Big Alaska Snowboard & Freeski Club
November 2006
Register on the USASA website www.usasa.org You have to be a USASA member to race or train with Big Alaska so you might as well take care of it now that snow has fallen.
We're getting ready for a winter of USASA Big Alaska Snow Series competitions and training for snowboarders and freeskiers. Competitions will start in January and run through March. The tentative schedule is posted on our website!
Coaches
What an amazing variety of personality and experience Big Alaska coaches will bring to the training program this year. We’re still interviewing so contact us to set up a phone interview or to come to a group coach brainstorm session. Thanks to everyone who’s applied to be a Big Alaska coach—if you haven’t submitted your resume and statement of interest, get on it! Deadline is November 10. For details on what we’re looking for go to our website (click here). We know you don’t want to brag about yourselves, but we do.
We’ve heard from potential snowboard coaches: Rick Malone, Jeremy Puckett, Paul Kelly, Brad Christensen, Celeste Prescott, Ryan Audett, Loghan Audett, Kiana Putman, Mike Mohle, Dan White and Jake Jafra; and potential freeskier coaches Logan Imlach and Billy Homestead.
All coaches must register in the Trainers Division of USASA. Cost is $65. Go to www.usasa.org and click on “Trainers.”
Training Program
Remember the training program is separate from the Big Alaska Snow Series. While the coaches love snowboarding and give free advice to all competitors at Series events, athletes in the training program are their focus. You can join the training program and expect an individual and ongoing assessment of your skills and a personalized approach to your athletic development. The Big Alaska training program is reasonably priced and allows us to pay coaches’ expenses (lift tickets) and a portion of their Nationals travel costs. The number of coaches we can accept is dependent on the number of athletes in the training program.
Parents: Please let us know if you’re considering the training program this year so we can work on staffing and budget.
Read this:
Read Olympic alpine snowboarder Chris Klug’s autobiography, To the Edge and Back. Chris was one of Rosey Fletcher’s teammates at the 1998 and 2002 Olympics and tells the story of how competitive snowboarding developed, where he thinks it’s heading and how he became the first Olympic medalist organ transplant recipient. Chris’ website is a source for racing boards and other good competitive snowboarding info: www.chrisklug.com
Volunteers
Thanks to Carol Hazeltine, Konstantine Bartnitski, Ron Dailey, LeMay and Doug Hupp, and Paula and Jay Patterson for volunteering to help with the race series. I know there are more volunteers so check out the Big Alaska Snow Series schedule on our website. Thanks, it will be fun!
Avalanche Classes
Interested in backcountry riding? There’s several groups that educate people in recognizing avalanche hazards, how to use a beacon, travel safely in the backcountry, set up a rescue, etc. Some 1-day classes are free; more intense training is offered over a weekend. Excellent training is offered by the Alaska Avalanche School www.alaskaavalanche.com The MOA is sponsoring a free class at Kincaid Park chalet this weekend—more information on this class is on our website.
Northern
Boarder
Northern Boarder is sponsoring ALL
our events this year! Jay Liska joined the Board of Directors last season
and sponsored races, got additional sponsors (remember the Slopestyle Trilogy at
Hilltop--3 days of comps with no race entry fees?), filmed and produced a TV
show, volunteered his time and equipment and otherwise supported kids in
snowboarding and freeskiing. This year he's going bigger. Thanks
Jay! Thanks Northern Boarder!
Go to his store in Fifth Avenue
Mall! Join the Rider's Union, a fantastic deal. And they carry
great brands. Check with Northern Boarder for Rider's Union details.
What is Big Alaska?
Big Alaska Snow Series is the USASA sanctioned race/event series run locally by volunteers. Snowboarders of all ages and ability levels can enter races in all 5 disciplines. Skiers can enter races in 3 disciplines. Adaptive snowboarders and skiers are more than welcome. There's even an Open class. Local events are intended to be fun, fair and safe. Check out the USASA website www.usasa.org for more information. Competitions will be on Sundays and school holiday Mondays at various locations. As usual, weather conditions may force changes to the race schedule but there are fewer comps scheduled this year and more training days for those in the program.
Big Alaska Snowboard & Freeski Club Training Program is for snowboarders and skiers of all ages past the beginner level who want to improve their skills for competition. You can train Wednesdays or Saturdays or both. Costs will be about the same as last year. This season we are going to have regular season training on Wednesdays at Hilltop and Saturdays at Hilltop, Alyeska or Alpenglow, depending on where the weekend competition will be held. If you register for the training program early, bonus (at no additional cost) training will begin in December, location determined by where there's snow.
In addition to the training program offered last year, we're planning a "Mighty-Mites" type of training for riders who are looking to improve their riding skills. This program focuses on the fundamentals of snowboarding from basic technique to all-mountain riding (steep and deep), and is perfect for those who want an introduction to the competitive disciplines. This will be a shorter, less intense program held on Saturdays only. Many of our nationally-ranked Big AK team riders developed a solid foundation of riding skills in this program so check it out!
Who are we?
Your current volunteer Board of Directors:
Harvey Prickett harvey@bigalaskasnow.net
Steve Stassel steve@bigalaskasnow.net
Alison Sterley alison@bigalaskasnow.net
Kari Lamothe kari@bigalaskasnow.net
Jay Liska jay@bigalaskasnow.net