Home, sweet home: SSCV mogul skiers shine on Vail course

At last weekend’s National Brotherhood of Skiers Mogul Classic, The Dark Side course brought out Ski and Snowboard Club Vail skiers’ good sides.

“I thought it was our best comp yet,” said Jameson Kust, who placed second by a hair in the men’s singles event on the first of two competition days. “The course was the best it’s been. Over the past two years, we were kind of warming up to the venue, but I think we got the pitch kind of perfect this year for the course. The jumps were great. It was an overall really good event.”

Athletes competed in a singles event on Jan. 27 and a dual moguls competition on Jan. 28. SSCV moguls program director John Dowling said The Dark Side’s steep top-section and precipitous bottom air — “where precision is at a premium” — was demanding for every skier, no matter where they were from.

“It’s the toughest course in the Rocky region and a great test for these developing regional competitors as they progress toward FIS-level events,” Dowling said.

But Katie Dreitlein, who led three SSCV skiers into the top four with a runner-up finish, felt the home-field advantage a little.

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“It definitely built my confidence just knowing I’ve skied the course,” the former Telluride athlete said.

Steamboat Springs’ Anabel Ayad (82.94) claimed the win, followed by Dreitlein (79.77), Cali Carr (78.37) and 13-year-old Ava Keenan (76.13) in second, third and fourth. SSCV’s Reese Chapdelaine and Reese Lemnah also placed in the top 10, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.

Dreitlein navigated the 225-meter pitch smoothly, earning the highest turn score of the singles day and packaging a 360 to back X for her aerial combination. While Dowling was impressed by the way his pupil tackled the tricky top air exit cleanly, Dreitlein made a few self-critiques.

“I thought my first run could have been cleaner,” she said. “But I liked how I felt in the air. On the second run, my speed definitely stood out to me. It felt really fast and clean and nice overall.”

Carr torched the course in 28.41 seconds, the fastest time of the day.

“Cali went big for her bottom air back Japan and had to stretch into the landing, resulting in a slightly hectic finish,” Dowling recalled.

On the men’s side, Kust executed a back full to 720 cork grab on his first run. He decided to go bigger the second time.

“I’d been wanting to throw 10 for a bit,” he said of the cork 1080, which he’d attempted only once before in competition prior to the weekend.

“It was kind of just time to do it — on the home course, in competition,” he continued. “I needed to get used to throwing it in comp and I had been doing it in training the days before it. So, it was a good time do it…still very nervous though.”

In the end, Jackson True (87.37) stole the win from Kust (87.28), even though the SSCV skier had a faster run and a higher degree of difficulty in his trick packages.

“True’s turns made up the difference,” Dowling said of the Steamboat Spring’s skier, who edged Kust by 0.09 points.

Meanwhile, fellow SSCV skiers Garrett Marley (85.15), Riley Hughes (83.87), Tristan Rowley (82.13), Ryan Stockton (74.46) and Jackson Cupp (73.64) went 4-5-6-8-10.

Hughes — who claimed his first Rocky Mountain Freestyle win last week in Aspen — came back with Cupp the next day to sweep the top step of the dual moguls podium, as Keenan claimed silver on the women’s side.

“Ava brings out her best for comps and this weekend was no exception,” Dowling said.

“I thought the competition was a lot of fun and I was really happy that I was able to hold my own in a field of some amazing skiers from all over the state,” Keenan added.

Keenan battled against Dreitlein in the semifinals, winning 13-12.

“It’s fun to compete against friends,” Dreitlein said. “There’s no hard feelings about who wins and it’s nice up at the top of the course, messing around.”

Dreitlein ended up losing to Ayad in the small final to place fourth.

“Both the girls put down numerous strong runs through the preliminary heats and gained confidence taking on a gnarly course,” Dowling said.

En route to Park City on Thursday to watch his teammate, Porter Huff, make his World Cup debut, Kust confirmed on a phone call that the culture of healthy competition within the SSCV moguls department has lifted up everyone.

“Our Vail team is looking as good as ever. We’re growing and I feel like we have the best athletes in the country, quite frankly,” he said.

One particular athlete who has pushed Kust the last four years is Jiah Cohen, who earned a bronze medal at the Youth Olympic Games — held at the same time as the NBS competition.

“We’ve kind of just been competing against each other for a long time,” Kust said. “Before he was on the team, there were kids that were kind of around my level and then kids above my level, but there wasn’t one like, ‘Wow, he’s pushing me to be as good as him and I’m pushing him to be as good as me.'”

Dreitlein is also heading to Deer Valley to watch the World Cup and compete in the NorAm competition the following week. She said the recent rash of successes from Liz Lemley, Huff, Cohen and others on the World Cup has been “inspiring.”

“It builds my confidence in the program,” she said. “And that someday I’ll be able to be as good as her.” 

Kust was hoping to be competing at Deer Valley himself, but said he didn’t perform up to his potential at the U.S. Selections at Winter Park in December, where Huff and Nash Lucas both earned their slots.

“I think I’m at the same caliber as those skiers that are getting World Cup starts,” he said.

“I’m nailing in how to compete and that’s the biggest part for me this year. I have high hopes for this season.”