Ski and Snowboard Club Vail mogul skiers shine at U.S. Selections

The stakes are always high at U.S. Freestyle Selections.

“That comp is like the most important of the year,” Ski and Snowboard Club Vail mogul skier Jameson Kust explained. 

Results from the event are coupled with those from spring U.S. nationals to determine Team USA slots at domestic World Cups. NorAm Cup and FIS Junior World Championship starts are also on the line. SSCV mogul program director Freddy Mooney said his skiers put up “an impressive showing” at Selections, which took place a week ago in Winter Park.

---

---

“Each day, there were 16 skiers — from a strong international field of roughly 70 athletes — to compete in the finals. Every day, four of those finalists — a quarter of the field — were SSCV athletes,” Mooney said after the two-day competition, which included an individual event on Dec. 14 and a dual moguls on Dec. 15.

“We are very proud of all 19 athletes who represented SSCV and look forward to continuing this level of competitive success,” he added.

---

---

Reese Chapdelaine led the way, claiming the women’s duals title; Mooney said the 19-year-old showed “impressive mental fortitude” in Sunday’s event after finishing 11th in the singles the day before.

“I didn’t really think I did bad by any means, but it just didn’t go my way necessarily,” Chapdelaine said of the Day 1 showing. “I was a little bummed about that. So, I came back the next day at duals and really put my all into it, and it turned out really nice.”

Starting in the round of 32, Chapdelaine duked out four other skiers before meeting Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club’s Anabel Ayad in the big final. The Vail skier said she was “definitely nervous” but tried to “not overthink things too much” in her last run.

“By the time I got into the gate, I knew I was fine,” she said. “I’d done all the training and put all the work in — that was my moment to shine a little bit.”

Chapdelaine uncorked a back tuck to back mute aerial package and “felt in the zone” en route to the 18-17 win. Based on her finish, she’ll join Katie Dreitlein and Abby McLarnon — who led SSCV skiers with fourth- and fifth-place respective results in the individual event — on the U.S. squad heading to the FIS Junior World Championships from Jan. 4-7 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Jiah Cohen and Porter Huff were SSCV athletes named to the men’s junior worlds team.

“I’m super stoked,” Chapdelaine said. “I don’t think any other team has had that many kids go, honestly, and I love those guys, so it will be really nice to have my friends around.”

“It was probably the best I’ve skied, ever,” Dreitlein said of her performance at Selections.

A three-year veteran of the event, the 16-year-old finished 21st last year. She said the big jump in performance came from focused work on her direct turns and upper body — specifically her hands — during off-season training camps in Chile.

“Coming in, I was just happy to make super finals to begin with,” she continued. “So I was just having a good time in that last run.”

On the men’s side, Nash Lucas — who won both singles and duals at the event last year — placed second to Australian Edward Hill in the individual, posting a score of 82.28 to Hill’s 83.83 in the super final. Cohen also made the second final, finishing seventh, as Kust, Huff and Riley Hughes went 10-11-12.

After placing sixth at Waterville Valley in the individual moguls national competition last spring, Kust felt he was poised to grab one of the two World Cup slots handed out at the end of Selections. But a training run crash hampered his Winter Park weekend.

“It comes down to 25 seconds on the run, so it is really tough to lock in, especially with an injury on your mind,” Kust said after finishing 10th and 11th. “So, it didn’t go totally my way, but still grateful for the results.”

The 19-year-old plans to heal up, head to Germany to visit his brother and then shift his focus to the NorAm circuit, which is typically dominated by the Canadian mogul powerhouse.

“It’s going to be tougher to get those podium spots, but that’s kind of my goal,” Kust said. “Just really show the skiing I’m capable of at those events.”

The World Cup spots ended up going to Wasatch Freestyle Foundation skiers Gavin Tobey and Jack Petrone, who went 1-2 in the dual moguls. Their teammates, August Davis and Kylie Kariotis, replicated the feat in the individual event on day 1 to claim the women’s domestic World Cup starts.

SSCV did snatch 11 U.S. slots for the NorAm tour. Dreitlein, McLarnon, Chapdelaine, Ava Keenan, Mahlia Torres, and Reese Lemnah will fill six of the country’s 25 female spots. Huff, Lucas, Kust, Cohen, and Riley Hughes will compete on the men’s side.

“I think everyone was really proud of how we did,” Dreitlein said. “Everyone has been working really hard all throughout the summer, so I don’t think it came as too big of a shock. … It was really exciting and a great team experience.”

Chapdelaine and Huff competed in the FIS Freestyle Junior World Championships last April in Chiesa in Valmalenco, Italy. Huff placed fifth overall in moguls and was 10th in the dual moguls while Chapdelaine finished 15th and 11th in the two events, respectively. Kariotis won the women’s duals gold medal, a victory which Chapdelaine said was “inspiring.”

“We have a couple days of training before we leave, and I’m going to try and just really nail in my stuff,” she added. “I want to win the competition for the Americans again.” 

Dreitlein said she was “surprised” to earn a spot on the team but is excited to get international experience. In the final week of preparations for her first global championship, she plans to continuing cleaning up her upper body technique.

“But also, I just want to be aggressive,” she added. “I just want to lay everything down and not be afraid to go for it in my run.”