7 Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athletes nominated to 2024 Youth Olympic Winter Games roster

Seven Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athletes were nominated to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s Youth Olympic Winter Games roster, the club announced in a press release on Nov. 16. Cross-country skier Rose Horning, mogul skiers Elizabeth Lemley, Jiah Cohen and Porter Huff and snowboarders Olivia Lisle, Brooklyn DePriest and Oliver Martin will all compete against the world’s best 15-18-year-olds from Jan. 19-Feb. 1 in Gangwon Province, South Korea.

“We’re so excited for the amazing group of athletes set to represent the U.S. in Gangwon,” Anouk Patty, U.S. Ski & Snowboard chief of sport, said in the release. “The Youth Olympic Games is an opportunity for athletes to travel to new places and meet new communities while practicing their skills and competing on an international stage.”

Roughly 1,900 athletes from more than 80 countries are expected at this year’s Youth Olympic Games, a quadrennial concept created by former International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge. The winter games will feature Alpine, cross-country, freestyle, snowboard and freeski events.

SSCV has a rich history of competing at the Youth Olympic Winter Games since its first installment in 2012. Aaron Blunck won a bronze medal in freestyle skiing halfpipe at the 2012 Innsbruck Games and River Radamus claimed three golds (super-G, giant slalom, combined) and Jake Pates added two more (snowboarding halfpipe and slopestyle) at the 2016 Lillehammer Games.

For 2024, the club snagged three of the four available slots in both moguls and snowboard slopestyle/big air.

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“I think it displays the quality of this program, and how hard these athletes work,” said Freddy Mooney, SSCV’s FIS head mogul coach. Mooney spent eight years coaching at the World Cup level and has been with SSCV for a little over a year.

“I was immediately impressed with how focused and driven the group is here,” he said. “They show up, ready to work, and with a level of intensity that’s impressive.”

Mooney said he’s excited to be a part of his athletes’ international experience. Huff and Cohen are reigning U15 and U17 junior national champions, respectively and Lemley already has four World Cup podiums (including one World Cup victory) to her name.

“She has already seen incredible success on the international stage, and yet remains humble, hard-working and incredibly coachable,” Mooney said of the 17-year-old, who finished fifth and sixth in the dual moguls and moguls events at the 2023 World Championships last February in Bakuriani, Georgia.

“Jiah is a true student of the sport. He watches video, studies the best athletes in the game, and is always analyzing how to bring himself to the next level,” he said before pivoting to Huff, who arrived in Vail from the Winter Park Competition Center. “He’s full of raw talent, and has been making a name for himself in the sport already.”

Horning, 17, was one of the youngest individuals at the World Junior Championships in Whistler, Canada last year. Her coach Lenka Sterling said she thought Horning was the first SSCV Nordic skier to qualify for a Youth Winter Olympic Games.

“Rose has been on a steady rise over the last few years,” Sterling said, adding that qualifying for the U18 Nordic Nations trip in 2022 — though it ended up being canceled — “opened her eyes to future possibilities.”

“I think the biggest change was that she suddenly realized what she is capable of. She started to set bigger goals and target her training towards those events.”

Horning claimed the U18 national title in the 10k freestyle in frigid temperatures in Fairbanks, Alaska, last March — despite coming down with a stomach bug earlier that week. Sterling said what makes the Lake County senior unique is her “Leadville grit.”

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“She goes hard, she doesn’t complain about a workout or the conditions, she is super down to earth, and she is just truly a wonderful kid,” she said. “She is one of those athletes who clearly has talent, but what sets (her) apart is the work she does. Where some people have a hard time managing ski practice and homework, she does skiing and biking, does well in school, her training log is filled and she is an amazing sister to her siblings.”

It’s possible SSCV will have more athletes named to the team as well, as the Alpine roster is still yet to be named.

A full schedule and livestream of the Youth Olympic Games is available at Olympics.com.