Ski and Snowboard Club Vail freestyle athletes look to make waves on NorAm and World Cup circuits and 2026 Olympics

In a recent press release, U.S. Ski and Snowboard freestyle sport director Matt Gnoza described last winter as “one of the most successful seasons in U.S. freestyle history.”

Current and former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athletes were a big reason why.

World Championship dual moguls silver medalist Tess Johnson posted her best season ever, claiming her first World Cup win in seven years en route to a third-place finish in the overall moguls standings. The U.S. women’s moguls squad — perhaps the governing body’s deepest and most dominant winter sports team — has four other former SSCV athletes in 2022 Olympian Kai Owens, Youth Olympic Games gold medalist Elizabeth Lemley, veteran Dylan Walczyk and newcomer Abby McLarnon.

When asked to score the season from the club’s perspective, SSCV program director Freddy Mooney couldn’t help but answer, “I think it was a 10.”

“We had some unexpected injuries, but the quality of our team really shined with the depth,” he added. “Every time we had someone who had to bow out, someone else stepped up. We consistently had athletes on podiums at every event.”

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A couple weeks after Nash Lucas went down with a back injury in Val St. Come, Canada, Porter Huff captured his first NorAm victory. At the NBS Mogul Classic on home snow last January, Huff — a Youth Olympic Games gold medalist — Jameson Kust and Jiah Cohen swept the men’s podium and McLarnon and Katie Dreitlein placed second and third. Going back to U.S. Selections last December, Lucas claimed individual silver and Reese Chapdelaine won the women’s dual moguls as 11 club skiers earned NorAm Cup starts. In addition to the domestic and World Cup successes, SSCV qualified five athletes to FIS Junior Worlds, where Mooney was tasked with American coaching duties.

Going up against the globe’s top U20 athletes in Almaty, Kazaktsan last January, Cohen teamed up with Chapdelaine to claim gold in the dual moguls team competition. Chapdelaine also won a silver in the duals and McLarnon claimed bronze. McLarnon, who is originally from Steamboat Springs, also nabbed a pair of podiums at the U.S. championships this spring. Riley Hughes and Cohen placed second and third, respectively, on the men’s side.

Given the string of successes, Mooney didn’t shake things up too much heading into the offseason. That being said, trends within the sport have forced subtle tweaks in his training approach.

“The sport is a little bit stagnant, actually,” Mooney said before adding, “The degree of difficulty isn’t increasing.”

At the highest levels, athletes are opting for lower degree of difficulty in tricks — but sharpening the execution, he explained.

“A lot of people are seeing it’s kind of not worth doing the absolute hardest trick if you can do one step down, but do it perfectly,” Mooney stated. “So what I’ve been focusing on is a lot of attention to detail at fundamental levels. The first thing we do is get back in the gym again.”

The most intense strength and conditioning phase began in May and extended to early June, when the SSCV crew traveled to either Steamboat Springs or Park City, Utah for 25 total water ramp days. In July, the club also spent three weeks at Mt. Hood doing only jumps. Even there, only a few upper-level men were working on increasing their degree of difficulty. The rest were focused on cleaning things up. Mooney said the whole squad has bought into the idea of paying close attention to particulars.

“I’ve been trying to keep the whole team excited about doing the minutiae,” he said. “Can we really get excited about doing a back tuck, but do it almost perfectly 10 times in a row before we do something else?”

The philosophy is partially tied to the sport’s inherent injury risk. Not only are well-practiced, lower degree of difficulty moves safer, but increased reps improves mid-air adaptability.

“By learning the easy tricks perfectly, they’re learning also to be adjustable when they do make mistakes — to stretch or slow their flip down or speed it up if they have to without making form breaks,” Mooney explained. “As opposed to learning by the huck-and-pray method.”

As is the case every year, a lot rides on U.S. Freestyle Selections this weekend at Winter Park. Twenty-five athletes NorAm slots (per gender) are up for grabs, based on combined results from last spring’s national event and this year’s U.S. Selections. Mooney said 22 SSCV athletes will compete in Winter Park, with at least 10-15 expected to gain access to the NorAm circuit. Ava Keenan already has her spot locked up.

“She did really well at nationals,” Mooney said of the 15-year old, who is coming back from a sprained MCL and won’t compete at Winter Park. “It’s nice that we don’t have to have her back by December.”

The other two faces on Mooney’s “three-headed monster” are Dreitlein and Malaya Torres.

“They’re all young and they’re all really good,” he said.  

Chapdelaine, who competed in her first World Cup in Waterville last winter but injured her knee in Deer Valley two weeks later, moved to Utah this fall for college. McLarnon is starting the season in Europe with the U.S. Ski Team. Mooney said the D-Team member is hoping to gain World Cup experience but will likely focus her efforts on the NorAms in order to earn World Cup starts for the 2026-2027 season. As many of Team USA’s stalwart veterans consider retirement after Milano Cortina, McLarnon is in the front of the line to rep the stars and stripes next.

On the men’s side, Cohen and Huff continue to push each other as best friends on and off the snow, Mooney said before adding that Hughes is motivated to show his U.S. nationals silver “wasn’t a fluke.” Meanwhile, Lucas trains hard by day and tunes skis at his dad’s shop by night, while also taking classes through Colorado Mountain College.

“He’s really stepped up,” Mooney said of Lucas, the team’s oldest member. “He’s a team leader.”

It’s worth keeping an eye on the alumni, too. Johnson won the World Cup opener in Ruka on Dec. 7 and was fourth the following day. Lemley finished fourth on the day 1 while Walczyk was 23rd.

Going for gold: making the 2026 Olympic roster

The U.S. has 16 Olympic spots across all freestyle disciplines, with a maximum of four athletes per gender per sport ultimately flying to Italy in February. Jaelin Kauf has already earned a spot after sweeping the overall, individual and dual moguls globes. The Deer Valley World Cup on Jan. 16-18 serves as the final World Cup before the Olympics and the last chance for athletes to qualify for the Games. Technically, there is an avenue to Milano Cortina via U.S. Selections. The top-2 at that event earn World Cup starts at Deer Valley and potentially Val St. Combe on Jan. 9-10.

“Then you just have to do better than anyone else has so far at those events,” Mooney said. On the women’s side, a podium is the minimum prerequisite. The men’s field, however, is more wide open. Nick Page is the only Team USA with consistent international results at the moment and is a favorite to make the Olympic team.

Locally, Mooney hopes to continue winning at every level, expand the base and raise the bar across the Rocky Mountain region. In order to accomplish his goals, he plans to stick to the same formula.

“We want to keep doing what we’re doing,” he said. “And for us the proof is in the pudding.”