Click on the following names for some great shots of Garrett Quimby on the podium for the fastest boy's time at the Tony Buttinger Race at Gunstock last Sunday, Erin Fucigna, first place J2 Slalom Champion at Pat's Peak this past weekend photographed earlier this season and Kia Mosenthal, first place J2 Giant Slalom Champion at Cannon this past weekend, photographed earlier this season.

From our CEO-Peter Stokloza

• There is nothing like the winter Olympics.  I can’t get enough of it.  It is so exciting to see American athletes competing at the highest level and achieving Gold. Watching Ted Ligety win the Men’s combined event inspired me personally as a coach.  I was lucky enough to travel with the US team two years ago to World Juniors in Maribor, Slovenia and watch this young athlete win the Silver Medal in the Men’s Slalom.  Standing on the hill that night you could tell there were great things to come by this young man and the US Ski team.  Congratulations to the US Ski team and its coaches-keep going for Gold.

• BBTS had some Gold medal performances on the Alpine side this weekend.  Kia Mosenthal and Erin Fucigna each won the JII State Championships in GS and SL respectively. Mark Mikos just scored a 13^th in a Nor-Am DH in Montana-a personal best for this elite alpine athlete.  Another special performance was Eliza Cowie earning 1^st at Gunstock by five seconds. That is incredible! Garrett Quimby also won the JIV Slalom by over two seconds. The JIV athletes have been ripping it up all season-congratulations to Fred, Matt and Whitney-keep up the good work.

• We look forward to another good weekend of racing and training and hope everyone has a safe and successful February break.  The coaches will be working hard over the next two weeks to provide the highest level of service to all our athletes.

Thanks,

Pete

From the Desk of Director of Development and Communications-Sharon Schmidt

• 2005/2006 Annual Giving Campaign
  • The 2005/2006 Annual Giving Campaign is off to a great start!  We are at 43% of our goal!  Please make your donation to the Annual Giving Campaign today by clicking here.
  • To see how critical your donations are in supporting WVA and BBTS Ski Club athletes this season please click here

§         Goal-                              $81,600

§         $ Collected to Date-       $35,163

§         $ to be Raised                $46,437

• Saturday, February 25 6 pm-8:30 pm-WVBBTS Mardi Gras Celebration at the Transformed BBTS Clubhouse Cafe featuring music by our own Coaches Cooney, Harding, Preston and Stokloza!
  • ADVANCE SIGN UP REQUIRED BY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19.  $9 PER ADULT; $6 PER CHILD (plus tubing cost if tubing)-see details below under Upcoming Events.  Please call Sharon Schmidt at 978-621-8738 or e-mail her at sschmidt@wvbbts.org with your reservation by Monday, February 20.  You can pay Sharon Schmidt in advance at lunch time in the Clubhouse this weekend to avoid waiting in line to pay at the party.

• VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE MARDI GRAS PARTY
  • DECORATING, SET UP, CLEAN UP, SKATE BOARD PARK CHAPERONE, TUBING CHAPERONES.  Please call Sharon Schmidt at 978-621-8738 or e-mail her at sschmidt@wvbbts.org to help out.

From the Desk of the Headmaster-Gary Benedix

• Even though Thursday and Friday of last week were the two days of our “Mid-Winter Break,” several of our students did not get the opportunity to take a day off.  In all of the disciplines, Alpine, Snowboard and Freestyle, we had student athletes on the road for both training and competition right through the break.  Of those who went home for the two days, many used one of the days to check in with their home schools.  It is a grueling schedule to be able to maintain both a high level of academics and athletics at the Academy, but I am proud to see so many students learning to manage their time, maintain focus and excel in both.

• One of our exceptional teachers, Sally Jensen, is applying for Phoenix Marsfest—Phoenix Mars Mission Arctic Regions Science Field Experience for Secondary Teachers.  Sally is working on the application with a science teacher from Holderness School, Emily Kelley.  The project will be a team effort of local teachers, community members and Plymouth State University faculty.  If accepted, Sally and Emily will be the field researchers going to Alaska on June 25 for a week of intensive training and work in collecting field samples simulating the kind of sampling the Mars Phoenix space mission will be collecting in 2008.  Upon their return, Sally and Emily will share the information with the team and design units of study to be used in the classroom.  Sally is a master teacher who brought a wealth of educational experience and zest for learning to the academy and I can’t think of a better person to represent us in this project.

• Interest for admissions is very high this year.  I have been receiving daily emails and phone calls with requests for applications and interviews.  For those interested in attending next year you should be starting the application process now.  The first round of acceptances will be in late April and to get an application packet you can either email me at gbenedix@wvbbts.org or call the office at 603 236-4246.

From our Athletic and Alpine Director-Tom Barbeau

• A big thank you goes to Molly Testwuide and her organizing crew for a super Valentine’s Day Dance. Two things came to mind as I watched and laughed from the side of the dance floor. Firstly, there was some excellent rhythm out there and secondly, all the athletes got along so well. It didn’t matter the snowsport discipline, everyone was having a good time.

• This is the time of year where the athletes worry about their results. If your child is not pleased with their finishes ask them what they feel they need to do to be better. It could be as simple as telling them to just go faster. Also, people do not like to do things against their values. So ask them their skiing values, why they like to race and what does “fun” mean to them in their racing. From their answers you will get to know if results are indeed important. By the end of your talk you may find out they may have to work harder (great life lesson and reason to be a sportsman) or you may find results are not that important and they have other good reasons for being on the hill. Either way you should end up relaxed and enjoying the process.

• RESULTS: Because of the super results for our J1/2’s we will lead off with their finishes.

• Mark Mikos finished 13^th in a Nor-AM downhill at Big Mt. Montana. He was the 4^th American Junior. Congratulations!!

J2 GS Champs Cannon

1 MOSENTHAL, Kia

2 FUCIGNA, Erin

3 EWANOUSKI, Alexandra

6 SULLIVAN, Alyssa R

7 WEILER, Meghan

11JACOBSON, Elena F

 

J2 SL Champs Pats Peak

1 FUCIGNA, Erin

2 EWANOUSKI, Alexandra

3 PACKARD, Madeline

7 WILICH, Haley

8 SULLIVAN, Alyssa R      

12 JACOBSON, Elena

14 HOBBS, Madeleine B

 

J1 SL Blackwater

5 Belanger, Kay

8 HAWES, Andrew          

10 PACKARD, George

 

J5 SL Toni Buttinger Gunstock

4 TOMLINSON, Elena

6 WRIGHT, Macaela        

11 HANRATTY, Alli         

12 CRANE-MAUZY, Jeanee    

 

2 KATZ, Alexander

3 TOMLINSON, Henry

6 LANNAN, Daniel           

7 SCHMIDT, Ryan

11 KRAUNELIS, Jay        

15 FUCIGNA, Peter         

 

J4 SL Toni Buttinger Gunstock

1 COWIE, Eliza           

3 DAIGLE, Kerry          

5 ANASTASIA, Alice

6 TODARO, Lindsay        

8 D'ELIA, Annie          

 

1 QUIMBY, Garrett        

3 MCLAUGHLIN, Brian

4 SAMPSON, Michael

7 ENNIS, Chase  

9 FRENCH, Peter

10 ZIOLKOWSKI, Zachary    

13 BANCROFT, Michael     

 

J3 SL Toni Buttinger Gunstock

5 PETERMAN, Lindsay      

 

J3 GS Regional Attitash

Abby Fucigna 2^nd, 3^rd, 3^rd

Chelsea Stevens 11^th, 9^th, 5^th

Jamie Crane-Mauzy 6^th

 

Brennan Smith 13^th, 9^th, 11th

From our Freestyle Director-Nick Preston

WVBBTS EQS Skiers  Keep Winning Ways–

• The EQS team and a few more of our freeriders spent Saturday at Sunapee for EQS moguls followed by a USSA halfpipe competition.

• In bumps, Kyle DeGrace nailed down another podium placing second overall and 1^st in M3’s. Kyle skied a 20.8 run, his best of the season. Placing 4^th and 5^th in the M3’s, and 5^th and 6^th overall, were Cody DeGrace and Kyle Keating giving the BBTS crew 3 in the top 10.

• Shining brightly in the girls category was Olivia Keating, winning the F5’s with a solid 11^th overall result.

• Halfpipe started up right on the heels of moguls with Tucker Perkins leading the results for BBTS with a 5^th place, followed by Tyler Thistle 6^th, Clayton Vila 8^th, Kyle Keating 9^th, and Brendan Wall winning the M4’s with an 11^th overall.

• Congratulations again to the entire team. See you all at Waterville this Saturday and then to Loon on Sunday for the Loon make-up Big Air.

          Nick Preston

From our Head Moguls Coach Mike Macomber

• Well it's that time again to update our newsletter with our weekend results but I find that I don't know where to begin.  This past weekend the ECS Team competed all 4 days starting on Thursday and spanning the country.  With 6 events our athletes compiled a great collection of results so sit back and let's begin!

• Starting Wednesday morning our academy athletes left for Sun Valley Idaho, while the Nor AM athletes left for another few days at Killington.  With both courses receiving some snow the courses were in excellent shape.  Our Nor AM Athletes started the week off right with Tim Preston cinching the Nor AM Grand Prix for Men's Moguls with a second place finish on Thursday, getting edged out by Jay Bowman-Kirigin for the win.  As for our ladies, Kayla Snyderman laid down another of her famously consistent top-to-bottom runs to finish in second place as well, and Kenna Nash finished 8^th.

• While our academy kids were enjoying the training in Sun Valley on Friday, our Men's and Women's Freeride teams competed in the Halfpipe Nor AM.  Our two ladies, despite minimal training, Calli DeGrace and Allie Lee, finished 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.  Our Holderness men's team came down for the event as well with Nick Martini finishing 4^th, Cam Riley finishing 5^th, Henry Holdsworth finishing 6^th, Alex Martini 8^th, and Sean Trotter 10^th.  For some of these guys this was their first USSA comp of the season, but it goes to show that it is never too late to get in a few good results and earn your way to Junior Nationals.  This team is looking forward to the Eastern Regional Championships this weekend, which will most likely be held at Okemo. 

• Too much information yet?  Don't worry we have plenty more!

• Saturday our Nor AM athletes competed in Dual Moguls.  Allison Lee as well as Kayla Snyderman qualified for finals, making this their third straight finals for duals!  Allie drew Mckenzie Golding in the first round who sadly took her down, literally, and went on to win the event.  Kayla Snyderman proceeded to take out a number of opponents all the way through the finals and earning herself 3^rd place.   This finish cinches the Nor AM Grand Prix and guarantees her a spot on next year's US Ski Team.  At the same time Tim Preston qualified for the finals and won his first Dual of the year! 

• Meanwhile our Academy athletes competed in Sun Valley.  Despite nagging sickness the team persevered with Sophia finishing 2^nd, just a little bit behind first place.  Alissa finished 7^th while our men just missed the top-ten.  In duals Alissa finished in 4^th, Sophia 5^th and Henry finished 7^th.    On Sunday the athletes, a few of them sicker than the day before, competed again.  Sophia repeated her performance with another 2^nd place finish, while Alissa finished 5^th, with Sophia finally finishing 3^rd in Duals.

• Finally, almost there, our regional athletes competed in the Killington Klassic Extra Innings.  Reed Snyderman found his first podium this weekend in 3^rd place with a 22.80.  Allison Lee finished in 6^th place, with Kenna Nash claiming her first win this year!  Congratulations to all and we will see you soon!

From Head Freestyle Coach Jeremy Gasowski

• The boys are well....the Wickes family has been outstanding! And here's the skiing update

• Slopestyle-

• Everyone skied sooooo well...the course (xgames course unchanged) is hard to get speed, tight and lots of elements.  We waxed our skis every night and it helped.

• Qualifing for semifinals (Saturday)
  • Mike Clarke 5th in his heat, Andrew Hathaway 3rd in his heat, and John Strenio 3rd in his heat....Henrik Lampert (05') just missed by one spot, and Willis Brown , who had one off his best comp runs ever, also missed by a spot.

• Halfpipe-

• Pipe was today and everyone again skied very well.  It was a cold 10 degrees (as opposed to the 38 degrees the day before)

• Qualifying for Semis on Sunday
  • Mike Clarke, John Strenio, Willis Brown and Henrik Lampert (05')...all are into the semis.  Andrew "I only do slopestyle" Hathaway skied very well boosting 7+ feet on each hit...but got 10th

• More updates once the events finish.

From our Snowboard Director-Bill Enos

• On Sat our BX’ers were off at Ragged while some of our freestylers competed in the Aspen Open and others competed in the Forum Youngblood slope at Loon.  Lots of competition and cold weather.  Two more WV athletes, Milli Chapman and Timmy Humphreys, have just qualified for Junior Worlds (USASA) in France early in March. Also Timmy Humphreys just finished second in the slopestyle in Aspen. Waterville qualified several riders in both HP and Slope.  The snowboard world got a good look at what could be one of the next Shaun Whites Waterville is starting to produce. Merrick Joyce, one of our ripping 10 to 12 year olds, qualified for semis in second position, landing his front side 900.

Last week

• Pat Moore did a 7 meter air in China-this was a demo for riders in China. That’s big air.
• Tim Humphreys finished third in the big air in Korea at Junior World Championships.

Saturday Forum Youngblood at Loon

• Wes Walsh, Nick Doucette and Brett Pogoda qualified for finals in the 14 and under while Branden Reiss qualified in the 15 and over age group. All these riders went head to head for a one run final. Branden Reiss layed down another perfect run to win the trip to Tahoe for the finals in March. That means Cam Egan and Branden will be representing WV at the Forum Youngblood finals.

Race and BX from Anton Pogue

• Sbx suuuuuper performances, at the resort with a barn for a lodge.   You’re all assasins-4 gold stars for all performances.   Good job soldiers.

• The alpine events went great-congrats to all.   The brownie brat pack did an excellent makeover on an innocent manikin which Mike Trap was able to use as a tool to learn how to talk to girls. So much more than snowboarding some days. Unreal job soldiers, and let’s take it to nationals.

Aspen Open from Sam Harding

• The trip out to Aspen for the Aspen Open was a great one. The competition was that of the amateur, elite amateur and pro levels, levels at which the WVA/BBTS riders performed greatly. Snowboarders including Luke Henning, Adam Dyroff, Sam Hulbert, Scott Kuchinski, Merrick Joyce, Tim Humphreys, and former riders such as Greg Maxwell (who got injured), Danny Garrity, and Ian Thorley, all displayed great skill on and off the slopes.

• In half-pipe, all three of our competitors-Tim Humphreys, Merrick Joyce, and Luke Henning-made it to the semi-finals putting together admirable runs. From 720s, to 900s, to inverted rotations, these three guys proved that they could compete with some of the better Pro/Ams out there. Unfortunately there were minor slips here and there preventing them from any further advancement, but their potential was more than evident.

• On the slope-style side of things riders Scott Kuchinski, Tim Humphries, and Adam Dyroff made it to the semi-finals. Putting together very technical runs the three of them showed great promise to make it to finals. If practice runs were counted as competition runs, there’s no doubt we’d be looking at three top five finishers. However that was not the case. Putting forth great efforts both Scott and Adam slipped up on their runs. Scott’s run, which was very similar to Tim Humphreys’, looked as though it was a walk in the park during practice. With technical rail and box maneuvers, landing switch 540s, front and backside rotating 720s, and big clean 900s, it seemed like no question that we had potential top finals qualifiers. Tim managed to land his runs which put him into the finals, and landed him a 2^nd place spot on the podium, surpassing many pros and US team riders. An inch one way or the other and it could have been all three of those guys right up there at the top.

• It was a great week. Between the spacious lodging, the blue bird skies, and the wonderful course used for the 2006 x-games, much was learned, and much was accomplished. A big thank you to all the parents for making this trip happen and to the riders for representing WVA in the respectful fashion that they did.

Schedule for February 14^th to the 26^th

• Mid week schedule depends on weather and pipe and park conditions – if you plan on coming up for a day please call ahead.

• 14^th and 15^th  training at WV park 12:30 to 4 ; 4 to 6  dryland
• 16^th HP training at Loon 1 to 4 and then dryland
• 16^th –20^th Travel to Billabong invitational -  Stoneham, Quebec
• 17^th training at WV park-maybe tramping.

Freestyle

• 18^th trans-am fun event at WV – fun for the whole team – sign up on the second floor of the base lodge near the information booth.  We will still meet at 9 am and separate into groups.
• 19^th Train in terrain park / prepare for Saturdays slopestyle

Race

• 18^th train Sl and GS- BX
• 19^th  BX race at Cranmore

·         SUN. – MEET AT CRANMORE BETWEEN 8 – 8:30 FOR SIGN–UP. PLEASE TRY TO GET THERE EARLIER SO WE CAN INSPECT THE COURSE, PREP OUR BOARDS AND GET SOME PRACTICE TURNS IN. SIGN UP IS USUALLY UPSTAIRS AT THE BASE LODGE ON YOUR RIGHT AS YOU ARE WALKING FROM THE PARKING LOT.

February Vacation starts

·         20^th –24^th Race and park training at WV 9 to 3

·         25^th Slopestyle at WV get to sign–up early

·         26^th Half-pipe at Loon get to sign–up early.  Chris, our Groms coach, will be at registration at 8:30.  There will also be a GROMS coach at WV on the 26^th

Student Corner

• Three Hart brothers from Meredith, NH attend WVA this year.  Ian has been attending since November and participated in the two-week camp at Copper Mountain, CO.  His brothers Colin and Brendan started attending WVA in January.  They have been on the WVBBTS Snowboard Team for several years.

• Ian is a sophomore at Inter-Lakes Junior-Senior High School.

• “Ian, what is your best maneuver on the half-pipe?”

• “The backside 720 with a toe grab.”

• “Have you ever raced snowboard boardercross?  I know two racing snowboarders from WVA, Mike Trapp and Kia Wiggins.”

• “No, we just do halfpipe and slopestyle.”

• “What is slopestyle?”

• “It’s jumps and rails.”

• “Which do you prefer halfpipe or slopestyle?”

• “Halfpipe.”

• Did you see the televised Olympic Snowboard Halfpipe competition  yesterday (February 12)?”

• “Yes.”

• P$ enthused, “I was so excited!  I’ve never seen such grace on snow!  The maneuvers were so smooth and the riders got such great amplitude.  The United States took first (Shaun White-Gold Metal) and second (Danny Kass-Silver Metal).”

• Colin is an eighth grader at Inter-Lakes Junior-Senior High School.  He has just started bordercross (snowboard racing) as well as halfpipe and slopeside.

• “Colin, what is your best maneuver in the terrain park?”

• “Backside 540 Mute.  That is when you grab on the toe side of your board between your bindings with your front hand.”

• “Colin, who is your role model in snowboarding?”

• “Danny Kass cause he’s really good.  He got second place in the Olympics halfpipe.”

• Brendan is a sixth grader at Inter-Lakes Elementary School.

• “Brendan, what’s your best maneuver?”

• “A frontside 540 Indy.  An Indy is when you grab the toe edge of your board with your back hand.”

• “Do Ian and Colin give you any pointers for snowboard tricks?”

• “No.  I’ve learned all my tricks from my coaches Sam Harding and Bill Enos.”

• “Brendan, How is school different at WVA than at Inter-Lakes?

• “School is different at WVA because it’s 1-on-1 teaching and it’s easier to communicate with your teacher.  It’s also different because I have different teachers for each subject.  At Inter-Lakes I have two teachers, Mr. Hillger for math and science and Ms. LePen for language arts and social studies.”

Upcoming Events

• Saturday, February 18-Trans Am Snowboard Competition at Waterville Valley Ski Area-Stop by and check our WVBBTS snowboard athletes in action!

• Saturday, February 25 6 pm-8:30 pm-WVBBTS Mardi Gras Celebration at the Transformed BBTS Clubhouse Cafe featuring music by our own Coaches Cooney, Harding, Preston and Stokloza!
  • ADVANCE SIGN UP REQUIRED BY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19.  $9 PER ADULT; $6 PER CHILD (plus $8 per child tubing cost if tubing)
  • Gourmet Desserts, Cheese, Cracker and Crudite Platters by Chef Susan Brunvand
  • Hot Chocolate for the Kids; BYOB for adults
  • Skateboard Park at the Base Lodge Open-no charge
  • Tubing for the Kids-[if there is snow]-$8 per child extra
  • Please call Sharon Schmidt at 978-621-8738 or e-mail her at sschmidt@wvbbts.org with your reservation by Monday, February 20.  You can pay in advance in the Clubhouse this weekend at lunchtime to avoid waiting in line to pay at the party.