone female competitor with two K-A runs to take her to a sixth place finish, GREAT JOB!

Jace Provance was on the podium for his age group with a gold medal run, nineteenth overall, WAY TO GO JACEY BOY!

Sam Pawlak with some great skiing put him into the second round and a twenty first finish, SWEET!

Patrick Craig just missing the second round with awesome skiing and a thirty eighth finish, KEEP UP THE GOOD SKIING!

Kyle Kauffman laid one down just out of the second run by six spots with a forty first finish, WORKIN' ON THE TIGHT PACKAGE!

Christian Backe gets my vote for biggest air of the day off the top air, unfortunately he could not contain that massive amount of air and went down BUT he got up finished his run with some great skiing and a little more misfortune putting him respectively in sixtieth place. Way to stick with it. With some personal best on the hill I would just like to recognize. WAY TO GO OKEMO SKIERS.

I also want to remind everyone about the February Camp the 2nd through the 6th. I hope to see a bunch of you there. Have a great week see you soon!

Peace Out

Frankie P."

Thanks for the update, Frankie.

Joe Kaufman, aka "jOKEMO," aka Kyle's dad, was nice enough to film all of the competitors and post on his Youtube account... check 'em out! http://www.youtube.com/Jokemofreestyle

The B team is home this weekend, with Mt. Snow coming up the following weekend... ever wonder why this team is called "B Moguls / Freeride"??? Well, following the 2/7 Mt Snow B mogul comp, on 2/8 there is a B Slopestyle at Mt Snow, sound fun?!?

Fresh Start Crew...

"Go big or go home was the theme of the Fresh Start weekend! We spent some time on the brand new jump on Ledges, the sweet bumps on Punch Line and the smooth jump in the Dew Zone. Maggie gets the props for going the biggest, but everyone stepped it up a notch this weekend and tried to throw their biggest spreads ever. Nice job guys! Another big welcome to Mark, our newest addition to the Okemo Freestyle Family, who has showing off his ultimate carving and quick feet in the bumps. Lastly, many thanks to Coach RT who spent an afternoon leading us around the lesser known fun spots on Okemo" -Coach Giovanna

Thanks and have a great week!
Marks

1/20/09 WEEKLY UPDATE

Fresh Start Freestyler Maggie Bonnet
makes big news in the New York Times...
Stay tuned for a notification of the publication of an NYT article in which one of our youngest and newest team members is interviewed for her expertise at a Junior Ski Testing Day at Okemo!

A Freeride...
The OMS Freeriders are returning to CO on Sunday for a week of training big jumps, once again, in preparation for the Aspen Freeskiing Open (the following week) -- a $50,000 prize purse competition on the very same course as the X-Games. Based on what I've seen from these guys in the park this week at Okemo, they're ready.

For those A Freeriders on the weekend team who are not going to CO, your next comp is Slopestyle at Sunday River, 1/31. Details to follow next week.

A Moguls...
Heitsmith, Conroy, and yes, Harry Landy(!) trekked almost all the way to Buffalo for the A mogul comp at Bristol this past weekend -- it was a great course, an even better continental breakfast, and Harry can tell you all about the mall there... but seriously, every member of our A mogul team is putting up higher scores each week, including some top 15 turn scores. Keep your eyes on easternfreestyle.org for them to post results. I hope it happens more efficiently than their events!! (jk, jk...)

And on a special note, this was Harry's first mogul competition back after a gnarly crash last season -- we're proud of you, buddy. Back on the horse, as it were...

This weekend, leaving Ludlow 6:45 AM for Whiteface. Will email with details...

B Moguls/Freeride...
Back on the comp circuit, B's!! This weekend is the annual Stevek's Mogul Challenge at Stratton. Everyone should sign up for both days! (It's close, so why not??)

• Please register on easternfreestyle.org no later than Wednesday -- M1 is Saturday and M2 is Sunday... sign up for both!
• Jon and Lenny will meet the team on course for training. Athletes should be at registration no later than 7:30 on Saturday.
• Please email me to confirm that your child is competing and/or if carpooling is needed.

*** AND, welcome to our newest team member, Mark Preschern, and maybe even his brother Jack... and of course let's welcome their family as well!

Fresh Start Freestylers...
There is a new mini-park on Timberline with some great beginner jump features, which many of you checked out last weekend.

ALSO, we finally have our mogul training course up on Ledges, so that will be extremely valuable for all of our mogul athletes in the coming weeks.

Thanks and have a great week!
-Marks

1/12/09 WEEKLY UPDATE

Dale Talkington WINS USSA A Slopestyle at Okemo on Saturday, 1/10/09...
CONGRATULATIONS!!

A Freeride...
Okemo Coaches, led by Chief of Comp Mike Bruno, and parent volunteers (Landy, Talkingtons, Kennedy, Cromwell, Mischel/Ladd -- thank you!) played host to the first stop on USSA's Eastern Freeride Tour at Okemo this past weekend. By all accounts, they put on a fantastic Slopestyle on Saturday and 2 killer Superpipe events on Sunday.

Saturday's Slopestyle was won by our very own Dale Talkington, complimented by a 13th from Sean Kennedy, a 22nd from Tyler Galloway, a 25th from Harry Landy, a 26th from Alex Buller, and a 48th from Jeremy Peterson. See complete results at the following link:
http://services.easternfreestyle.org/results/Rpt2009/4_S.pdf

Next competition: Sunday River Slopestyle 1/31

A Moguls...
Curtis Pazdar and Karns White headed up to Sunday River for the A mogul event this past weekend. The course was perfect and so was the weather, but unfortunately, in a crash in training involving Curtis vs. mogul, mogul won and broke Curtis' collar bone. Join me in wishing him a speedy recovery!

While not his highest placing, Karns did put down his highest-scoring run to date, earning him 30th. See complete results at the following link:
http://services.easternfreestyle.org/results/Rpt2009/5_M.pdf

This weekend, the team is off to the far reaches of NY for the Bristol comp. Will email with details. PLEASE REGISTER by WEDNESDAY (Heitsmith, Conroy, Landy)!

B Moguls / Freeride:
Your next event is moguls at Stratton on 1/24. Take advantage of this weekend to train -- we may have a partial course on Ledges... keep your fingers crossed!!

Fresh Start Crew:
Thanks for your help collecting bibs at the event this past weekend.

You guys should make your way over to the training course on Ledges this weekend too... in a little over a month, you'll have your first ever competition there!

Thanks and have a great week!
-Marks

1/5/09 WEEKLY UPDATE

Congratulations to DELIA WHYTE on her 1st Place VICTORY at Saturday's
Sugarbush B Mogul Competition!!

A Freeride...
Home Competition this weekend -- Slopestyle on Saturday and Pipe on Sunday.

• Please make sure that you are a current USSA member.
• TO REGISTER: Instead of registering online at easternfreestyle.org (you get a discount as Okemo passholders), please email Ashley Holden at racing@okemo.com and give her the following info -- name, DOB, USSA #, competing which days?, and please specify that you are from Okemo. Ashley will tell you how much to make your check out for.
• Athletes must be at bib p/u at 7:45 AM Saturday, 2nd flr. base lodge.

A Moguls...
Karns, Will, and Ryan joined coach Allie Lee and I in braving the arctic Sugarloaf temps... it was a good chance to get the cobwebs out on a steep and icy course (see links below for results). I think that everyone had a small taste of success, leaving them hungry for more at Sunday River this coming weekend... will email with departure and lodging details.
http://services.easternfreestyle.org/results/Rpt2009/1_M.pdf
http://services.easternfreestyle.org/results/Rpt2009/1_M2.pdf

B Moguls/Freeride...
Joining Delia in the Okemo B Mogul domination at Sugarbush was Katie Craig, missing the podium by only half a point and taking home 4th place. Also laying down some solid runs were Christian Backe, Kyle Kaufman, and Patrick Craig. Results at link below:
http://services.easternfreestyle.org/results/Rpt2009/7_M.pdf

We have decided against going to Waterville's B freeride comp on Sunday, meaining that this team's next comp will be Stratton, 1/24-25.
We will be training at home and even going over to NorEaster to check out some of the A Slopestyle on Saturday!

Fresh Start Crew...
You too will be taking a swing by the A level Slopestyle comp on Saturday to cheer on some of your older teammates and to see some serious jumping! If you're up for it, you can even pitch in a hand in the running of a "home" event and help to collect some bibs from the competitors.

Thanks and have a great week!
Marks