Winter 2018
Welcome
Alumni Corner
There are multiple positive attributes that ski racing can teach us, most relevant for me was CONFIDENCE. Simply put, if you want to race well you need to be confident. The time I spent at MSA not only helped my confidence as a young racer, it also helped me throughout college and as I entered the ‘real world’. At the end of day I can think of no better skill to pass along to my children. – Shawn Byron
Behind every great athlete is a team of great people…MSA allows you to be dedicated, to pursue your snowboarding, skiing. People only need opportunity to be great. – Kelly Clark
Celebrate with Champions
The Annual MSA Benefit – The Gala – Saturday, February 17th
Three Former MSA Student Athletes at PyeongChang!
Kelly Clark (MSA ’97-’01) Snowboarder-Halfpipe. Her 5th Olympic Games, the most ever by an American woman.
Devin Logan (MSA ’05-’08) Freeskier-Halfpipe and Slopestyle. Her 2nd Olympic contest. First woman to compete in both Halfpipe and Slopestyle.
Caroline Claire (MSA ’13-’14) Freeskier-Slopestyle. Her 1st Olympics!NBC Affiliate Visits MSA
WPTZ-Burlington/Plattsburg spent two days at MSA during the first week in January in order to create a spot on our school that they plan to air during their coverage of the Olympics. We will let you know when it will air!
Skis & Boards
The Jib Hill
Written by Zach Ferry, MSA Student & Freeskier
The blank canvas like set-up allows for extensive creativity and fun for all freestyle athletes.
With the purchase of the Matterhorn came the opportunity to build our very own jib hill. The jib hill is an assortment of rails and boxes put together by athletes and coaches on a reclaimed hill behind the Matterhorn. The blank canvas like set-up allows for extensive creativity and fun for all freestyle athletes. Between the freeskiers and snowboarders, we have developed multiple lines, features, and spots.
The jib hill gives riders like myself a place to come after hours or on a bad day to train. Since its creation it has served us beyond our expectations as it is used almost daily by athletes. Only two months into the season we have a full park up and are still working to add more features, and seeing how we can rearrange it. The jib hill has allowed for progressions of athletes of all levels and skill sets. From the very most beginner to the advanced there’s ample features for everyone.
Over the past two years the jib hill has been renovated and is constantly changing. This year we have way more land to work with as a large area was cleared and resurfaced during the off season. We also are lucky to have Carinthia’s own park crew supplying us with some of their extra rails. Being able to manipulate and change every aspect of even one feature can be so beneficial as an athlete. You know what you like and what you don’t like, you know what tweaks are necessary because you’re the one hitting it. The jib hill allows the possibility to make each and every change you see fit until it’s perfect for you. The ability to accommodate the individual skill of a rider is second to none and makes a colossal impact in how quickly an athlete can improve.
Another huge benefit is the fact that you can get training in anytime throughout the day. Any free time you have you can go out and just have fun whether you are training hard or chilling. There’s no better way to take your mind away for a little while to then to hike up and hit some features until you’re ready bring yourself back to the day. The combination of our both stupid and amusing ideas have created a place where you can go and just have fun with no worries whatsoever.
Another tremendous bonus to having this jib hill is the the privacy it entails. Never having to deal with large amounts of people or slow lifts, you get three times as many runs in half the time. It being the second year means we are only at the beginning of the possibilities this hill contains. I couldn’t be more pleased with this new development and can’t wait to start exploring with even more new lines and features right outside my school.
Athletic Updates
Alpine Racing
U12 athletes spent a day on the hill with Olympic gold medalist Donna Weinbrecht and Olympian Erik Scholpy.
As we have passed the halfway point of our season, the U12s have been very busy battling frigid cold temperatures, wind, rain, bullet proof icy race courses and the competition. We have found out that we can’t control the weather or our competition, but we can control our performance through hard work, while having fun at the same time. All are making nice progress and the results are showing it. Our athletes have been in the top ten awards twelve times already along with many other top ten individual race/skill runs. In the skills only, we swept the boy’s podium, had 5 boys in top ten and a girl in 5th. MSA U12s have skills! I know the U12s will be excited about what we will be working on this weekend: an introduction to tall pole slalom and Super-G. Besides the fun and the effort being put in, this group is making some great friendships. I wish the season would never end!
-Bryan Wyckoff, Head U-12 Coach
Greetings from the U14s!
Our U16 & U19 kicked off their season with a very successful fall camp at Copper Mountain, CO. The combination of great snow and weather (that could definitely spoil you) helped the kids get the most out of their time on snow. At that time of year we put a strong emphasis on stance/balance and targeting the basic fundamentals that are so crucial to the progress of each individual. This is their first opportunity to spend a portion of time in gates but the most important contribution to their skiing skills is the mileage they get every day. In a typical start to a season in New England, we cannot achieve this much progress in such a short time.
-Shawn Smith, Head U-16/U19 Coach
Freesking
The freeskiing program has been in a period of transition and growth these last months. Our seniors and post-graduates have moved on to pursue their calling in Utah, leaving us with an ever-growing group of talented young athletes. Our program numbers are already in the teens, thanks in part to our Jumpstart Program, which has helped us bring in rippers as young as eight years old as well as our first Academy female.
Last summer marked the beginning of an international camp schedule for our team: we added camps in both Quebec and British Columbia to our off-season regimen and we are looking to add a European camp this coming fall, as well as additional spring and summer camps stateside. In the meantime, we will have a camp at Carinthia with a big-name pro skier (TBA) sometime in March. We have been working hand-in-hand with the Carinthia park team, headed by Benny McGinnis, and we have them to thank for the magnificent condition of the East Coast’s #1 ranked terrain park at our very own Mt. Snow.
-Liam Downy, Freeski Coach
Snowboarding
Hey guys! We have had a great start to our season. In November, Coach Anthony/Cro ran a camp at Liberty Mountain Snow Flex Center. This facility has rails, boxes, jumps, and an airbag all on their snow flex surface. Liberty also has a skate park and trampolines for air awareness training. Overall, our athletes had a lot of fun learning new skills and honing their tricks.
Mount Snow opened super early this year and we were training on snow by the second weekend of November, resulting in plenty of time to warm up our skills on snow to be ready for our December Colorado trip to Copper Mountain. During our time at Copper were were able to utilize the world class training facility of Woodward Copper. At Woodward there are roller boards, foam pits, pump tracks, skate features, and many trampolines. While we were in Copper one of our athletes competed in the Half Pipe Revolution Tour. After the Revolution Tour ended the rest of our Athletes were able to ride one of the few Super Pipes built in the country at this time. Copper built a great early season 3 jump line that our athletes were able to dial in and get an edge on their jump game.
Once we got back from Colorado, Carinthia had their parks up and built for us to ride during our Holiday Camp. The athletes trained well throughout the holidays and were well prepared for their first competitions in January. All of our athletes had great performances and many metals all around, including one qualifier for the Rev Tour! I look forward to the rest of the season to see the results of our snowboard teams great effort on and off the snow.
-Tommy Burke, Head Snowboard Coach
Pencils & Paper
Faculty Spotlight
Our outstanding faculty continues to foster intellectual curiosity and academic growth in our one-on-one classroom setting. This season we have again worked with a record number of schools from across the east coast, and welcomed, so far, 44 students to the Academy.
To accommodate this fantastic growth, this year we have welcomed 10 new teachers!
Academic Podium
At the end of each marking period (we have two) we identify and honor the student athletes who earn an “A” average. See who made the list this term:
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- Ashley Byron, Westfield, NJ
- Patrick Byron, Westfield, NJ
- Maddie Cho, Tenafly, NJ
- Carolyn Marlin, Chappaqua NY
- Charlie Coffin, Ridgefield, CT
- Nick Ford, Southampton, NY
- Henry Harding, Fairfield, CT
- Griffin Mandino, Ocoee, FL
- Erin McHugh, Fairfield, CT
- Julia McNamara, Chatham, NJ
- Ali Messier, Sherborn, MA
- Andie Ormiston, Wilton, NH
- Maddox Ormiston, West Dover, VT
- Jillian Pastore, Ridgefield, CT
- Dana Peck, Avon, NY
- John Peck, Avon, NY
- Kristin Yi, Tenafly, NJ
- Megan Yi, Tenafly, NJ
Annual Fund
Our second Annual Fund Campaign is underway. The Annual Fund helps provide need-based financial aid support and provides resources critical to our athletic and academic programs.Please help us meet this year’s goal of $50,000.
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