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Vail Valley qualifies 10 skiers to junior freeride competition

Whistler/Blackomb, British Columbia, played host to this year’s International Freeskiers & Snowboarders Association North American Junior Freeride Championships last week. The top 160 freeride athletes in North America ages 12-18 were invited to compete in this event, based on their national and regional rankings.

The following Ski & Snowboard Club Vail big mountain athletes qualified for the championships, with nine of them making the trip to Whistler: Finn Andersson, Alexandra Carey, Rachel Cocchiarella, Jordan Glendining, Tait Hargreaves, Liam Mattison, Scout Mattison, Kevin Nichols, Austin Obourn and Colin Suszynski.

“I am stoked for the ten athletes who qualified for this championship event, nine of whom traveled to Whistler to compete. Each and every one of them had an amazing winter with several of them logging multiple podiums finishes during the regular season, earning the points needed to be invited to this coveted event. These nine athletes dug deep in Whistler to compete against this tough field of competitors on some rugged terrain. The depth of the team is also evident ranging in age from 14-17,” Nick Whittemore, head big mountain coach for Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, said.



The championships culminated with overall awards for season long performances with Obourn taking fourth place overall in the 12-14 age category for the girls and Kevin Nichols taking fifth place overall in the 15-18 age category for the boys.

For a complete list of results, go to http://www.freeskiers.org.


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