After successful National Performance Series showing, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail qualifies four U16 Alpine skiers to international races

Ski and Snowboard Club Vail will send four U16 Alpine skiers to international competitions in February and March.

Calen White and Kristina Shamshuryn were selected for the Federation of European Ski & Snowboard Associations (FESA) Cup in Berchtesgaden, Germany and Aiden Wick and Seger Pomerantz are headed to the Alpe Cimbra (formerly the Topolino Cup) Children’s FIS race in Folgaria, Italy. The athletes were chosen based off of their performances at the National Performance Series Project Gold races, which took place Jan. 19-23 at Burke Mountain in Vermont.

The club qualified seven athletes for the five-day event, which brings together the best U16 athletes from the Rocky Central, West and East regions. Two giant slalom races and two slalom races were contested; the top-3 boys and girls in the final standings were selected for the FESA Cup and the next three athletes in each gender were chosen to represent the U.S. at the Alpe Cimbra.

SSCV saw four different athletes claim six podiums and 18 top-10s at Burke Mountain.

“This group showed some good speed in all the events,” U16 head coach Ian Dunlop stated. “It’s great to see four athletes get on the podium. (It) speaks volumes to our depth and competitiveness within the team.”

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Pomerantz claimed a runner-up finish in the second slalom event while White took the win in the first GS race and a silver in the second. Shamshuryn was victorious in the second slalom race and finished second in the first GS event. Wick claimed a second, fifth and seventh-place across three finishes while teammate Marc Drai took 11th in the slalom and 18th in the GS.

Dunlop said it often takes two tries to master the East’s snow and terrain. Three of his four athletes were making their second trip to Vermont for the NPS competition.

“I am proud of the way they took what they learned and made it their focus all offseason — it paid off,” Dunlop said. “The same group of boys is now onto the next set of events in Europe.”

Dunlop approached the Burke qualifier as a “learning experience” for his first-year U16 girls.

“They had different plans,” he said. “All three of the girls arrived and immediately wanted to put themselves on the podium. Impressive resolve and composure.”

Winter Phillips garnered a pair of eight-place finishes in the slaloms and slid up to seventh in her GS start. Meanwhile Brittany Freudenberger was sixth, 10th and 12th across her three finishes. Despite what Dunlop said was some “last-minute equipment shuffling,” Shamshuryn was able to accomplish her goal of taking home hardware.

“We’re excited to see this group continue this trajectory into the back half of the season,” Dunlop said.

Last year, SSCV had eight athletes compete in the NPS races at Burke. Mari Renick captured four podiums to qualify for the FESA Cup races, where she went on to win a silver medal in the super-G. Teammate Maya Maxon qualified for the Alpe Cimbra.

The 2026 FESA Cup is scheduled for Feb. 27 to March 1 and the 16th-annual Alpe Cimbra FIS Children’s Cup is slated for March 1-6.